The Burren Smokehouse

6 . Outcome

6.1 Benefits for Customers

The introduction of the new systems at the Smokehouse will realise a number of benefits for its customers:

• Best prices possible – By controlling costs and being more efficient in its processes, The Burren Smokehouse will be in a position to control costs and therefore offer the best price to its customers.
• Regularity of contact – The implementation of the new customer contact system will allow the Smokehouse to further develop Direct Marketing campaigns and the customer newsletter thus increasing the level of contact with customers. The tracking of purchasing habits will also allow them to better target marketing campaigns so customers are targeted with information on products they may be interested in buying.
• Increased range of services and products – When the new online store is fully implemented, customers will be able to buy a wide range of locally produced Irish products, not only the smoked fish products offered by the Smokehouse.
• Improved level of service – Through use of the customer database, shoppers that telephone or use the web to place an order will see an improved level of service. The information held will be able to, for example, populate the delivery address fields for an order when the customer name is entered.

6.2 Benefits for The Burren Smokehouse

The implementation of new systems also delivered a number of benefits for the Smokehouse. As more and more elements are integrated into the Sage system, this list of benefits will continue to grow:

• Efficiency – The systems being introduced in the Smokehouse will make it much more efficient in getting orders ‘out the door’.
• Relationship Building – The implementation of the customer database will allow the Smokehouse to build closer relationships with customers and so increase business with those customers. The objective is to make purchasing from The Burren Smokehouse almost second nature. “It must be remembered, however, that this needs to be done without crossing the line of familiarity”, commented Greg Davidson.
• Better relationships mean increased sales – The fact that many customers on the database have actually visited the Smokehouse means that the relationships are much closer. The company is in ‘cyberspace’ but it’s not the only place it resides! The small DM campaigns undertaken to date (of around 200 customers in the USA) have already shown the benefit of selling direct to customers with purchase rates of around 12- 15%.
• Ability to offer a broader range – With the implementation of the new stock system, the Smokehouse will be in a position to stock any products it cares to stock and thus offer a broader range of goods to its customers.