Atlanta-based Car Stereo Plus (CSP) is an auto dealer expediter. That means they're the folks who trick out your new ride with extras like GPS, a kicking sound system, leather seats and those shiny spinning rims (if you're into that sort of thing). They are a small company, about 40employees,in a market with much larger competitors. They are also the latest company to realize the immense benefits of Appian's worksocial technology.
CSPco-owner Foster Lee knows that the secret to his company's success in the Atlanta region - and its ability to grow into other markets - is based on closely connecting a distributed field force to core company processes. Automotive customers are a demanding and fickle bunch (when someone spends a lot of money on a new car, they want it the way they want it, and they want it fast). Keeping CSP's auto dealer customer happy means deliver excellent service on the cars and trucks those dealers' customers are buying.
"Worksocial from Appian has turbo-charged our operations and increased our competitive edge," said Lee. "It is an easy-to-use platform for mobile- and social-based work that is deeply integrated with our core systems and data. Comparing our previous systems to Appian is like comparing a horse and plow to a tractor."
CSP has mobilized its entire Sales and Installation workforce using Appian. Our software manages all of CSP's customer-focused work, including scheduling and prioritizing sales and installation appointments, submitting and approving sales quotes, assigning and tracking all manner of work tasks, and managing field worker availabilities. CSP remote workers use mobile devices andour single unified social interface for inputting all relevant sales quote and appointment information, accessing required data and documentation from corporate systems, and managing all aspects of their daily work. Directly through Appian they can view integrated Google Maps for directions to appointments, upload photos of in-progress and completed work, download installation instructions, engage in real-time work-oriented collaborations, initiate and close work orders and input vacation and other availability-related information.
Lee was quite surprised to learn that enterprise technology this powerful could be available for a company the size of CSP. Our subscription-based portable cloud architecture is what makes it possible. CSP's entire system was developed using only a single part-time development resource working in the cloud. In combination with Appian's drag-and-drop code-free development, that meant a solution delivered at a price-point and on a timeline that suited CSP's needs and resources.
"Mid-sized organizations need this advanced capability perhaps even more than large organizations do to be competitive," Lee continued. "Appian's portable cloud architecture made it possible for a company of our size to rapidly and cost-effectively deliver a modern mission-critical system."
Foster Lee will be presenting the CSP worksocial case study next weekinOrlando at the Forrester BPM Forum. Thepresentation is part of a VIP lunch session sponsored by Appian. To request attendance at the invite-only session, send an email to samantha.keedy@appian.com. You can also learn more about the power of worksocialin a new white paper by CITO Research, "Turn Enterprise Social into Real Business Value."
Ben Farrell
Director of Corporate Communications
Ben Farrell
