Wild Beauty and the portatour^® route planner

About Wild Beauty

Wild Beauty is a renowned distribution company specializing in the direct sale of exclusive hair care and beauty products to hairdressing salons in Germany and Austria. Since its foundation in 1994, the company has continued to develop and now distributes well-known brands such as Paul Mitchell from the USA and Kemon from Italy. Wild Beauty is aimed specifically and exclusively at hairdressers in order to offer them exclusive access to high-quality products.

About Bastian Rittgen

Starting out as a classic field rep, Bastian Rittgen now works as sales manager and authorized signatory for Wild Beauty. Originally trained as a hairdresser and having studied business administration in Mainz and London, Bastian Rittgen brings both practical and theoretical expertise to his role in the company. For some time now, he has also been part of the management team and works closely with the company owners to develop the company strategically and economically.

Why automated route planning?

The switch from manual to automated route planning was a logical step for Wild Beauty, as Bastian Rittgen explains: "The real reason at the time was that I hired young field rep employees without much operational experience. We wanted to provide support for the new colleagues so that they didn't have to wander around randomly in an unfamiliar territory. We wanted to make it easier for the new colleagues to get started and help them to plan their routes efficiently." Wild Beauty was also looking for ways to reduce the time spent on manual planning and to optimize the acquisition of new customers. So they went to search, tested different software and finally found what they were looking for: "We couldn't find a better solution than portatour^®, let's be clear about that. No other program is as user-friendly and helpful."

We wanted to have support for our field reps so that they don't have to zigzag around randomly in a territory that they don't know. I did some research and we couldn't find a better solution than portatour^®. That has to be said quite clearly.

Bastian Rittgen, Authorized signatory and sales manager

How has portatour^® changed your everyday life?

Since the introduction of portatour^®, Wild Beauty has seen many positive changes. "We have seen an impressive 56% increase in new customers," says a proud Bastian Rittgen. This success is due to the efficiency of the automatic route planning and the systematic address feed for the field sales force. portatour^® enables the company to enter new salon addresses directly into the route planning of field reps, which makes the acquisition of new customers considerably easier.

We definitely see the biggest advantage at customer acquisition. Thanks to portatour^®, we are currently registering 56 % more new customers per year.

Bastian Rittgen, Authorized signatory and sales manager

The implementation of portatour^®

The introduction of the software at Wild Beauty went smoothly and without complications. "The setup was very easy and we received great support from portatour^®," recalls Rittgen. "The integration into our existing ERP system also went smoothly. The high user-friendliness and the extensive online help center of portatour^® made the onboarding of new employees much easier and usually takes no more than half a day." Bastian Rittgen describes himself as a fan of portatour^®: "I am therefore happy to pass on my knowledge and enthusiasm for the software to new employees."

We chose portatour^®, among others, because it was the most intuitive and easiest to set up.

Bastian Rittgen, Authorized signatory and sales manager

Why was portatour^® the perfect solution?

After careful consideration, Wild Beauty finally opted for portatour^® for several reasons, as Bastian Rittgen explains: "We also tested other solutions, but none were as user-friendly as portatour^®. We were particularly impressed by the ability to combine route planning, customers and reporting in one system. In addition to the high level of user-friendliness, we also appreciate the help center and the always competent support team." Another important point for Rittgen and his team is the reporting function. It makes it easy to analyze weekly reports and obtain a comprehensive overview of the field service's activities. "We used to do this manually in individual calls with the employees. Now I can view reports and ask specific questions if necessary, which makes my work much easier."

We use portatour^® not only as route planner, but also as a reporting tool. The reports summarizes the whole week for me. I no longer need to call every single person, I can just look at the reports.

Bastian Rittgen, Authorized signatory and sales manager

Conclusion

In summary, this example shows very clearly how a well thought-out application not only increases efficiency and productivity, but also contributes significantly to new customer acquisition and time savings. portatour^® not only facilitates the daily work of the sales force, but also provides the sales management with an overview of the current situation without much effort.