Improved customer relationship tool gives EcoNova a competitive advantage

November 2024
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30
« Oct		Dec »

Published on the 20/10/2008 | Written by Oracle NetSuite

AT A GLANCE

EcoNova

INDUSTRY

Supplier of water recycling and treatment systems

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

Implement uniform, secure processes for growing reseller partners, many with limited computing resources
Establish long-term relationships with customers while maintaining sales channel
Build a platform for international expansion

SOLUTION

NetSuite

THE BENEFITS

NetSuite Partner Center provides lead and sales tracking through comfortable Web-based interface
EcoNova building industry-leading functionality and customer contacts
International rollout plans greatly simplified through anywhere access to Web-based NetSuite application

FOR MORE INFORMATION

NetSuite Australia
W: www.netsuite.com.au
E: infoapac@netsuite.com
T: +61 2 9464 6100

The supplier of water recycling and treatment systems has enjoyed greater efficiencies and more powerful partner relationships since deploying NetSuite’s software-as-a-service solution…

EcoNova produces water recycling and treatment systems to suit applications ranging from a single home to a mining camp or entire municipality.

Founded in 2003, the company has had to manage rapid growth and changes as it expanded from a start-up defining its market to a company of over 80 employees and the same amount of channel partners operating in multiple regions and countries.

“As recently as October of 2006, we were still working out of one small office at the Innovation Centre of the Sunshine Coast University and it was obvious that our model would involve distributor partners,” says Christian Uhrig, director of marketing and sales at EcoNova.

The company’s incumbent operations software was inadequate to run a more diverse organization. Properly protecting accounting data while exposing relevant customer and prospect information to outside partners posed a significant challenge, and the company wanted a business operating platform both lean and powerful enough to be quickly extended into new countries and markets.

The solution
EcoNova implemented NetSuite in June 2007 on a very tight budget with the help of NetSuite’s Professional Services team and has nearly 100 internal and external users to date.

“Early 2007, when we were looking into what could be done with our existing systems, we came across NetSuite and evaluated what they could do for us,” Uhrig says.

“Seeing that NetSuite could manage our sales as well as accounting, we realized it would be beneficial to have one integrated system.”

Dozens of partners are already interacting with EcoNova through the NetSuite Partner Center to obtain leads and register sales. More are on the way in Australia, and EcoNova plans to duplicate the successful structure of its Australian operations in other territories as it expands internationally.

“We make it mandatory for our partners to use the NetSuite Partner Center, and the online training modules NetSuite provided have been important to get people using it successfully.”

Partners are able to get up and running quickly with NetSuite, and the access controls EcoNova can easily apply ensure that partners see only the data that is relevant to their tasks.

“NetSuite supports our needs for granular right-based access for every user and outside business partner with access to the system,” Uhrig says.

“That was a key feature for us, and one which will make it possible for us to roll out into new countries in a matter of weeks instead of years.”

As EcoNova establishes its market leadership, the company is confident that it has the right operational foundation to grow without fear of over-reaching its capabilities.

“Because we are a relatively young company in a young industry, we redefine ourselves as we learn how to do things differently,” Uhrig says.

“NetSuite is the stable platform which allows us to implement our new and improved processes quickly and at economical cost.”

The results
EcoNova is realising greater efficiencies and more powerful partner relationships thanks in part to the NetSuite software-as-a-service solution.

NetSuite helps EcoNova’s customers stay current with the support and maintenance of their water management systems, even those sold by independent plumbers who lack the in-house computing expertise to track detailed customer lifecycle information.

“We implemented our customer / system lifecycle management in NetSuite so we can centrally document every installed system and all of the service requirements and reporting,” says Uhrig.

“This helps customers stay current on their maintenance requirements, which should bolster customer satisfaction as well as make corporate revenue more predictable.”

EcoNova feels NetSuite provides a competitive advantage in the water recycling field, where many opposition companies simply manufacture product, sell it to the middleman and disappear from the picture.

“Our products last for 15 to 30 years, so having NetSuite help manage customer experience long-term is very important,” Uhrig says.

“What we’re doing is groundbreaking in our industry.”

NetSuite is helping EcoNova expand without forcing it to adopt systems and practices that will prove costly and inefficient in the long run.

“One of the temptations for every business is to see a need and then buy a tool to fix it, and then buy another tool to fix another need, and then you end up with fifteen software applications that are not linked together or integrated,” Uhrig says.

“NetSuite is something we can grow into, because it is so easy for us to add more functionality.”