Case Study — Eaton - Antenna Software

Case Study — EatonINNOVATIVE STRATEGYEaton has an extensive product line that includesmore than 200,000 products. The company’sdistributors and field sales representatives usea collection of large, printed manuals that theybring with them to meetings.In addition to carrying the printed manualsto showcase products, the teams also had tocontend with a professional but potentiallytime-consuming sales process. After takingextensive notes during these meetings, salesrepresentatives would then return to theoffice to enter the necessary information intothe company’s sales and order managementsystems. At times, this data-intensive processcould mean several days would pass betweenan Eaton field representative making initialcustomer contact and being able to providea sales proposal or contract.Eaton’s competitors were in the same position,and Eaton recognized that making a strategicdecision to mobilize their sales team wouldmake them much stronger, competitively. Thealternative would have been to leave the dooropen for a competitor to take the initiative. It wasan easy decision to make.TABLETS LEAD THE WAYEaton knew they needed to reduce the entiresales cycle. Only a mobile solution could help— by placing detailed product and pricinginformation at the fingertips of their field teams.Mobile tablets provide a catalog-like feel and“The goal was to reduce the sales cycle from what hadbeen days and sometimes weeks to, ideally, the day ofinitial engagement with a customer or prospect.”— Eric Stager, Product Manager, Web and Mobile, Industrial Sector, Eaton Corporationhave the screen real-estate to display complexproducts and specs effectively, reducing theamount of paperwork sales reps have to carry.The basic parameters that needed to be metwere as follows:The mobile application had to be able todeliver the entire Eaton collection of catalogsand manualsIt had to allow easy access to information ina clean and visually compelling wayIt needed to ensure that information on morethan 200,000 products — particularly productspecifications — was always up to dateIt needed to allow sales reps to craft proposalsand notes, and to capture customer data forsystem update, while on customer premisesIt needed to allow easy order entryAnd the app had to work under a true anytime,anywhere set of conditionsUninterrupted anywhere, anytime accesswas critical. The field reps typically operate inenvironments with unstable and unreliable 3Gservices and little or no Wi-Fi access, meaningthat the ability to transparently work offline wouldbe essential to the design of the mobile app.A field rep needed to have access to the entireworking app at every point in the sales process,from initial contact, throughout the meeting andafterwards — capturing information and datawhether wirelessly connected or not.MAKING THE CASE WITHA PROTOTYPEWith these initial parameters in mind, Stager andhis team pulled together an initial prototype fora mobile app, running on an iPad, and showedthe prototype at the company’s Fall 2010 EatonDistributor Meeting event.Stager recalled, “There were over a thousandglobal Eaton channel partners andrepresentatives and our simple and relativelycrude mobile prototype captured theirimagination. We received overwhelming ‘Voiceof Customer’ feedback at the event from oneon-onediscussions, surveys, and collaborativeworkshops — demanding that Eaton make theapp an urgent priority.” Stager continues, “TheEaton leadership team received this feedback inperson — the idea sold itself.”Search, Spec, SellWith the tablet application,the sales team can respond tocustomer needs on the spot.They can access over 200,000up-to-date product specifications,price comparisons, productavailability, and immediatelyprovide quotes and place orders— all in real-time.CHOOSING ANTENNAEaton went through technical deep dives withMobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP)vendors and ultimately chose Antenna Softwareand its Antenna Mobility Platform (AMP).Antenna was selected due to a number offactors: the company’s 13 year experience andcapabilities in the enterprise mobility space,it’s ability to support tablet apps and to deploy toother smart devices when user demand dictated,the company’s ability to deliver the required userexperience (a key component for Eaton) and thebreadth of technical support services availablepost implementation.