4-page Case Study - Posted 11/22/2006

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Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau

Postal Service Workers save up to 30 percent of Sales Time with Mobile Sales Solution

The Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau serves four million customers with a broad range of postal services. It has 3,000 employees, and generated RMB785million (U.S.$99million) in 2005. Because of its manual sales tracking system, the Bureau found it increasingly difficult to promote, price and sell products. Additionally, sales staff had to return to each Post Office daily to manually log sales data, limiting the number of clients they could meet each day. The Bureau adopted a mobile solution using devices running Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ 2003 software for Smartphones. Access to the Bureau’s integrated postal network was done with the help of China Unicom CDMA 1X wireless network. As a result, sales staff can now quickly access information on prices, time limits and usage procedures; saving up to one third of their work hours each day on collection and input of relevant sales data.

Situation

As the largest business unit under the Beijing Postal Administration, the Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau operates 30 post offices, 156 post shops, eight professional companies and five affiliates.  It has 3,000 employees and more than 300 transport vehicles. In 2005, it earned RMB785 million (U.S.$99million) in revenue and contributed RMB402million (U.S.$51 million) in profits to the government. It has accumulated reserves of more than RMB8billion (U.S.$1billion).

Using the Windows Mobile-powered devices has helped us significantly increase our sales volume. It is an effective tool that our sales staff cannot do without.  Chen Yan, Director Key Account Centre Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau

The Bureau sales staff, restricted by its legacy manual sales system, was unable to provide customers with quick and accurate solutions and pricing for its broad range of postal services. Furthermore, centralised product trainings were organised at fixed times, and staff had to make time in their schedule to attend. This time lag resulted in the loss of many business opportunities. 

Convoluted usage procedures, a wide range of products, and frequent price adjustments all contributed to the complexity. This resulted in staff finding it difficult to promote and sell postal products. Because of multiple reporting levels, it also took a long time for customer data and client visit information to reach the right decision-makers.

As the system was not automated, sales staff had to return to the post office daily in order to manually log sales data, thus limiting the number of clients each could meet and affecting sales productivity. This rigid system indirectly affected productivity and incurred opportunity costs. 

Bureau management wanted a system that was more flexible yet responsive, that offered easy and rapid updating of services and pricing plans, and that could give rapid feedback into the reporting structure for best client servicing.

It also needed to introduce a system that cut the time needed for end-of-day reporting, freeing up sales staff to meet new clients.

Solution

After assessing the options, the Bureau decided to adopt the Post Smart Mobile Sales System in 2005, supplied by the Dongqu Post Bureau internal IT department. Sales staff were equipped with mobile devices running Microsoft® Windows Mobile™ 2003 software for Smartphones; access to the integrated Postal Network was linked using the existing China Unicom CDMA 1X wireless network.

The Post Smart Mobile Sales System provides wireless access and real-time capabilities for the whole sales process. Equipped with Windows Mobile-powered HTC CU928 handheld mobile devices, the sales staff has real-time access to comprehensive service information, as well as the support of a strong and integrated team.

The Bureau’s Post Smart Mobile Sales System consists of two parts—the Post Smart mobile devices and the back-end CRM system for sales management. This system is supported by the corporate-wide postal network platform. The Bureau’s Key Account Centre uses a private line that is linked to the Beijing Postal Information Bureau to access the current integrated postal network. The mobile devices communicate with the server using the Browser/Server mode. User features include account management, product management, and schedule management.

Sales staff can now quickly access information on prices, time limits and usage procedures; get real-time support from the sales team, and collect and input relevant sales data anytime anywhere.  Chen Yan Director, Key Account Centre Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau

The system can generate 56 types of report covering multiple-angle statistics as well as analysis and comparison of information on sales processes, customers, professional products, business revenues and unpaid items. It is able to meet the demand for real-time information from managers at all levels, and can help coordinate authorisations from fifteen parties including the Key Account Centres of the Bureau, professional companies, branch offices and sales staff.

The Key Account Centre and subsidiary companies can achieve real-time monitoring of sales processes, real-time information collection, and real-time instruction on programs developed by the sales staff via the back-end sales management system.

The sales staff are able to log directly into the Post Smart Mobile Sales System using their mobile devices without having to return to the Post Office, and they can consult directly with the service managers of the subsidiary companies in the postal network, and the account managers at the Key Account Centre.

Chen Yan, Director, Key Account Centre of Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau notes that data access is now significantly faster. “Sales staff can now quickly access information on prices, time limits and usage procedures; get real-time support from the sales team, as well as collect and input relevant sales data to the system, anytime anywhere,” he says.

With the Post Smart mobile devices running Windows Mobile, sales staff can introduce the range of postal products, show visuals and explain various service processes to potential customers on-site, using the real-time update from the Information Bureau. The Smart Quotation function on the mobile devices allows sales staff to quickly compute the pricing of alternative postal solutions and help customers make the right decision.

Sales staff can now also access business training and refer to case studies using the mobile devices, reducing the time spent on traveling to and from training sessions, and allowing sales staff to train in their own time.

Benefits

The successful implementation of the Post Smart Mobile Sales System has radically changed the business model for selling postal products, making the Bureau more technologically advanced and information based, as well as more standardised and user-friendly.

The Post Smart Mobile Sales System can be applied to support, and help manage every stage in the postal sales system—from product development to marketing to sales—because of its ability to provide real-time information and allow interaction between top management and junior staff.

