Kohler

Powerful credit card processing solution enhances customer service

Profile

Kohler Company is a global market leader in plumbing and power systems. For nearly 130 years, Kohler Co. has established industry standards of excellence for superior products and customer service. Unparalleled product design and innovation have led the way to a diverse portfolio of respected brand names with operations on six continents. Today, the Kohler family of businesses creates products that set the standard in kitchen and bath, engines and generators, furniture and accessories, cabinetry and tile, as well as resort, recreation and real estate. www.kohler.com

Challenge

Kohler Co. saw an opportunity to further enhance their customer service while improving the efficiency and security of their credit card transaction processing. According to Jeff Smith, Manager of Kohler Co. Sales and Distribution systems, Kohler Co. wanted to provide their customers with a credit card payment process that matched Kohler Co.'s reputation for product quality and outstanding customer service. And Kohler Co. sales people saw that a call center where consumers could conveniently place their orders would enhance sales productivity. An integrated credit card payment solution that provided instant verification of credit card information - number, expiration date, validity and credit limit - would allow customer orders to be shipped immediately upon credit card approval while minimizing payment risk.

Paymetric Solution

Kohler Co. looked to America's SAP Users' Group (ASUG) and the expertise of their SAP consultant to help identify a reliable and efficient credit card processing solution that provided native integration with their SAP system. And the clear choice was XiPay^TM from Paymetric.

Smith was confident in the decision to work with Paymetric and XiPay^TM. "We felt that Paymetric came to the table wanting a business partnership, rather than just a software sale," said Smith. "They offered a greater sense of partnership and comfort level moving forward with our strategic decision."

"The Kohler project team was hands-on and benefited from the deep expertise of Paymetric consultants," Smith noted. "Our team consisted of a systems analyst from the Sales and Distribution team, an analyst from the Server Infrastructure team, a database analyst from the Basis team, and three business associates from the user community who performed functional QA testing."

Upon using Paymetric solutions, Kohler Co. recognized an additional solution requirement. The company's CRM software for its answer center needed to integrate with the XiPay^TM software. "Paymetric provided an interface that allows us to communicate with our CRM servers, creating a valuable customized solution."

Kohler Co. also required that sensitive credit card data be secured for the protection of their customers. Paymetric quickly supported this requirement by implementing encryption software that secures credit card data storage, effectively preventing information breaches. Kohler Co. was also able to connect their SAP system to the XiPay^TM server to enable the encryption of credit card numbers in SAP. Paymetric provided a first-of-its-kind solution for Kohler - an enhanced, customized solution that is now available as part of any XiPay solution.

Results

Kohler Co. salespeople now receive calls directly via the consumer call center, and are able to accept and process credit card payments in real time. XiPay^TM from Paymetric allows the sales force to instantly validate customer credit cards and provide immediate bank authorization. XiPay^TM then completes the payment transaction cycle by managing payment settlement through commercial settlement channels.

"I've been very impressed with Paymetric and by each associate I came in contact with, from the sales process, to the project work, the installation and software links creation, through the go-live," said Smith. "I really appreciate their efforts and the excellent support that they provided all along the way."

The end result is an efficient and integrated credit card payment process that enables customer service at the highest level.

The Bottom Line...

Fast credit card validation
Efficient payment processing
Protected credit card data
Complete SAP-integrated solution
Customer service of the highest level