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Investing in Palm handhelds: a return on investment analysis (continued)
Here's a good example of how to calculate your own ROI. Fiat didn't just account for the devices. They also factored in the costs of everything from printers to brochures. Even so, the system paid for itself in a year and a half. Every day after that, it's literally been making money for the firm.
"The Palm handheld solution not only paid for itself in less than six months, but also enabled client invoices to be generated at least a week faster than before, meaning better collections and improved cash flows."
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Frontline Now!
Frontline Now!, located in California, offers channel sales and marketing outsourcing services for high-tech companies, enabling them to generate channel revenue without building or maintaining their own organization.
The company set up a forms-based solution for sales force automation. Palm handhelds were coupled with AvantGo's Enterprise software (at https://avantgo.com/products/businesses/). The integrated solution enables Frontline Now! to provide clients with real-time, Web-enabled reporting.
Field sales representatives, now equipped with Palm Vx handhelds, visit computer retail stores to collect client-specific sales and marketing information. The data is transferred upstream into Frontline Now!'s central database using HotSync technology. Reports are automatically generated and available to clients through a password-protected Web page. It's all pretty slick.
Frontline Now!'s sales reporting system ensures faster replenishment of inventory at the retail stores, increasing commissions as well as the clients' revenues. The Palm handheld solution not only paid for itself in less than six months but also enabled client invoices to be generated at least a week faster than before, meaning better collections and improved cash flows.
The Gunn Automotive Group
The Gunn Automotive Group is a 48-year-old, privately held company with ten automotive dealerships at nine locations throughout San Antonio, TX. The company, one of the 100 largest automotive dealer groups in the United States, generates annual gross revenues in excess of $300 million.
"The Palm handheld solution paid for itself in the first two months of deployment. The project has resulted in $65,000 annual net savings."
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Gunn implemented a Palm OS-based solution consisting of 200 Palm handhelds, Microsoft Access, and the company's Dealership Information Management system from Reynolds & Reynolds. The mobile solution, developed in-house, enables Gunn's sales force to access inventory information from ten different dealerships throughout Texas, all without leaving the customer's side.
According to the company, the Palm handheld solution paid for itself in the first two months of deployment. The project has resulted in $65,000 annual net savings over their prior inventory-access solution.
J&B Wholesale
J&B Wholesale is a regional refrigerated foods wholesaler with warehouse and direct store delivery. The company, with over 400 employees, manages a fleet of over 100 vehicles driving nearly 3,500,000 miles per year. The company distributes quality food products and services to meat markets, retail grocery stores, and food service distributors in an 11 state midwestern area.
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