Colony Foods: Reps Can Now Focus On Relationships

We’ve been using Choco’s OrderAgent at Colony Foods for a year. We’re a family-run business, founded by my dad and his brothers, that I now run with my own brother and cousin. Operating out of Massachusetts since 1988, we have over 100 employees and 25 trucks on the road.

I stumbled across Choco by chance, researching a new website tool, but as soon as I met the team it was immediately obvious that what they offered was going to prove invaluable and completely change our business.

At its core, Choco’s OrderAgent has eliminated hours of manual order input each day - tasks previously fraught with errors and costly mistakes. But the real impact goes beyond efficiency. Our sales reps now have significant time each day to build deeper, more meaningful customer relationships, a shift that has been a game changer for our growth and stability in a challenging market.

Before implementing Choco, I’d feel anxiety levels rise every day around 3pm as my team worked to manually key in bulk orders before a cut-off time, often facing poor reception and internal system outages. Orders would be lost, mistakes made, and most damagingly, a general feeling of chaos would set in.

Trust and relationships are why people buy from you, whatever anyone might claim. And in just a year of using Choco, instead of spending afternoons inputting orders in their cars, reps focus on nurturing those relationships.  So we know this work is helping us build and grow at a time when others are floundering.

Additionally, Choco acts as a backup system, holding orders during internal outages and preventing operational disruptions. And, it increases my profit dollar, because it charges appropriately and makes a fair markup which -  in a rushed situation when panickedly punching in orders -  the team weren't always doing as a lower price might be put through.  

One key benefit we've noticed is improved quality of life and reduced stress for our reps. Saving at least two hours every day has drastically reduced operational pressure. With Choco, accuracy and efficiency have replaced chaos.

Our team had more to offer than data entry and chasing good phone reception. Now, reps use reclaimed hours to talk to customers, share insights internally, and collaborate with me on growing the business. We now have the most accurate, diligent, lightning-speed agent at our disposal, allowing the team to focus on what they're great at.

From day one, the support from Choco has been outstanding. Their team understands our local market dynamics acutely, which has been crucial to a smooth transition.

As independent and family owned businesses, we can get in our own way when we don’t embrace change and new technology. By making the decision to integrate Choco, our capacity to grow has dramatically increased. 

At its core, Choco isn't just about efficiency or AI; it's about giving our team opportunities to build relationships that truly drive our business forward, and within just 12 months that is already happening more than I could have hoped.