Quick Linq Communications| Success Story
It's tough to gain an edge in the competitive cellular phone retail industry; capturing a local market in that industry is even more challenging.
Quick Linq Communications, a rapidly expanding cellular phone retail business, learned how to leverage technology to help the company strengthen internally and
eventually dominate the region.
In early 2005, Quick Linq Communications had seven retail locations. As sales increased and the company earned
a local reputation for outstanding customer service and unbeatable prices, they began to look toward expanding their operations. Simultaneously,
Director Alex Alqawasmy began to search for ways to use technology to centralize their information systems, so as to track all business transactions
from the company headquarters.
In May, 2005 LimeTech Solutions was contracted by Quick Linq Communications to strategize and implement a broad-reaching technology solution that
would allow the company to upgrade, centralize, and integrate their systems in the midst of a major-growth phase. Time was of the essence, as Quick
Linq needed a system that could be up and running within a few months, in time for the grand opening of ten new stores, and in sync with the erection
of some nearby MetroPCS cell phone towers. The solution also had to be both scalable, to position the company for future growth, and cost-effective
enough not to drain important financial resources during this potentially vulnerable phase of development.
The Strategy
LimeTech Solutions began with a needs assessment process. Working closely with Quick Linq executives, LimeTech
Solutions Director Ihssan Abukhalaf documented the current workflow and helped define an infrastructure plan that would enable the business to move
seamlessly through the upcoming expansion period. The Quick Linq management was particularly concerned with the development of an integrated
Point-of-Sale system that would guarantee reliable business transactions, and an accessible web-based system that would document cell phone
activations and generate customizable sales reports.
Sourcing
After a thorough analysis and price comparison of retail
business resources, LimeTech Solutions located a reliable POS system that was easy to install and user-friendly enough to quickly train the
company's 30+ employees. Meanwhile, using its business contacts with a well-known hardware vendor, LimeTech Solutions successfully negotiated the
purchase of 20+ workstations at almost fifty percent of the standard retail cost. As the new equipment was being integrated into existing store
locations, LimeTech Solutions created a web-based php administration system for tracking phone activations and generating sales reports. This new
system allowed executives to do real-time tracking of all Quick Linq business transactions, remotely, from their own laptops.
Tech Support
With such a quick development timeline, LimeTech Solutions anticipated facing an assortment of tech support issues. Quick Linq
stores were spread out over more than 100 square miles, and driving to each location would be prohibitively time-consuming. With this in mind,
LimeTech Solutions installed Log-Me-In software, enabling the LimeTech Solutions consultant, and ultimately a Quick Linq employee, to do remote tech
support for any one of its retail locations, without leaving the company headquarters. Meanwhile, LimeTech Solutions conducted training sessions to
familiarize Quick Linq management and employees with the new systems.
Growth Phase
With a secure base of integrated
technology systems now in existence, LimeTech Solutions was firmly positioned to assist Quick Linq with the establishment of its ten new retail
locations. Within a two week period of time, LimeTech Solutions installed and wired the internet connections for multiple workstations and POS
systems for each of the new locations, enabling business operations to be up and running smoothly, often within a twenty-four hour window of time.
Success
Today, with an integrated base of technology operations, Quick Linq Communications continues it's expansion
efforts, with profit margins rising at an impressive rate. Thanks to LimeTech Solutions' superb technical development and dedicated training efforts, Quick Linq
now manages its own tech support, and successfully monitors its increasing sales, securing its position as a major player in the cellular phone retail
market.