The structure and process flow in the postal sales system has improved significantly, resulting in a leaner and more professional customer-centred organisation, offering significant economic and social benefits.

“Windows Mobile Post Smart devices enabled the sales staff to provide customers with more accurate, more convenient and more flexible postal solutions,” says Chen Yan.

Significant improvements in customer service quality

Using the Windows Mobile Post Smart mobile devices, sales staff can introduce a range of postal products, show visuals and explain various service processes to potential customers on-site. They can also use the Smart Quotation function on the Windows Mobile devices to quickly compute the pricing of alternative postal solutions—to help customers make the right purchase decision. And using the Search function, sales staff can find answers to many kinds of customer queries about postal services in general. 

Enhanced collaborative sales model and improved response time

The sales staff can now log directly into the Post Smart Mobile Sales System using their mobile devices. This enables them to consult directly with the service managers of subsidiary companies within the postal network, as well as account managers at the Key Account Centre. This has enabled a more collaborative sales model which has reduced the company’s response time to customer queries. This in turn has enhanced the Post Office sales teams’ core competencies, and increased the number of opportunities to win more customers.

Improved overall sales productivity

Sales staff can now use their Windows Mobile devices to access the integrated network and enter customer and sales-related data from anywhere, at any time, without having to go back to their offices at the end of each day. This helps them save one third to one quarter of their work hours every day.

Using their Windows Mobile devices, staff can also check the latest updates on postal products and services. This channel is faster and more efficient than the traditional method of printing and distributing information manually using paper.
Using the Pocket PC, the sales staff are able to access business training and refer to case studies on their own time. This has significantly reduced the time spent on training and improved training efficiency.

Improved reporting and dissemination of information

The Post Smart Mobile Sales System has enabled real-time search for customer information, program information, business revenues, unpaid items, and sales performance. It is able to meet the demand for real-time information from managers at all levels, and can generate 56 types of reports covering multiple-angle statistics as well as analysis and comparison of information on sales processes, customers, professional products, business revenues and unpaid items.

The Key Account Centre and subsidiary companies can now achieve real-time monitoring of sales processes, real-time information collection, and real-time instruction on programs developed by the sales staff via the back-end sales management system. Thus, there is better interaction between sales and management which has cut the time needed to disseminate sales information by 30 working days, leading to significant savings in labour and material costs.

Sales staff can now also provide real-time reporting using their Windows Mobile devices. Previously, these report sheets were manually recorded on paper and handed in at the Post Office; a very time consuming exercise.

Improved technological solution and sales model

The implementation of the Post Smart Mobile Sales System is a successful project to advance postal productivity, in line with Bureau strategy to boost the postal business through science and technology.

This also represents a breakthrough in the traditional sales model—re-shaping the sales management system, and setting the standard for an information-based, customer-centred model for postal sales. This system has a positive and important role helping postal enterprises enhance their competence, to adapt to economic globalisation and meet the challenges of becoming an even larger postal enterprise.

The Post Smart Mobile Sales System has provided the technological foundation for the postal sales architecture. Industry experts have acknowledged it as the most comprehensive and advanced, yet the most user-friendly real-time online sales system currently available in China.

By harnessing advanced information technology, it has proved that it is not only a sales tool, but also a basis to transform the management, operation and administration of the entire enterprise. As such, the system and the technology behind it can to be applied not just in the postal industry but elsewhere. In fact, this system has the potential to change the way people live, work and play.

Improved core sales approach and competency

As a tool designed to help increase postal sales capacity, the Post Smart Mobile Sales System has become indispensable for sales and sales management. It has allowed for greater interactivity among various sales models including real-time sales, three-dimensional sales, solution sales, program sales, sales of expertise, and bulk sales. 

It has also facilitated a multi-dimensional crossover sales approach, where the system can help coordinate authorisations between the Bureau, professional companies, branch offices and sales staff.

With a single device in hand, all the necessary resources are now available to or sales staff. This is radically different from the past, where staff had to work on their own without easy access to sales support. This system has therefore significantly improved the core competency of postal sales.

“Using the Windows Mobile-powered devices has helped us significantly increase our sales volume. It is an effective tool that our sales staff cannot do without!” says Chen Yan, Director, Key Account Centre of Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau. “Not only are they able to provide straightforward solutions to customer issues, they are also able to truly care for the customers by anticipating their different needs. This creates a win-win situation for both the post Bureau and its customers.”

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/

For more information about China Unicom products and services, visit the Web site at:
http://www.chinaunicom.com/

For more information about Beijing Dongqu Post Bureau products and services, visit the Web site at:
www.bjepost.com

Microsoft Windows Mobile

Windows Mobile brings the power of the Windows® operating system to mobile devices, helping businesses and their mobile employees stay connected while on the go. Windows Mobile runs mobile versions of Microsoft programs, including Microsoft Office Outlook® Mobile, Internet Explorer Mobile, Pocket MSN®, Windows Media® Player Mobile, and Microsoft Office Word Mobile, PowerPoint® Mobile, and Excel® Mobile. With Windows Mobile, information workers get powerful software combined with the familiarity of Windows. Combined with available service plans and connectivity options, Windows Mobile–based devices, available from 42 device makers and 68 mobile operators in 48 countries, can be used to make calls, send e-mail and instant messages, surf the Web, and access critical business information even when users are away from the office.

More information about Windows Mobile can be found at:
www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.
Document published November 2006