DirectBuy is the leading home improvement and furnishings club in North America offering its members quality products at deep discounts through its 160 franchisees. The long-term success of the company depends upon membership growth driven by high member satisfaction.
Problem
By relying solely on a legacy order management system, DirectBuy experienced all the typical shortcoming of paper-based processes - time was wasted locating misplaced orders; information failed to flow across all departments; management lacked visibility into the overall process; and the speed of communication with members hampered their ability to set expectations with their customers. In the end, executives realized that the inability to transmit timely and accurate order information to members was compromising profitability and growth so they sought a cost-effective solution to meet their needs.
- Time Wasted
- Information Flow Blocked
- Lack of Visibility for Management
- Slow Member Communication
Task Manager
SnapFlow Solution
In 2008, DirectBuy worked with SnapFlow to develop a workflow application for the franchises clubs that draws the data from DirectBuy’s legacy system and adds to it a layer of data-rich capabilities, delivering an automated set of workflow processes that enable franchises to provide better service to their members through faster and better communication of critical information, gain valuable feedback on member experience through automatic communications and maintain an efficient, paperless work environment to provide better overall service and increased cost-savings.
Solution Benefits
Paperless Workflow
SnapFlow enabled DirectBuy to replace their manual paper based order management process with an efficient paperless workflow. This streamlined web-based process delivered immediate and tangible value.
Real-time reporting
Franchisees and corporate managers can instantly check the status of all orders providing the visibility needed to manage the business. Report Builder facilitates sophisticated reporting from managing ship dates, identifying late orders, tracking warehouse inventory, and to detailed accounting and tax reporting.
Service & Warehouse Management
The order management process and the details of each order are now documented in the workflow application rather than with the employees. DirectBuy can now maintain operational excellence during employee vacations, personal leave, or other personnel transitions.
Task Management
The order management process and the details of each order are now documented in the workflow application rather than with the employees. DirectBuy can now maintain operational excellence during employee vacations, personal leave, or other personnel transitions.
Rule-based Alerts & Communications
Staff can provide accurate, real-time order status to members allowing them to build customer loyalty.
Automatic Phone Calls & Emails
Automating alerts and communications within the template builder enables employees to more rapidly respond to order changes and manage the order more proactively.
Support Center
Using, sharing and deploying business applications has never been as easy as with SnapFlow. A leading SilverLight based user interface provides a common framework for all applications. Web based sharing and inviting of users makes sharing your workflow applications and associated data a breeze.
Survey & Referral System
Using, sharing and deploying business applications has never been as easy as with SnapFlow. A leading SilverLight based user interface provides a common framework for all applications. Web based sharing and inviting of users makes sharing your workflow applications and associated data a breeze.
Realized ROI
As an web-based solution, SnapFlow required no installation or maintenance of computers or software. DirectBuy estimates that they will achieve an ROI with SnapFlow within six months of deployment and plans to leverage SnapFlowto automate additional processes, such as new member sign-up and referral surveys..
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Customer Survey