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SONAX and the portatour® route planner

The long-sought-after solution following the search for a dynamic and user-friendly experience

Success Story
Florian Behmer

SONAX sales representatives like working with portatour® because they can reschedule flexibly on the road and the software is very user-friendly. What more could a sales manager ask for?

Florian Behmer,
Sales Management Assistant

About SONAX

SONAX has been a German pioneer in car care and vehicle surface preservation since 1950. Regardless of whether it's a small car, a mid-size vehicle or a luxury car - whether in motorsports, in the tuning scene or in the world of classic automobiles, SONAX is always at the side of car fans and experts when it comes to the perfect automobile appearance.

Today, SONAX GmbH is represented in over 100 countries with around 450 employees, and the leader in Europe. SONAX shelves are best placed in specialized retail outlets, DIY stores, gas stations, car washes and garages.

Consistent customer orientation and an uncompromising commitment to innovation are behind their steady business success. Over 50 SONAX field service employees make their way every day to their customers in the Germany-Austria-Switzerland region to uphold this long-standing record of excellence.

Why automatic route planning?

Years ago, routes were planned manually by the field service. This sometimes led to a game of chance on the road. In large sales territories, representatives had to consult a map to see where the next customer was located. Unnecessary radial trips and high frustration were the result.

I always detested route planning during my time in the field. You come home on Friday evening and then sit for at least four or five hours to create a reasonable itinerary. The first customer call on Monday would then mess up the entire schedule, so I had to start all over again.

Florian Behmer, Sales Management Assistant

Route planning software was thus introduced - but not yet portatour®. This represented a small improvement. But the solution was not flexible and could not react to unforeseen events common in daily field service. Unexpectedly changed appointments disrupted the entire schedule for the week. Nearby customers were not taken into account. For Florian Behmer, based on his 27 years of field service experience, it was clear: SONAX must continue to search for a solution that could cope with the daily bump and grind of field service. A customer who calls should not unleash planning chaos, but rather should be dynamically scheduled right away.

Following the end of the contract with the old route planning system, the time had come. Florian Behmer, in his role as assistant to the sales leadership, created an overview of the top providers. portatour® met all selection criteria: dynamic, user-friendly route-planning software that could be fully integrated into the main data system, Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Excellent customer references spoke in favor of portatour® and thus made the decision very easy.

Launch of portatour®: Fast implementation and first-class support

During the implementation, SONAX sales management attached great importance to a structured onboarding of the field staff in order to convince even the less tech-savvy colleagues of the advantages of portatour®. In turn, portatour® was to be understood for what it is: a helpful travel companion that saves the field sales staff significant planning effort.

The system was launched as part of a three-month pilot project with a selected group of sales representatives. After comprehensive online training by the portatour® team, the pilot users were ready to go straight away.

I thought the option of starting on a smaller scale was very good. We didn't want to throw anyone in at the deep end, but rather take the feedback from the test group into account and learn from it for the rollout.

Nadine Anspacher, CRM Support

During the pilot phase, portatour® was installed in the production Dynamics CRM system. It was essential to work with real data, to get to know the configuration options and to put the synchronization between both systems through its paces.

People are creatures of habit. If you have to win over more than 50 sales representatives regarding a new way route planning, then everything stands or falls on the user-friendliness of the system and good training.

Florian Behmer, Sales Management Assistant

Day-to-day field service with portatour®: rescheduling on the road at the push of a button

The daily routine of SONAX field staff has become more flexible and efficient with portatour®. Be it last-minute appointment cancellations, traffic jams or impromptu customer visits - with portatour® the existing daily route is rescheduled mileage-efficiently in a matter of seconds. A push of a button is all it takes to create a new weekly plan departing from the current location. The artificial intelligence planning algorithm always takes all customers, individual call intervals and other essential planning parameters into account. No customer or prospect is ever left behind with portatour®. Route planning is finally enjoyable: if a customer calls, you gladly schedule the visit, since portatour® instantly takes care of the rest at the push of a button.

In the gas station sector, the sales staff is responsible both for implementing the store concepts and for setting up the car washes. The beauty of portatour® is that they can schedule their three or four store appointments in the calendar and also react flexibly during the day if an urgent problem at a car wash arises.

Florian Behmer, Sales Management Assistant

Sales management also benefits from portatour® thanks to greater transparency and shorter communication lines. Numerous analysis options also provide a useful basis for developing new sales strategies.

The first-class support provided by the portatour® team is very much appreciated by all SONAX employees.

