How Merit Foods of Arizona Brought Credit Decisions and Payments Online in 10 Weeks
Adding Wholesail to entrée by NECS was “fast and easy” for this third-generation family-owned distributor
For more than 60 years, the Sadowsky family has run Merit Foods of Arizona as a local alternative to the national giants. The broadline distributor goes the extra mile for its customers, keeps prices competitive, and delivers on its promises. That dedication includes listening when customers ask for something new.
Ryan Sadowsky, Business Analyst and Special Projects Coordinator, says Merit was exploring options for online payments because of customer requests. Then a big prospect made it clear: no online payments, no deal.
Merit Foods tried to work with an existing vendor that was building out a payments platform. But the process was cumbersome. When the vendor’s product started to negatively impact day-to-day operations, Merit Foods turned its full attention to Wholesail.
Merit’s president already had his eye on Lighthouse, Wholesail’s credit intelligence network. And Wholesail was already a trusted supplier of Golbon, the national buying group of 200+ independent foodservice distributors in which Merit is an active member.
“If Golbon trusts Wholesail enough to have them as a supplier, then Merit can trust Wholesail as a supplier, too.”
Merit now runs payments, customer communications, and credit decisions through Wholesail. Of the “four or five” software implementations Ryan has led, he says Wholesail’s was “without a doubt the easiest.” Every promise was kept, every deadline was met, and he never had to chase anyone to get there.
“We’ve been genuinely happy. It’s not made-up happiness. Implementing Wholesail has gone so smoothly,” Ryan said.
For Merit Foods, moving credit decisions, customer engagement, and payments onto one platform was seamless. Here’s what they value most in their first few months with Wholesail.
“Fast and easy” launch.
Wholesail’s implementation plan kept every stakeholder informed of expectations and clear on next steps. The team hit every date promised over the 10 week implementation. When a challenge came up, the communication was clear and solution-oriented.
“Implementation felt fast but also responsible. It wasn’t just thrown together. It was very strategically phased.” – Ryan Sadowsky
Hands on, white-glove support.
Ryan had experience with implementing other technologies at Merit Foods. What impressed him most about Wholesail is how requests that might have stalled out other tech implementations didn’t faze Wholesail’s team. Just a week before launch, Merit Foods noticed the interface used the term “fuel” surcharge, which could have caused compliance issues. By the next check-in, Wholesail had resolved the issue.
“The support team is always ready to help, and ready to help fast. That should be the norm for a technology company, but often it’s not.” – Ryan Sadowsky
The collective backing of Golbon’s network.
Golbon’s partnership gave Merit the confidence to move without a lengthy vetting process, thanks to references provided by fellow Golbon distributors that use Wholesail. Now, Ryan is paying it forward to other members. Recently, he mentioned the fuel surcharge fix at a Golbon meeting, and another member realized his company needed Wholesail to make the same change. That member emailed support at the start of the meeting, and the change was complete before the meeting ended.
“Having Golbon’s stamp behind Wholesail fast-tracked the process.”
More efficient, consistent communication.
Merit’s AR person used to spend her days calling customers based on legacy entrée reports, running bulk ACHs manually and processing cards through a POS workaround. Today, the back-and-forth emails between AR, reps, and customers have nearly disappeared. Merit’s team is also excited to use Wholesail’s agentic collections module, which will help all team members communicate effectively.
“Working with Wholesail has made our AR team way happier. They’re able to get way more done outside of just chasing down people.” – Bailey Buick
“We’re excited to enhance the way we communicate with our customers and bring more consistency to our communications.” – Ryan Sadowsky
Instant sales and customer adoption.
Merit’s reps work from iPads, not desks. Wholesail was so easy to use that the sales team dropped their old workflows and started checking customer AR in the field before Merit even sent its first Wholesail statement. Customers moved just as quickly. In the first 30 days after launch, about 80% opened weekly statements and visited the portal. Autopay adoption and payment volume continue to grow each week. Ryan has been surprised by how many of their longtime check and cash payers have switched to online payments.
“We have customers paying on Wholesail that we never thought would. And, this is one of the first times I saw our sales team happy about something we implemented.” – Ryan Sadowsky
Effortless, data-driven credit approvals.
Paper credit applications used to pass from sales to accounting to AR, often getting lost along the way. Now digital applications put everything in one place, and new customers are set up right away. Plus, extending credit terms used to mean waiting on Merit’s AR insurer for a yes or no. Now Lighthouse ratings and automated trade references give Merit insight up front. Reps also use Lighthouse to see how customers pay Merit compared to other vendors.
“Now it’s so easy. We are just able to see that Lighthouse rating and not have to go through all the hoops to onboard new customers.” – Ryan Sadowsky