ContractPro(R) Version 4.2 Release

Answers Systems — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:44:15 GMT

Shawn Cady sat down with Greg Hilton and Tom Tipps to discuss some of the highlites of the new 4.2 release of the ContractPro trade promotion management application, released on March 1, 2010.

Apple iPad - Game Changer for Contract Management

Answers Systems — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:06:39 GMT

by Shawn Cady & Stacy Jackson

If you monitor Twitter, Apple-related news, or technology gadgets in general, you probably know that the Apple tablet is being revealed - about right now, in fact (1:00 EST).

For years we’ve all tried to get the sales force to stop using the cocktail napkins as a preferred contract delivery method. Now with the advent of Apple’s revolutionary tablet computer, the game is changing for contract management. The new tablet (and future generations of tablets) will allows our apps to become a "digital cocktail napkin" - easy to carry but far more powerful than a flimsy piece of paper.

Why we think tablet is the beginning of a foodservice contract management revolution:

Availability/portability of hardware: iPhone and Android phones have started the revolution because of their "always connected/always on" nature and ease of portability. Business apps abound for these devices, yet there has not been a robust contract management solution yet. Sales reps could bring their laptop to customer meetings, to enter pricing and contractual data, but it can be cumbersome to lug it around. And, you have to wait for it to boot up, you wait for a file to open or wait for it to connect to wifi. Natural and spontaneous interactions between customers and sales people get interrupted with a laptop - social momentum gets lost. The new Apple tablet probably won’t instantly change this, but will make it easier and more natural to include the equivalent of the electronic piece of paper in contract negotiation.
Network: better access to 3G networks is already and most places have wifi. With the advent of the tablet, more network providers and businesses will be clamoring to serve the masses who will be using these tablets now and into the future.

Here at Answers Systems we have been anticipating this evolution in mobile computing, and we have been waiting for hardware and network technology to catch up to our vision for always-on contract management. The sales process in is often a loose negotiation setting that doesn’t necessarily involve a laptop where the sales person and customer to agree to purchase and rebate terms together. With the new tablet and/or future generations of tablets, this will be more of “natural fit” into the sales interaction. If like Apple's iPhone/Touch, it will be “always on/connected” users can keep the momentum going during a sales call. Users will be able interact directly with the computer by touch screen and stylus or direct touch – much more like paper and pen. There will be less interruption to the social interaction – no waiting for the laptop to turn on, one can potentially physically signing the screen (electronic version of the contract) as you would a piece of paper – no waiting for the printer. A tablet would be much easier to pass back and forth for users to discuss and edit.

Manufacturers and service providers like Answers Systems have to acknowledge the impact that this technology and future iterations have on the sales process and communication of contract data. With evolution of sensory computing platforms, GPS, and accelerators (spatial orientation and movement), there are many imaginative and useful applications to trade promotion and contract management.

One example: Imagine if you are driving down Main Street, USA, and your tablet (or even your smartphone) alerts you that equipment velocity is 50% under where it should be for the large local leverage operator you are just three miles from? Just follow your GPS turn-by-turn instructions, go educate the customer on how to use your products more effectively with your equpiment program, and increase sales.

After we see what Apple presents today at their press conference, we will definitely be back with more thoughts. Stay tuned.

Technorati tags: Apple Tablet, foodservice, contract-management, trade-promotion-management, GPS, ContractPro, ValuTrak TTPCAV2BGRGU