InformationWeek 500: Auto Parts Retailer Gets Smartphone Jump-StartInformationWeek 500: Auto Parts Retailer Gets Smartphone Jump-Start

A FEEDBACK LOOP
One option considered early on was to equip each salesperson with a laptop and wireless connection, but the cost would have been prohibitive, says Buresh. Smartphones turned out to be more economical. The ongoing costs are about the same as what the company had been paying for the sales reps' cell phone usage, with the added benefits of increased functionality and productivity gains. "This frees everyone up to make better use of their time in the field," says Dave Stuek, a CSK regional sales manager in Seattle who oversees 18 sales reps in Washington, Montana, and Idaho.

After an analysis of smartphones and PDAs, CSK chose the PPC-6700 Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone from Sprint. The handheld works over cellular service and Wi-Fi, features a touch screen, and supports Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. A color Web browser was a big selling point for CSK. The application was developed using IBM's WebSphere tools and middleware by CSK's software development team and rolled out early this year.

Although the first version of the application took 12 months to develop, the system will continue to evolve, as a key design feature is a built-in feedback loop to enable communication between users and developers. Users can call up a Web form that lets them send ideas for new functionality and enhancements to the development team. One of the application's most popular features--the ability to type in a SKU number and immediately see that product's price, inventory level, and recent sales figures by store--originated as a user suggestion.

LESSONS LEARNED FEEDBACK LOOP Online form lets CSK users share ideas with and make requests of the development team. RAPID ADOPTION CSK forced change by swapping older cell phones with new smartphone models. MULTIPLE VIEWS App gives CSK managers high-level views of operational data and sales reps granular tools to monitor and manage accounts. GO GRAPHICAL After testing, CSK chose a GUI's ease over other factors. FLEXIBLE FRAMEWORK The Java-based Web app, accessible via Web browser, lets CSK add functionality without being tied to a hardware platform.

Uptake of CSK's mobile app was quick among most salespeople, though a few needed to be nudged. Three-quarters of targeted users tried it immediately, and most were "immediately enthralled," says Buresh. Other field reps started using it when they realized their managers knew more about their stores than they did. For the few remaining holdouts, CSK had a simple strategy: "We took away their cell phones. They had no choice," says Waxberg.

Sales manager Stuek finds access to sales data the most useful aspect of the application. He can view current-day sales in real time, and compare and contrast them to historical trends by store, district, region, division, or company-wide. Likewise, he can view sales activity for specific accounts, stores, or SKUs, and monitor gross margins at individual stores.

The needs of CSK's commercial customers vary widely. Lowest prices aren't always the deciding factor in where they shop. Car repair shops frequently have immediate needs for hard-to-get parts because of a repair emergency, and the ability to locate a part in inventory and deliver it to the shop quickly can make the difference between getting a sale or losing it. The mobile application allows CSK reps to do this no matter where they happen to be when a customer contacts them. "Our business depends to a large extent on relationships," says Stuek.

Although CSK has yet to do a return-on-investment analysis of the impact of the application, "our intuitive feel is that we are already seeing a substantial payback," Waxberg says.

Equally telling: CSK's on-the-go salespeople remain enthusiastic. Says Jones, "We couldn't survive without it."