Online Tools Improve Customer Satisfaction

As companies look to provide the best service possible to their customers, much attention should be given to convenience. Streamlining processes through ease of operation can make a big difference when operating a machine tool. It can also increase customer satisfaction in the buying process.

ATS Systems, supplier of machine tool accessories for automation and workholding, recently added e-commerce solutions to its Web site that help reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction.

With input from customers, the company found that its sales and support process was somewhat disconnected, and therefore not as efficient as it could be. Customers wanted self-service capabilities that allowed instant access to information about ATS’ products, along with simpler methods for capturing and fulfilling orders.

The company teamed with Sage Saleslogix to build a fully integrated quote-to-cash solution called Virtual Sales Engineer (vse.ats-s.com) that enables customers and partners to facilitate ordering online. Jeff Brown, VP of Operations, explains, “The requirement was to have an e-commerce portal that seamlessly updates Customer Relationship Management and ERP while enabling customers or partners to create quotes and orders online and update account information such as contact, billing and shipping data.”

The online solution, available through ATS’ Web site, provides an engaging self-serve e-commerce interface that asks specific questions in a dynamic style to guide the user through quick, accurate quoting and orders for complex products and services. With input from the user based on product data queries and conditions surrounding user inputs and role and account data, quotes and orders can quickly be obtained at any time of day, side-stepping a process that previously would have required substantial human interaction.

Since the launch of the Virtual Sales Engineer, ATS Systems reports a 40-percent reduction in order inaccuracies, 40-percent reduction in order revisions, 20-percent reduction in product returns, lower costs of sales, and new international business. All of these improvements are a strong indication of that one all-important goal: customer satisfaction.