ComputAbility, a mail-order company, began in 1982. An
authorized reseller of computer software and hardware,
ComputAbility offers their clients over 50,000 products.
The company has built their reputation on a foundation of
competitive prices and quality service. In August of 1997,
Creative Computers, also a mail-order company, acquired
ComputAbility. The acquisition provided a number of
benefits to the company, primarily a larger product
selection to offer to customers.
Currently, ComputAbility employs 60 + people with plans
of adding on 20 to 30 more sales representatives and
support staff during the next year. Prior to February of
1998, all of the sales representatives were in the inbound
division. This division handles all incoming sales calls.
Majorities of these calls are from individual consumers.
Creative Computers had started their company the same
way, but found the growth potential was in the business
sector. In February of 1998, ComputAbility started their
corporate sales division, an area already underway at
Creative. This division of the company was created to
develop relationships with business clients, and become the
primary way of increasing company profit. Computability
added a dedicated trainer to the staff at the same time the
corporate division was started. This individual's primary
responsibilities were to train new hires in the areas of sales,
product knowledge, company policies and procedures and
computer systems.
Although there was a solid training program in place,
including ongoing new product training from manufacturers,
the company was not profiting at an acceptable rate.
ComputAbility experienced a decrease in ...