At portatour® I have a designated contact person and always have the feeling that I am being listened to. Every one of our requests is always answered within the shortest possible time.

Florian Behmer, Sales Management Assistant

Employee testimonials: spot-on results

The investment in portatour® was spot on. For Florian Behmer, the software's instant rescheduling capabilities and the unparalleled quality of support provided by the portatour® team are among the greatest strengths of the portatour® brand.

I see the advantages of portatour® above all in getting people off the street and into more stores. Because that's where we can earn money as a company and it follows that the sales force also benefits.

Florian Behmer, Sales Management Assistant

SONAX attaches great importance to employee satisfaction and honest feedback from the field service team. In an anonymous questionnaire, actual satisfaction with portatour® was surveyed both quantitatively and qualitatively.

The answers speak for themselves:

  • For 71% of the field staff, portatour® makes it easier to react to unforeseen changes and to flexibly reschedule the existing itinerary.
  • The effort for weekly planning was reduced by 36% - from an average of 64 minutes with the old route-planning software to 41 minutes with portatour®.
  • The successful onboarding and the excellent support by portatour® were highlighted by 88% of the respondents in the SONAX field service.
  • portatour® was easy to learn for 86% of field staff. Ease of use stood out in the feedback.
  • When asked how the planning would be without portatour®, the field staff answered with the following disadvantages: longer working hours because of much more planning effort, a step backwards to a rigid planning system, loss of the necessary basic framework for the upcoming weekly itinerary, which portatour® creates at the push of a button.

portatour® is a professional route-planning system that the field representatives enjoy working with. What more could you ask for? We have found a great partner in portatour®.

Florian Behmer, Sales Management Assistant

Start saving time and boosting your sales today.

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Clint Mallum
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This is an amazing appication but it's a bit costly.

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beren brechtel
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Pretty great hoping they offer some discounts because it is a bit pricey but the product is excellent mabye just a little less off the monthly bill.

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Murray Godden
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The best system Sales and Marketing could ever purchase for hitting those execution goals, been using it for over 6yrs and would be totally lost with out it.

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Steffen Ohlendorf
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Top.

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Alberto Abbiati
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Excellent, intuitive and very practical.

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Philippe SAUNIER
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Just awesome ! Time saving, savings, optimization, efficiency, performance... No hassle. The only downside is the cost but after all it's money.

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Frank Burek
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Relaxed route planning!

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judith bonnemaison
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Really practical. I'm in the trial version but I will definitely buy the full version

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Ralf Kron
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Best route planning app I've ever used!

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Adrian von Gunten
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Great program, use it briefly for Corona-related delivery services in dozens of towns. I was able to do more with the trial version. Too expensive in the short term, probably ok in the long term.

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Julien Buffetrille
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Really powerful application! Everything is configurable, customer support is assured and nothing can escape your notice. Your customers will thank you! Save time on the road thanks to intelligent route calculation! Well done !

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Snap-on Tools Ingo Schmidt
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I'm totally satisfied

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Steffen Lis
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It makes work enormously easier. The route is planned super quickly. You can create reports and tasks.

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Carsten Conrad
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Great software, you just need more time to test it. Or you have top customer data from the start...

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Giovanni Casciello
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Practically perfect application. 🔝👍

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Maik Donner
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I've been using it for years and don't want to be without it anymore

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Google Play user
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Top Service

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Google Play user
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Excellent tool helping to maximise customer contact time.

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Google Play user
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Very good app

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Google Play user
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One of the best apps of its kind! Many thanks to the developers, it helps me a lot professionally!!

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Google Play user
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Great App!!!!

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Google Play user
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Works very well!

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Google Play user
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So far so good excellent customer service

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Google Play user
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Does what I want. Excellent

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Google Play user
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Nothing to say, complete top

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Google Play user
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Extremely useful, ergonomic and complete.

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Google Play user
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Great app for field sales force

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Google Play user
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perfect for field service

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Google Play user
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Great app for reps

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Google Play user
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"Route planning
It's a great program that provides me with excellent support in the field."

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Google Play user
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This app has made my life so much easier and better. It has good customer tracking and reporting. And the customer service support is amazingly awsome.

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Google Play user
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"Very satisfied
I can recommend this app to any field service"

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Google Play user
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great program for route planning

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Google Play user
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Very satisfied, can recommend this app for every field service

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Google Play user
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Help me organize my week! Excellent tool!

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Our sales and support team is looking forward to hearing from you

 

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