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| Q. What is Escape? |
| Escape is a Sales Force Automation system designed
specifically for manufacturers who use a combination of field sales
representatives, in-house customer service representatives and eCommerce
(B2B) to sell their products to retail outlets. Escape consists of
a suite of fully integrated Windows-based components that work with
your existing business system to automate and streamline your order
entry and tracking process, including: |
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EscapeRemote
Field Unit, for off-line operation by field sales
representatives. |
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EscapeWebsuite, which supports the development
of a fully customizable B2B eCommerce web
site for direct
use by your customers , and the WebRep application
for on-line operation by sales representatives. |
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EscapeAdmin In-House
Unit, used by
your staff to enter orders, and to monitor the
sales activity of your reps and your B2B web site. |
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| Escape distributes up-to-date catalogs to your sales
representatives and your B2B site (catalog changes are distributed
as they occur). Catalogs can include the specific pricing assigned
to each customer, availability of each item at the time that the order
is to be shipped, and can be augmented by pictures of your products,
if desired. Orders entered by both your reps and your customers are
processed by the Escape system to verify that they are correct, complete
and comply with your business rules (your in-house staff is automatically
notified of any problems that have been detected). The orders are
then transferred to your business system for fulfillment. |
| Escape provides key real-time elements to your sales representatives
and your customers, including the status of current orders and a complete
order history. Copies of orders not entered into the Escape system
(e.g., EDI orders) can also be made available. More … |
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| Q. Will Escape work with my existing business system? |
| Yes! Escape is ERP neutral. During the process of
implementing Escape at more than 25 installations, addressing both
custom legacy systems or a mainstream ERP packages, we have developed
a high degree of engineering expertise and software tools to ensure
a successful Escape implementation for your company. More … |
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| Q. Does Escape handle product embellishment, such as embroidery? |
| Yes! With ease! In fact that is one of Escape’s strongest
elements. Escape enables you to centrally catalog both embellishment
data (tape number, pricing, etc.) and corresponding images, and tie
them directly to your customers and your products. Your sales reps
will then have both complete data and color representations of all
available embellishment images for each customer. Optionally, the
embellishment images can be included on the order. More … |
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| Q. How does Escape handle product catalogs? |
| You can import product data from your host ERP system and automatically
generate catalogs or enter catalogs manually, using Escape’s
Catalog Editor. In either case, you can augment your product data with
color pictures. These catalogs are then automatically distributed to
all ordering channels (you have complete control over which ordering
channel gets what catalog). As existing products change (including
prices), new products become available, and old products are discontinued,
Escape automatically updates all affected catalogs. More … |
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| Q. Can I create custom catalogs for special purposes? |
| Yes! There is no practical limit to the number of catalogs that can
be run in an Escape system. You can easily create special catalogs
for closeouts, a particular large customers, etc. You have complete
control over the distribution of these catalogs – both to your
sales force and to the individual customers on your B2B site. More … |
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| Q. What data is provided to my sales force via Escape? |
| Escape will provide your sales reps in the field with current customer
information, up-to-date catalogs (including product specifications
and pricing), order status, and product availability and bookings.
You can also attach detailed status information, shipping information,
copies of invoices, etc. to orders, if desired. If you offer product
embellishment (e.g., embroidery), both the data and color images for
each embellishment pattern can be distributed, linked to the applicable
customer and products. In addition, your reps have a complete order
history for all of their customers (including all orders for the customer,
not just the orders entered by the rep), including the capability to
copy an old order to serve as the basis for a new one. More … |
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| Q. What types of reports are available with Escape? |
| Escape has an extensive reporting feature with the application with
the added capability of allowing you to customize reports
for specific purposes, and to save these reports for
future reference. Extensive
drill down capabilities enables you to get right down
to the essentials. Now you can analyze your entire
sales data and sales performance from
one source and make business decisions quicker! We
can also quickly provide custom reports to address
any unique reporting requirements
that you might have. More … |
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| Q. How about ROI? |
| Escape drastically reduces your per order costs and virtually eliminates
order errors. In addition, your sales force is armed with up to date
order and product information enabling them to be more efficient in
the field and in turn writing more orders. A fully customizable B2B
web site can also be run directly from Escape, which can offer your
customers the capability to directly enter orders, and to check on
the status of existing orders without calling your customer service
representatives. With this in mind, although we realize every company
is different, we expect you recoup within 6 months of implementation,
and enjoy a significant cost savings thereafter. More … |
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| Q. Do I have to install the Escape software at my facility? |
| No! We offer two options for the installation of Escape: |
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ON PREMISE – in
which the hardware and software required to host
the Escape Core Components and In-House Units are
installed at your facility. The remote units are
either installed in the user’s laptop (in
the case of the off-line Field Units), or are accessed
by standard internet browsers (for WebRep and B2B). |
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ON DEMAND – in which we run the Escape
Core Components, and you access them remotely via
the internet. |
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| There is no difference in the functionality of any Escape component
due to the type of installation – the two options differ by only
the location of the Core Components and the pricing model. More … |
| [Back to Questions] |
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| Q. We have trouble with Sales Forecasts. Can Escape help us out? |
| Yes! Escape offers a full-featured forecasting module that automates
the drudgery that your sales force goes through during
the sales forecasting process. Forecasts can be automatically
generated from last year’s
sales, either copying the sales directly, or increasing
the sales by a percentage or fixed dollar amount entered
by you. The forecasts can then be manually “tweaked” by
your sales force, transmitted to your home office,
at which time they can be viewed individually or combined
to achieve your total bookings
forecast. |
| In addition, orders can be automatically generated from forecasts.
This can be accomplished in the field, in which case the sales rep
creates an order from a sales forecast and submits the order to your
facility. Alternatively, since the forecasts have been forwarded to
your facility, customer service reps can create orders from forecasts,
if you desire. More … |
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| Q. Can we gather and distribute bookings data during our pre-booking period? |
| Yes! You can gather bookings information from all of your sales channels,
and then distribute bookings totals (down to the item level, if desired)
to all of your reps, in-house sales personnel, and to managers. Thus,
all concerned will be provided with up-to-date bookings information
at all times. More … |
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