VUEMME and the portatour^® route planner

About VUEMME

VUEMME was founded in 1980 in Bergamo, Italy, and specializes in the sale and distribution of automotive care supplies, boasting a catalog of some 20,000 products. VUEMME sells all necessary supplies, such as fastening and chemical products, as well as tools for the repair and maintenance of vehicles.

VUEMME’s sales network consists of 80 freelance sales reps, who target the entirety of the automotive sector: auto repair shops, body shops, tire shops and dealerships. Their task is to provide 360° customer service, from lead generation to the development of the business relationship, up to and including ongoing technical consultancy.

portatour^®: the complete package

In April 2020, Bruno Boschi arrived at VUEMME as Commercial Director with the objective of restructuring the sales force and the related company processes. Indeed, there were several aspects of the previous management that required further optimization of:

As these are key aspects of VUEMME's day-to-day business, it was also vital to find a solution that could be implemented quickly and easily in a dynamic environment where resources are precious and time is of the essence.

With its functionality, ease of use and smooth implementation, it was immediately clear to VUEMME that portatour^® was the “complete package”.

Fast implementation and first-class support

VUEMME’s journey into dynamic route planning started with a pilot project. The configuration phase began in August 2020 and by September, the "road" testing of fifteen sales reps began.

Right from the jump, VUEMME's CRM was interfaced with portatour^® via the API for automated data exchange. This technical implementation, followed closely by the IT project manager and by the CRM admin, Cesare Pezzotta, was fast and simple, exactly as promised.

Setting up the interface and automated data exchange using CSV files was easy. On top of that, the support we received made it possible to narrow the implementation timeframe even further. Each of our emails was followed up with a response from the portatour^® team with actionable solutions. Compared to our experience with other software houses, I have to say that the support we received from the portatour^® team was truly exceptional.

IT VUEMME, IT Project Manager

The pilot project lasted until January 2021, when portatour^® was then successfully rolled out to the entire sales network.

Ease of use and immediacy

So the strategic decision to adopt a high-performance tool for route optimization was made. At that point, for VUEMME it was crucial that the tool be readily accepted and used daily by the entire sales force.

A few months after the introduction of portatour^®, VUEMME’s reps were given an anonymous survey. The result was that over 90%found it to be a useful tool and 94%said it was easy to learn how to use. Among the most appreciated advantages reported by the reps was how quickly they could generate a schedule: at the push of a button, portatour^® creates the schedule for a week, without ever forgetting any customers. Previously, this task was done manually, with paper and pen. The risk of inadvertently making a mistake was high.

I believe that portatour^® can be summed up in two words: "instantaneous" and "user-friendly". Thanks to how it is designed, portatour^® was adopted right away by almost all the reps. Our sales network is a heterogeneous group with widely differing levels of technical aptitude. And this is an important point, because when you give your sales force a product that performs well but is too complex to use, after a while it will inevitably be abandoned.

Bruno Boschi, Commercial Director

I find portatour^® to be a useful tool because its automatic scheduling saves me a considerable amount of time and energy as compared to manual planning.

VUEMME Sales Rep

86% of the reps also reported that it’s now easier to adhere to the call intervals of their customers: portatour^® not only calculates optimized routes, but also automatically includes the customers at the right time. In addition to focusing on customers that are sure to order, portatour^® also includes inactive customers in the schedule. This made it possible to reactivate dormant customers, without neglecting the cash cows. As proof of this improvement, 69%of sales reps reported that since the adoption of portatour^®, their turnover has increased.

The advantages of portatour^® do not stop at the strategic aspect of optimizing routes, but also extend to operations. Fully 100% of VUEMME’s sales reps praised the portatour^® reporting capabilities as a benefit: in a single app, reps have access to the entire history of visits on a per-customer basis. All relevant information to prepare for the next visit is right on their mobile devices. Reports are effortlessly created in just a few clicks, saving additional time and resources.

I like portatour^® because it saves me time during the working day and it is useful to store information for the next visit.

VUEMME Sales Rep

Especially for newcomers, portatour^® has proved invaluable. New sales reps start out with portatour^® and get a complete history of activities in their territory along with their optimized routes. This reduces and simplifies a crucial part of the onboarding process.

portatour^® simplifies the way of working, especially during onboarding at VUEMME.

VUEMME Sales Rep

For VUEMME, portatour^® truly is the perfect assistant for a rep’s day-to-day business.

Added value: a clear overview for managers

The work of district managers has also been positively impacted by the introduction of portatour^®. Previously, managers had a delayed view of performance of their areas. The call reports were made available to them only on the following day. Now, however, the aggregated and automated reporting provided by portatour^® allows them to get a "real-time" view of what is happening in their areas and to react promptly to possible challenges.

Although portatour^® is primarily a tool for organizing and optimizing routes, it has also proven invaluable for gathering customer segmentation data. Previously, this was done by compiling large Excel files. Now everything is done simultaneously via the creation of the call report with just a few clicks. This information is then the basis for the conception and implementation of subsequent targeted marketing activities, which assist in continuously improving customer service.

Steady growth

VUEMME implemented portatour^® right at the beginning of the pandemic, while also facing major internal changes. Not only has VUEMME made it through, but it has also kept on a steady growth trajectory. VUEMME has every intention of continuing its successful journey with portatour^® as its indispensable route-optimization and data collection partner.