Automating pre-order processing

To predict the right number of products for production and delivery, it was important that customers of a supplier of an electric bicycle drive system could quantify how many orders they needed and by when. To achieve this, Arlanis Reply offered its customer an automated standard process supported by Salesforce Community Cloud with Sales Cloud integration to efficiently manage suppliers and dealers. This saves the supplier the time-consuming process of addressing individual customers and keeps track of their customers' requirements with little effort.


Non-standardized
processes

Lacking a standardized and automated process, the supplier company’s previous method of collecting orders from customers required a lot of time. In order for the sales agents to be able to forecast the expected number of sales, customers had to submit their pre-orders ahead of time with the exact quantity outlined. The problem was that they could submit their forms in multiple ways – via phone, fax, or email – resulting in difficulties of managing all forms in one place. It also proved that it wasn’t always so easy to expect customers to submit their orders ahead of time. In this case, the company needed to contact the customers to request this information individually and manually, otherwise risk losing a sale and disappointing them when orders weren’t delivered in time.

From manual processes to automation

With the integration of Salesforce Community Cloud, Arlanis Reply enabled the company to create a process and place the responsibility in the hands of their customers. When orders had to be placed, customers would fill out a form online, requesting the estimated number of products for the following months. This opportunity would then be validated internally and approved for ordering. Now, everyone uses the same Salesforce product and opportunities are created automatically. Internal employees no longer had to manually process the data, input it into their system, and confirm final details with the customers – saving lots of time in the long run. The best part is that the interface is easy to handle for both their employees and customers, reducing the onboarding time in understanding Community Cloud.

Customers are now able to independently manipulate their orders. They can log into the community to create opportunities by themselves. They can add products or make changes to their order requests within a specific timeframe. Thanks to the automated email system, they also receive reminders with deadline notices and order confirmations. Overall, the process has been facilitated and now provides transparency in offerings, where customers know exactly what they are ordering and their costs, along with deadlines for making their pre-orders on-time.


  • Simplifying coordinating and organizing process for sales forecasting
  • Better estimation options for calculating future production
  • Process automation to increase efficiency and accuracy
  • Prevent loss of sales due to non-productive workflow or missing deadlines
  • Automated timeline management
  • Reminder notifications for customers with upcoming deadlines
  • Easy reporting with overview of upcoming sales and revenue

With agile processes to the cloud solution

Just as all Salesforce clouds work together, Community Cloud is no exception. As customers fill out their forms created on Community Cloud, it creates an opportunity and updates the new orders directly into Sales Cloud where all other customer data and opportunities are stored. Each customer has their account stored in Sales Cloud with their contact information along with past and existing opportunities and orders. This makes it easy for sales and service representatives to have an overview of customers and processes. They can understand which accounts need more attention and where each customer stands in the ordering process. In addition, reporting could be specified to see the overall sales and progress from “week to week” or “month to month.”

Through several workshops and sprint reviews, Arlanis Reply and the supplier company collected ideas and achieved this possible solution via multiple user stories. We established requirements and goals, discussing existing structures and future frameworks - ultimately, creating a successful process to satisfy both the company’s employees and customers.