Industry: Appliance Delivery and Installation Services

The Situation: Prior to implementing the Cheetah Delivery™ system, R.A.S. Delivery, covering Wisconsin, Northern Indiana, Southern Michigan and Northern Michigan had hit a cap on how much they could deliver in one day. Customer service scores were dropping and deliveries within the allotted time windows were being missed with more frequency. Growth pains were catching up with the company, impeding efficiency and profits.

The Cheetah Solution: RAS Delivery conducted research to find the perfect solution for their growing delivery and installation business, finally selecting the Cheetah Delivery route optimization and dispatch application.

The Results: Delivery operations have been streamlined enabling the company to implement a centralized call center. RAS now efficiently handles twice as much business while at the same time reducing labor costs. Customer service quality has also increased with scores shooting up to 98% success rates.

“R.A.S.'s delivery volume from GE and Home Depot was growing at a rate of roughly 20% per year. However, none of our trucks could handle more than 11 stops per day without working extensive overtime. The busier we were, the more turnover we had. We spent more money acquiring trucks since no one could handle more than 11 stops per day. Our customer service scores were dropping because our teams could not get their deliveries done within the time window given to them.

"Calling every customer the day before delivery was unbearable. It usually took 3 employees 5 hours per day to make all the calls. We've already saved over $40,000 annually on using Cheetah's automated calling system.

"We've added twenty three percent to our volume of delivery without the need to add any trucks or additional drivers. We now have a couple of extra vehicles to use as back up in case any break down.

"Every aspect of our operation has improved."

— Robert A Slak, President of R.A.S.

Cheetah System Helps RAS Improve Customer Service

R.A.S. is a delivery and installation company contracted by GE Appliances to exchange appliances under GE's warranty program and to deliver and install appliances for the Home Depot throughout Wisconsin, Northern Indiana and Michigan. They also install appliances for Sam's Club as well. Being more than just an appliance delivery company, customer service is key to their operation and Cheetah has helped make it all possible.

Prior to the adoption of Cheetah Delivery, RAS staff were typing 150 orders per day by hand and customer service was a reaction to the situation. Customers had the opportunity to challenge the time frame given and more opportunity existed for a CSR to do something the customer was not responsive to. By implementing Cheetah, our automated calling system now leaves very specific information with as much detail as possible. We spent a lot of time determining how best to leave messages and what to say so the customer would know precise delivery times and be on hand to receive it. Now, out of 15 calls a day, only 10% have to be personally handled since all call's go through Cheetah's Customer Service Desk.

Some of our biggest changes are in customer service where our call center generated a 98% score in customer satisfaction. Even though we reduced labor costs, we have the highest reach rate in the country.

"Cheetah made evaluation and implementation thorough but fast."

Evaluation began in earnest with a web meeting with R.A.S.'s key production team. Unlike many companies, Robb Slak did not have his IT department involved in the initial presentation and decision. He has his front lines people there as "they are the ones dealing with the customer." Robb instructed his team to throw every scenario humanly possible at Cheetah's staff. He instructed them to turn over every rock so they understood and believed in the system. The meeting lasted two hours and the staff walked away asking when they could start.

"The implementation process started with Cheetah reviewing our processes for roughly 30 days through once a week conference calls. Every process within our organization was reviewed and how we wanted our processes to be handled by Cheetah. We looked at how long it takes to do each job, how much work can be handled on a daily basis, when teams should be back at the shop etc.

"Then we rolled out the core system to ensure we did not overburden staff initially. Cheetah's personnel came to our location and spent three long days implementing the system. When that was complete, we were given support numbers and were just a call away. Cheetah could go into our system and review all the data without us having to explain the situation. The technical support was amazing and still is today.

"Once the basics were in, we moved on to the automated calling system. This took approximately 30 days to roll out. Cheetah helped us make sure we scrutinized every process before going on line with a new one. We were very happy with this as if you do not think through every possible situation, you can end up with more problems and a heavy expense to correct your mistakes. Cheetah helped us avoid that pitfall."

Cheetah knows the industry intimately and were more than willing to make their application fit our needs and not the other way around. The program itself is so user-friendly our team was up and running in no time. I cannot say enough about the after sales support from Cheetah." - Robert A Slak

Delivery Complexities Eliminated

"Cheetah eliminates the complexity people can add into the routing process. It creates tighter routes which in turn get drivers back home sooner and improves their morale. For certain situations however, we retain the ability to move deliveries to accommodate customers."

Cheetah actually gives us a heads up if a driver is falling out of their time frame to deliver hours before it actually happens. Prior to Cheetah, RAS staff agonized over the fact that a consumer was on hold wanting to talk to management because a driver did not get to the customer's home within the specified time period. No one wanted that phone call. They no longer have to react to that scenario.

Cheetah has the ability to notify your operations at a pre-determined setting as to when you want to be notified your driver is falling behind. This could be hours before it actually happens. Proactively contacting customers prior to running out of time frames has improved RAS's customer service scores and boosted employee morale.

"Cheetah gives us the ability to inform customers of their ETAs - like 11:52 am. It's great not having to call the driver and keep the customer on hold for several minutes to get a "guesstimate" without the drive time accounted for.

Delivery Complexities Eliminated

Robb saw a return on investment "immediately".

Cheetah has enabled R.A.S. to grow with minimal amount of staffing. "We are able to do more stops with fewer trucks. We are able to do more stops per truck. The auto calling system has helped improve customer service, completion percentage and lowered payroll costs. We are proactively identifying late deliveries and making adjustments to those deliveries before they become a failed delivery. Our drivers are happier. They are doing more stops and are back at a reasonable time. This has reduced our turnover immensely.

"Essentially, Cheetah changed our mentality and our way of thinking on how to better the company. We were able to put into effect ideas that would eventually change the way we do business. These changes would resonate into all aspects of our company. The Cheetah staff were very easy to work with.We honestly feel that with Cheetah on board, there is no stopping our growth and improvement."