Silver Eagle Increases POS Promotion Efficiencies
Silver Eagle Distributors (www.wideworldofbud.com) has deployed an Internet-based solution from OnTrak Software to better track its promotional signs’ processing and production and help sell more beer at retail locations.
With more than 1,200 employees serving nearly 13,000 accounts throughout 16 counties in Texas, Silver Eagle stands as the nation's largest distributor for Anheuser-Busch and the second largest overall beer distributor in the United States. The company also distributes a broad selection of import brands, microbrews, craft beers and several non-alcohol beverages and waters. With sales of this magnitude, effectively managing point-of-sale (POS) signage for Silver Eagle’s retail customers is essential.
After all, POS signage is a key element in selling alcohol beverages — especially beer. Silver Eagle wanted to know what they’re actually getting from its POS investment, as POS promotion is a significant expense for the company.
Camilo Rojas, senior director of Marketing at Silver Eagle Distributors, noted that without the tools to effectively manage POS processes from request to internal billing, he wasn’t getting all of the information he needed to sell more product, increase profitability, or capture more market share.
Three years ago, Rojas deployed Internet-based software called SignTrak throughout his sales and sign shop teams in Houston and San Antonio, Texas. Sales Managers input orders on laptops or other handheld devices, and from that point on all aspects of the sign’s lifecycle from ordering to production and placement are captured.
SignTrak helps beer distributors quantify the return-on-investment for marketing campaigns, and recoup billback recovery dollars.
No longer are Silver Eagle’s sales representatives or sign shop personnel forced to rely on hard copy notes and orders that are prone to costly errors and reworks. Rojas said it dramatically changed the way his company viewed retail signage.
He said it transformed Silver Eagle’s POS marketing strategy into an integral part of the business that is now measured and managed using actual data gathered and reported by SignTrak.
“We have been using SignTrak for more than three years now, and we are extremely happy with the system’s ability to arm us with data we didn’t have before,” said Rojas. “In addition to helping us be more efficient, provide solid data for process improvements, and manage budgets and expenses, we are able to provide great internal customer service and keep the sales teams selling more and more beer.”
SignTrakis designed to take the guesswork out of POS marketing to help improve Silver Eagle’s ROI by streamlining ordering and production processes. The system provides analysis and reporting tools that can help get more from custom POS signage by applying a standardized methodology to its entire lifecycle that increases accountability, accuracy and profitability. SignTrak logs vital information and provides Silver Eagle with a single point of control for everything associated with the process. SignTrak has also helped to greatly diminish wait times for POS production from 5-10 days to 24-48 hours, from request to completion.
In fact, SignTrak orders, tracks and manages the entire POS signage process on through business reporting and analysis. With tracking capabilities that provide on-demand access to all pending and completed orders, SignTrak allows sales and management teams to track signs by brand, type, representative, customer, designer, or any other criteria.
Rojas said SignTrak serves as a comprehensive monitoring tool that “watches” a sign from creation to placement and provides information that was previously unavailable.