Vigilant's ability to add-on optional business modules allows M & A Photovideo to expand and add functionality as needed
In order to keep up in the fast-paced world of professional photographic supplies and services, you are in need of a point of sale, accounting and inventory control system that grows with you. Alan Marshall, founder and President of the award-winning M & A Photovideo Inc., attests to this. Since his store opened its doors in downtown Toronto, Vigilant has been aiding him to sell, rent and track his fabulous array of cameras, lenses, film, lights, digital imaging equipment, as well as track his customers.
Greg Reynolds, part-owner and general manager of M & A Photovideo, has witnessed the company growth, from a three-person operation to the full-time staff of 12 plus and the half-dozen part-time workers they now employ. Greg, Alan and M & A's employees spill over three floors of office space and reach customers across North America. Among its business partners and customers are some of the biggest names in photography and imaging, including Eastman Kodak and Fuji Film. It is the only firm in Canada that installs Kodak's digital imaging equipment at such popular tourist attractions as Butchard's Gardens in Victoria, B.C., Canada's Wonderland in Toronto, and Table Rock at Niagara Falls.
By the seventh year of being in business, Fuji had named M & A Photovideo its "Dealer of the Year." Marshall has since opened a second store in Red Deer, Alberta. Throughout this activity and expansion, Vigilant has been and will be there keeping tabs and growing with them.
"One of the reasons we adopted Vigilant was because it was modular. We could add functions as we went along," he explains. "We've added the payroll module for example. When we were just three people we didn't really need it. Now, we certainly do."
"One of the most useful things Vigilant does for us is to help us with our sales," adds Marshall. "If, for instance, we have an overstocked item that is getting close to going out of date-and with professional film products that is always a concern-we can track it and say, okay, we have three months left. It's time to clear this item. Then, through the coding system we have set up on Vigilant, we can go through and ask for every customer in the last two years who has purchased that kind of film. So, bang, that list is printed out and we marry it with our accounts listings and we have an instant call sheet. So then our staff are on the phone; they clear out the product; and then order new product."
He goes on to say that for a growing, but essentially small business some might think they've used Vigilant to become overly organized. "We admit we're almost anal about it, but when you put the emphasis on customer service as your competitive edge as we do, then information is power. And Vigilant gives us that information and power. For instance, we use Vigilant to track who bought from us, what they bought, when they bought it, and what the margins were. Using the sales analysis tools in Vigilant gives you unbelievable ammunition."Greg Reynolds remarks that Vigilant can also control the precise timing and pricing of a sale. "Let's say we know that we are going to have a special on 10 different types of film for the duration of July. If we decided to do that in May, I can go into Vigilant then, key in each item, give it a start date and a stop date, a sale price, and a quantity if applicable. When July comes along, I don't even have to check the system. On July 1, whenever anyone enters a sale of one of those 10 films, the price has changed automatically. On August 1, they revert to normal."
"We'll use it to record someone's birthday, or the name of a new baby in family. So when their record comes up on the point of sale terminals, we can ask how young so-and-so and the mother are doing," he adds a little sheepishly. For a company that makes a chunk of its profits by shooting weddings and corporate golf tournament, this is an essential aspect of customer relations.
Marshall declares that Vigilant has had a healthy impact on M & A's cash flow. "First of all, Vigilant enables us to maintain our inventory on a just-in-time basis," he clarifies. "So we are not tying our money up in inventory we don't really need. Then, on a second level, its sales analysis tools are what really have helped us become profitable."
What prettier picture could an imaging company have?
