ABOUT PCIL

Our Client is the pioneer in pest control services in India. PCIL has a turnover of over Rs 80 crores and has its presence throughout India - from the Metros to the Talukas.
The organization provides service through various branch offices across the country. Catering to both the residential and institutional sectors, PCIL has been in business for more than 50 years, and currently employs more than 2000 people across 85 establishments in India.

BUSINESS DRIVERS

Competition:

The Pest Control industry in India is witnessing unprecedented growth and competition. Bigger corporate houses have entered the fray, eating into the market shares of the traditional SME players. PCIL has identified technology as the key factor to beat the competition.

Need for On-Demand Services:

Customers across India are now used to multiple channels of communication and instant servicing. The internet, call centers and mobile technology have enabled On – Demand availability of information. Without a software and IT infrastructure, PCI will face a handicap in serving customers through these channels.

Loss of Customers:

Without an automated system in place, PCIL was in danger of losing customers. For example, delays in issuing renewal letters could mean the customer moving to a competitor. Also, leads and opportunities were not being properly tracked.
Recording and systemization of these
processes was an immediate necessity.

Increasing Customer Base:

With the company increasing its geographical reach and the demand for Pest Control services increasing dramatically, the existing systems at PCIL were inadequate and not scalable enough to cater to the growing operational demands. Systems were needed to smoothly handle this dynamic growth phase. Manual procedures which could handle only a limited number of customers needed to be phased out.

SOLUTION

Arion developed a comprehensive solution to address their needs. Arion proposed to develop a browser based solution which would cover the following:

• Customer Management
• Enquiries
• Quotes
• Contracts
• Service Delivery
• Customer Support
• Invoicing

The solution required both online and offline components. The Offline component would be present at Branch Offices and would synchronize with the Central office server. The solution had to work over Broadband Internet connections.

This mission critical application required that the platform be:

• Fast and responsive
• Scalable
• Secure
• Remotely Manageable
• Low Cost

Arion evaluated various technology options before finally architecting the solution mainly on OpenSource components which include

1. Operating System: Linux
2. Web Server: Apache
3. Application Server: JBOSS
4. Programming Platform: J2EE
5. Database: mySQL

This was the most cost effective infrastructural option that gave the requisite scalability, remote management facilities and security control.

All the Branch Offices would have Linux Servers containing the application and the database which would synchronize with the central Linux Server

BENEFITS

• Increased customer satisfaction

With shorter response times and on-demand availability of information, customer service and hence customer satisfaction improved dramatically. The CRM application helped Call Centre executives retrieve customer records, schedule visits and services and also process renewals more efficiently, ultimately leading to happier customers.


• Management control over Sales, Service and Delivery

Due to the automated Lead Management process, the sales team had an effective tool to ensure that follow-ups with prospects were not missed out. Also, the system records the reasons for prospects not converting into customers, which enabled the sales management to take corrective measures. This has had a positive impact on sales, by reducing the number of drop-outs from the sales pipeline.


• Better forecasting and budgeting due to visibility of

Management has a comprehensive view of the operations, right from sales to service delivery. This helped them optimize the use of their resources. The Management was able better forecast and budget due to visibility of:

• Prospects
• Service Pipeline
• Customer Billing and Outstanding