ADD Systems’ Grant McAllister has a unique vantage point into the fuel and convenience store industries. He’s been an account representative for ADD Systems’ clients for 26 years, visiting with hundreds of companies and witnessing their challenges. Here are some of his thoughts on our ever-changing industries trends:
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Changing Priorities
One of the most consistent challenges has been the evolving and increasingly more sophisticated industry needs. Grant has seen industry data processing needs migrate from accounting applications, to comprehensive solutions designed to handle all operational elements, to the current push for systems designed to be customer facing. He sees this latest trend as customer-initiated. “Your customers demand self-service and you have to listen in order to retain their business.”
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Consolidation
“Open up any industry magazine and you’ll see that there is a trend toward consolidation.” Both fuel and convenience store acquisitions mean bigger, often more diversified companies, companies that need to focus on running better, more efficient operations.
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Wireless Everything
“The bars and standards are higher now, due to technology. The Smartphone has changed everything.” People expect wireless and immediate access to real-time data, so companies are moving to solutions that provide wireless options.
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Push for Integration
“I’ve seen an ever-increasing push to gain efficiency through the automatic integration of multiple levels of a company’s operations.” Oil and propane truck meters, web portals, suppliers, tank monitors and pricing networks are just some of today’s most popular integrations.
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Business Intelligence
Another big push – business intelligence reporting, also known as data mining. With so much data being gathered today, there’s a push to enable companies to turn their data into meaningful information, information that can help them recognize and react to opportunities. Grant believes “business intelligence is self–service for you. You have unique reporting needs and have to be able to make meaningful, actionable information out of your data.”
Grant’s Role as Problem Solver
Grant sees these five trends as some of the strongest in the industry, and he considers it his responsibility to show his clients and prospects how ADD Systems solutions can help them stay ahead. He works to identify each company’s challenges and present the right ADD Systems solutions, complemented by third party products that leverage ADD’s strong vendor relationships.
“I’ve always considered myself a problem solver and solution provider. Today things are moving faster than ever before. Putting together the right solution is an absolute necessity, and why I am happy to share my industry expertise and guidance with our ADD customers.”
To learn more about how ADD Systems can help your company, call Grant at 862-881-7593 or contact the ADD Systems national sales office at 800-922-0972.
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