From complex billing to nationwide service coordination, Xeo helped IRG streamline critical processes and support rapid growth.
Background
Industry Retail Group (IRG), founded in 2004 and subsequently acquired by Vector Security®, specialized in delivering tailored managed network services, with a strong emphasis on broadband solutions for retailers and multi-location businesses. Their diverse B2B clientele spanned various industries, including major apparel and specialty retail chains, quick-service restaurants, seasonal and pop-up stores, as well as insurance providers, real estate companies, and healthcare facilities across the United States.
Challenge
“We have to build the plane as we’re flying it.”
— Chief Operating Officer
IRG is a telecommunications company, but its challenges are familiar across industries: complicated customer contracts, multiple service locations, manual billing, and difficult workflow coordination.
As the company grew rapidly, it became critical to prioritize three essential operational functions: Billing, Workflow, and Prequalification. These areas required immediate solutions to support scalability and maintain service quality amidst expansion.
Solved with Xeo
Billing
Generating accurate monthly invoices was challenging because of the complexity of IRG’s services. Contracts varied widely in length, terms, and pricing, and network equipment originated from multiple sources—sometimes supplied by the client, the broadband provider, or rented by IRG. Invoicing requirements also differed: some invoices were consolidated and sent to headquarters, while others were issued directly to franchise owners.
To streamline billing, IRG bundled services so that individual line items would be combined into a single line on the invoice. However, as customers’ needs evolved, they frequently submitted change orders that required prorated billing for partial months. These complexities meant the billing team often needed nearly a full month to complete the invoicing process.
To address these challenges, Xeo captured key contract variables, giving the system direct access to all factors affecting billing. Incorporating a Rate Sheet feature enabled entry of a wide range of prices specific to each account. Xeo also integrated logic to support prorated billing for partial months and seamlessly accommodate change orders and early termination fees.
Using Xeo, billing team productivity improved over 50-fold, and invoice accuracy increased significantly.
Workflow
Installing internet service at a retail location is a complex project management task. Achieving efficiency requires careful coordination to ensure circuits are ready, equipment is on-site, and the location is accessible. For IRG, this meant managing multiple vendors for each site across thousands of locations nationwide—a logistical challenge that demanded precise timing and synchronization for each order.
To meet these demands, Xeo provided a comprehensive workflow management system that ensured every detail was accounted for, allowing teams to track the status of each service and item seamlessly. Xeo also created detailed reports highlighting outstanding tasks, enabling proactive project management. This approach drove 10X growth in efficiency, delivering consistent, reliable results.
Prequalification
A critical step in the sales process is prequalification, where prospective clients submit a list of locations nationwide to receive a broadband service quote across all sites. Traditionally, this process involved identifying broadband providers for each location, gathering pricing and availability, and consolidating the information for submission to the prospect.
When a venture capital firm acquired one of IRG’s key vendors, it tried to raise prices drastically—from about $2,000 to $70,000 per month—so IRG and Xeo moved quickly.
Xeo’s solution began by ensuring accurate location data. We conducted an in-depth review of leading address data providers, including Google Maps and Bing, and coded our system to cross-check results for optimal accuracy. With reliable location data in place, we fused IRG’s database of installed services with Federal Communications Commission data to generate precise prequalification results, detailing which services were available at each location.
As a result, IRG prequalification turnaround reduced from weeks to days, even for requests involving up to 3,500 locations.
The Results: Greater Efficiency, Accuracy, and Scalability
By addressing three critical operational challenges, Xeo helped Industry Retail Group transform complex, time-consuming processes into streamlined, scalable systems.
With more accurate and efficient billing, better visibility into nationwide service installations, and faster broadband prequalification, IRG gained the operational capabilities needed to support its rapid growth without sacrificing service quality.
IRG’s experience demonstrates how Xeo can solve operational challenges that standard, off-the-shelf systems cannot accommodate. By adapting technology to the way a business actually operates, Xeo helps service organizations eliminate bottlenecks, improve productivity, and build a stronger foundation for growth.
