Gulf States Toyota Chooses Trilogy's Selling Chain Software for Major Sales Re-Engineering Effort
1 July 1997
Gulf States Toyota Chooses Trilogy's Selling Chain Software for Major Sales Re-Engineering Effort
Trilogy Solution Will Help Toyota Customers Shop for New Cars in Dealership
Showrooms, on the Internet and at Free-Standing Computer Kiosks
AUSTIN, Texas, July 1 -- Trilogy, the leader in sales and
marketing re-engineering solutions, today announced that Gulf States Toyota,
Inc. (GST) has chosen Trilogy's Selling Chain(TM) software as a key component
in re-engineering how its 140 dealers in five states sell and market their
vehicles.
With the Trilogy system, GST dealers will be able to provide a consistent
selling process across all marketing channels, presenting detailed
descriptions, videos and photos that explain Toyota product values to the
consumer. Initially, GST dealers will use the Trilogy system on interactive,
touch-screen computer kiosks in all dealer showrooms. The system is
scheduled to roll out in the first quarter of 1998 and will convey consistent
and complete product information in the conventional retail setting.
When the full solution is in place, all the same product information will be
available to the consumer in GST dealer showrooms, on the Internet and in the
kiosks, making GST dealers among the easiest to reach and do business with.
In addition to providing valuable information, the GST/Trilogy approach
also gives the consumer the ability to select a vehicle with the options and
features he considers most important and does not force the user to follow a
pre-defined path -- to select a model first, then a color, then a drive-train
and so forth. A mother, for example, may determine that child safety locks are
the most important feature and choose them first in the selection process. The
system will ensure that all the remaining choices come with that feature.
As the consumer goes through the process, dynamic pricing capabilities
price the vehicle based on the different options the consumer chooses. With
this tool, the consumer can buy by price point and stay within a budget. At
all times, the consumer is assured that information is up-to-date and
accurate. At the end of the consumer-driven process, both the customer and the
dealer are better assured of a satisfying retail experience. In addition to
the benefits the system confers to both consumers and dealers, GST can capture
the valuable information about what consumers are selecting to tailor its
distribution efforts to better meet specific market demands.
"Today's automotive consumers want fast, complete and reliable information
about the vehicles they are considering," said Jerry Pyle, president of GST.
"We and our dealers want to be the source for that information, as well as the
obvious source for vehicle purchase and service. Getting easy information
about products and pricing without interference, anxiety and discomfort is of
real value to the consumer. With our Trilogy application, every one of our 140
Toyota dealers will be able to deliver that value, well before other
traditional competitors can."
"Selling Chain is the only dynamic front-end sales and marketing solution
that lets consumers start the car-buying process with any of the features most
important to them and design a product around those preferences," said Rick
Berry, director of Trilogy's Automotive Business Unit. "When coupled with
other Selling Chain modules for dynamic pricing, electronic catalogs and the
Internet, it's the perfect solution for the automotive or any other industry
that sells a wide-variety of products and accessories to a diverse group of
consumers."
About Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (GST)
Gulf States Toyota, Inc. (GST), based in Houston, is the independent
Toyota distributor serving 140 dealers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana
and Mississippi. GST supports its dealer network with innovative marketing,
training, parts supply, vehicle accessory and financing programs. GST
introduced the first Toyotas into the region in 1969 and distributed more than
120,000 cars and trucks in 1996.
About Trilogy
Trilogy is the leading architect and provider of enterprise software
solutions for front-office sales and marketing. Trilogy's Selling Chain
software creates new links between previously disjointed sales and marketing
functions, building an automated sales process from initial customer contact
and product introduction, to billing transactions and sale completion. Trilogy
enables corporations to achieve new levels of profitability, customer
satisfaction and competitive advantage by changing the way products are bought
and sold. More information on Trilogy and Selling Chain can be found on
the World Wide Web at http://www.trilogy.com.
About Trilogy-Automotive
Trilogy's Automotive Business Unit has focused on the automotive and
transportation industry, extending the power of the Selling Chain to address
the specific requirements of OEMs, distributors, dealers, fleet services,
after-market suppliers and other organizations moving from a manufacturer-push
to a consumer-pull strategy. Trilogy provides the tools to allow these
organizations to streamline their order-to-delivery cycles and distribution
processes, to get closer to and better serve the customer. By providing the
flexibility to run the same system on disconnected laptop computers, on an
intranet, in kiosks and over the Internet, Trilogy enables an automotive
customer to more efficiently and effectively produce, market and sell its
products to increasingly knowledgeable and demanding customers.
Selling Chain is a trademark of Trilogy Development Group. Other company
and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies.
SOURCE Trilogy