Showcase's Tablet Sales App Brings Farm-Supply Firm LIC to the Fore of Mobile Technology Trend
Auckland, New Zealand (PRWEB) October 17, 2013 -- Since May, 2013, Showcase Software Ltd. has saved New Zealand’s Livestock Improvement Corporation (LIC) thousands of dollars in software development and maintenance costs. LIC, which sells and supports twelve product verticals to the agriculture industry, had been seeking an alternative to the high costs of developing proprietary mobile apps for its dispersed sales force. By the nature of the industry, LIC’s print sales materials were constantly at risk of going out of date.
“Because they work remotely across the country, it was always a challenge to make sure our sales force had access to the latest information,” said Ray Whitley, website manager for LIC. “Apps seemed like a great solution, until we found out how much they would cost to develop, and then keep up to date.”
By creating an account with Showcase, LIC bypassed the cost and delay associated with proprietary app development.
Aside from savings, LIC was attracted to Showcase’s easy updates and sharing capabilities. Whitley can make limitless changes and additions to LIC’s cloud-based Showcase Workshop space, and instantly share the updates with every representative who has Showcase loaded on a tablet. Then, LIC’s field representatives can share approved materials (e.g. sales sheets, or product information) that their prospects request in the middle of a sales meeting, without interrupting the presentation.
“We made the transition without any external help,” said Whitley. “We started by uploading about 100 documents to our Showcase content library. That alone dramatically cut into printing costs. Now, there’s no lag time between production of materials and distribution to the team. We send out updates on a daily basis. Our whole team loves the convenience.”
LIC’s experience reflects the impact mobile technology is having on the agriculture sector. According to Justin Davey of agriculture.com, AgReliant Genetics, LLC, a U.S. field seed company, has given its 300 sales employees tablets loaded with an ipad-based sales app. The program has seen 95% adoption. Before, AgReliant’s sales reps relied on individual selling processes.
Though it’s still early days for Showcase, the industry trend looks encouraging. Tablets (mostly iPads) are rapidly replacing or supplementing laptops across all areas of business, as employees bring their devices from home to work, and IT departments allow the devices on local networks. Over 250 million tablets are expected to sell world-wide in 2015, many to enterprise customers.
Adam Blackwell, Showcase Software Limited, http://showcaseworkshop.com, + 64 4 385 6572, [email protected]
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