Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Caravan and Leisure Park Saves £250,000 (U.S. $479,000) in First Year Alone
Overview
Country/Region:United Kingdom
Industry:Leisure and Tourism
Customer Profile
Talacre Beach Caravan and Leisure Parks (Talacre) is a leading high quality supplier of caravan and holiday homes with five sites in North Wales –Talacre Beach, New Pines, Tan Rallt, Brynteg, and Seaview.
Business Situation
The major challenge facing Talacre is managing its facilities on holiday parks and to provide management with real-time information.
Solution
Microsoft® Business Solutions Navision®, combined with a powerful sales tool from Cedilla Systems, was able to provide the functionality and flexibility the customer needed.
Benefits
£250,000 (U.S. $479,000) saved in 12 months
Redeployment of personnel
Improved business information / “Microsoft Navision is a widely supported product, so no one need be concerned about its future. Cedilla took a real interest in our business, and they won our trust."
Dean Styger, Financial Director, Talacre Beach Caravan and Leisure Parks
Talacre Beach Caravan and Leisure Parks(Talacre) provides holiday homes and caravans for sale and rent on the North Wales Coast. To ensure that holidaymakers receive the best possible accommodation and service, Talacre needed an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) application that would be easy to use, fast to install, and provide the company’s staff with real-time information on available caravans and facilities. The company implemented Microsoft® Business Solutions–Navision® (now part of Microsoft Dynamics™), combined with a powerful sales tool from Cedilla Systems, which was able to provide the functionality and flexibility the customer needed.
Situation
Talacre Beach Caravan and Leisure Parks (Talacre) is a leading provider of high-quality caravan and holiday home leisure parks, with 1,600 caravans across five sites in North Wales—Talacre Beach, New Pines, Tan Rallt, Brynteg, and Seaview. All Talacre sites provide everything a guest needs for a great holiday—from gyms and swimming pools to shops, entertainment, and children’s activities.
The majority of holiday caravans are privately owned, although some are available for rent. This means that the holiday caravan sales and marketing team, who contact potential customers to offer appointments with the park-based sales teams, are a vital ingredient in the company’s success.
A major challenge for Talacre is keeping track of the sales and marketing process. The sale of a holiday caravan is a complex process, perhaps including finance, insurance, site fees, and many other factors.
To make matters worse, the old, paper-based process of making and recording sales was inefficient and unreliable. When sales staff made an appointment with a potential customer, details of the appointment were sent to the sales representative’s office, and a copy kept at the marketing call centre. After the appointment, the sales rep would complete a form with details of any sale made, and fax it to the call centre. There, a call centre agent would key the data back into the computer system.
Once customers have purchased a holiday caravan, Talacre also needs to ensure that they receive the best possible service. This means customers should be able to make the most of all the facilities on site, and their holiday should run smoothly from arrival to departure.
To address both of these challenges, Talacre needed a comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) application that would combine powerful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) functionality with the ability to effectively manage other core services.
Dean Styger, Finance Director, Talacre Beach, says,“We needed more flexibility than our previous system could provide. But there’s a lot of similarity between many financial applications available, and what makes the difference is finding something that meets your needs. Having the right partner is very important.”
Talacre turned to Cedilla Systems, a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner that specialises in the deployment of Microsoft Business Solutions–Navision®, an ERP tool, to help with this project.
Solution
To meet Talacre’s needs, Cedilla Systems used Microsoft Navision,which formed the basis to its ERP system so that employees could maintain complete control and visibility of the sales process.
First, Cedilla created a tool that would help Talacre automate the sales order process. The wizard-driven tool, called ‘Deal Maker,’had to be flexible enough to perform a wide range of tasks and reflect the wide range of possibilities that arise during a typical sales transaction.
Deal Maker works with Microsoft Navision to put the company in complete control of the sales process, whether it is the sale of a holiday caravan or a week-long rental reservation. As the customer is taken through the process, the sales advisor can view the implications of each customer’s choice on the profit of the deal, allowing them to offer appropriate discounts to the customer without compromising Talacre’s profit margins.
Another key feature of the ERP system is the park and facilities management application, which Cedilla Systems built using Microsoft Navision technology, to complement Talacre’s existing sales and marketing functionality.
This system holds detailed information on owners, plots, caravans, and staff—allowing sites to respond quickly and effectively to customer requests. Talacre uses the system to log one-off customer requests, such as repairs and replacements, or to schedule routine tasks, such as garden or meter readings. Using Microsoft Navision, staff can easily see a full maintenance history for each caravan, providing customers with more detailed information prior to purchase.
Benefits
Improved Sales and Marketing Process
The Cedilla Systems installation of Microsoft Navision was a way of improving the sales and marketing process at Talacre, along with on-site customer service.
Dean Styger believes that the project has more than met these objectives, "The good thing about Microsoft Navision is that it is a widely supported product, so no one need be concerned about its future,”he says. “The implementation went very well and we are already planning the next phase of enhancements."
Single Repository
The new system has replaced the paper-based system of recording sales with a fully integrated application that can be accessed by staff working on any Talacre site. Having a single, real-time repository of information means that staff can provide information on any available holiday caravan, regardless of where the caravan happens to be located.
Cedilla has also developed an interactive map that allows customers to select an available caravan by model, year, or even by manufacturer. The customer can view selected photographs of the van, and even see the view from each caravan window (via a static image), before deciding to purchase or rent a van on any of the Talacre parks.
The improvements have also included better communication between sites and employees, and more efficient customer service. Styger says, "We have seen a great improvement in our internal communications and our sales and finance teams are now working much closer together than before."
Future Developments
There is a number of system enhancements planned for the future, including the integration of Microsoft Navision with Talacre’s retail and security systems. For example, customers will be able to use a swipe card for entry into the park or caravan, or to purchase goods and services. Microsoft Navision can collect all the data and produce a final account for the customer on check-out.
Talacre Beach are expecting to achieve benefits in a number of areas, including greatly increased efficiencies and reduced costs on each transaction with a customer on-site. They are also looking for improved security by reducing the handling of cash on site.
Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of integrated, adaptable business management solutions that enables you and your people to make business decisions with greater confidence. Microsoft Dynamics works like familiar Microsoft software such as Microsoft Office, which means less of a learning curve for your people, so they can get up and running quickly and focus on what’s most important. And because it is from Microsoft, it easily works with the systems that your company already has implemented. By automating and streamlining financial, customer relationship
and supply chain processes, Microsoft Dynamics brings together people, processes and technologies, increasing the productivity and effectiveness of your business, and helping you drive business success.
For more information about Microsoft Dynamics, go to: