The CAFÉ (Customer Attraction Front End) solution that Habanero built for Terasen Gas has been selected as a finalist in the for-profit category of this year's Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA).
CIPA is entering its 15th year of operation and is one of the largest business awards programs in Canada. The CIPA mission is to find visionary organizations that have developed innovative results-based technology solutions in the areas of efficiency and operational improvements, customer centricity, collaboration, organizational transformation, and innovation.
The CAFÉ business application, which was implemented in 2006, acts as a front-end to Terasen's customized SAP application and integrates sales, marketing, and operations lines of business to provide better service through customer-centric collaboration and increased employee productivity.
"CAFÉ finally allowed us to improve the way people collaborate in sales, marketing, and operations by freeing us from the dictates of an inflexible application," says Peter Valkenburg, Install Centre Coordinator Manager. "We have gone from a system perspective to a people-oriented perspective—instead of constraining productivity, we're encouraging it."
The custom-built, user-friendly application delivers more front-end marketing, sales, and CRM capabilities, including capturing and tracking leads, and the ability to perform "what if" scenarios, rather than just taking orders. The solution provides a common platform and integrated workflow that supports the functional requirements for each user group. The solution has also done the following:
- promoted customer project collaboration
- improved call centre productivity 10%
- improved multi-unit planners productivity 50%
- improved customer relationships and service
- increased visibility into the business
- reduced support and training costs
