To the Editor:
We would like to respond to the letter from Mr. Jules Neuringer, president of Portronix Communications, printed in your April 24 issue.
In recent years, Motorola and its dealer channel recognized a need for an integrated marketing database. This tool would provide access to necessary critical customer information. Motorola envisioned the information contained in the database could help dealers better understand their markets, enable them to track sales information and model current customers, and use it to gain new customers based on like purchasing habits of existing customers. Motorola also had a need to gather pertinent market research information to assist in product development and channel management. We call this integrated marketing tool IMPACT21.
Motorola developed its IMPACT21 program to assist its dealers with learning more about their customers and to help them determine ways for them to interact with their customers more frequently, thereby encouraging repeat business. As part of their dealer contracts, to be an Authorized Motorola Two-Way Radio Dealer, dealers have agreed to supply Motorola with valid end user customer sales information. Dealers submit this information monthly via a specially designed computer program. In turn, dealers and their customers can realize numerous benefits.
IMPACT21 provides a dealer with two core benefits. First, IMPACT21 allows the dealer to track his own sales information that has been input into the system by the dealer. Once the dealer submits the information, it is then automatically appended with a plethora of additional statistical and demographic information using Dun & Bradstreet’s global business database. Dealers can then query reports about their sales performance, inventory turnover and sales per vertical market, as well as goals and territory information.
The second advantage is IMPACT21’s Campaigns Section, which allows dealers to effectively segment their current customer base or selectively obtain marketing lists of potential customers for marketing campaigns. Dealers can segment this information by a number of important criteria, such as geographic location, square footage of site, employees per location, current product usage, vertical market and volume or frequency of previous purchases. Without this vehicle, dealers would more than likely have to obtain less comprehensive data from numerous sources for a sizable amount of money.
Recently, a dealer used IMPACT21 to develop a new opportunity campaign. A dealer-approved segmented list (by business type/geographic location) of 1,509 businesses was delivered to the dealer’s computer in a timely, automated fashion. This information cost the dealer nothing. If a dealer were to purchase this list from a vendor it could take several weeks to create and deliver, and it could cost several hundred dollars.
Since the inception of IMPACT21, Motorola has used the data to implement specific creative marketing programs to build solid end user customer relationships focusing its dealer channel. Two current programs currently in place are Customer Touch, which promotes customer retention, and Power of Many, which is a customer acquisition program. Both programs drive repeat and new business into local dealerships. These programs are fueled by IMPACT21 information.
We think IMPACT21 is a fabulous marketing tool for our dealers, and we are committed to its success and continue to go through an evolutionary process. Many challenges have arisen in rolling it out to our entire dealer channel nationwide. However, since the initial rollout of the system, Motorola has dedicated numerous resources to develop software improvements and enhancements to tailor the system to our dealers’ needs. We have tried to be very responsive to feedback from the dealer community and adjust our development priorities based on their needs. In fact, in mid-May the most current and significant version of IMPACT21 will be shipped to dealers nationwide. This new version will allow dealers to enter information into the system more quickly and easily than ever before.
Motorola realizes that a meaningful relationship with its end-user customer is imperative and one of the ways it achieves this relationship is through its nationwide dealer channel. Motorola’s dealer channel provides the Motorola companies with a local presence and adds an array of vital value-added services to its product offering. All of our programs, whether they are currently being developed, actively in a pilot phase or being rolled out, are designed to help increase customer traffic and leverage our dealers.
In the next few years, Motorola envisions that its dealers will regard IMPACT21 as an integral part of running their businesses and this marketing tool will be viewed as an ally to its dealer family.
Sincerely,
Bruce Heyman
Director of Strategy and Business Development
Radio Products Division
Motorola
