Post Link: 10 Things Sales Order Management Technology Should Do For You

10 Things Sales Order Management Technology Should Do ForYou

Combining mobile order writing technology, web-based order management, B2B eCommerce,and integration with back office systems into one complete solution, sales order managementsoftware has the power to completely transform the way wholesale businesses work and servetheir customers. Not all platforms are made equal, however. Here are 10 basic things yoursolution should accomplish easily:

1. Completely replace paper.

From massive catalogs to order forms, line sheets, and price lists, your wholesale business haslikely built up quite the paper trail. First and foremost, sales order management technologyshould eliminate any need for paper in your sales process.

A robust mobile order writing solution will allow your reps to sell from a rich digital catalog,including product descriptions, images, and pricing. It should also store all of your customercontact information, eliminating the need for business card bowls and printouts. Sales repsshould be able to write any order on a mobile device, without ever having to touch a pen orcarbon paper order form.

2. Integrate seamlessly with existing systems.

Most wholesalers are running their businesses on complex Enterprise Resource Planning, orERP systems. Your sales order management solution, therefore, should be able to seamlesslyintegrate with your ERP through an open API. A vendor should also offer the ability to importand export data (both manually and automatically, if needed) for those who prefer to use it as astandalone platform.

3. Allow you to import past orders.

After completing your initial import of products and customer information, the last thing you wantto do is start from scratch––with none of your past or existing orders in the system.

In order to take full advantage of the platform (to allow reps to see customer order history, mostordered items, etc.), you should be able to import these past orders, so you have acomprehensive view of your business from the start.

4. Allow for offline mobile ordering.

From retail stores to convention halls, Internet access is not a constant on the road. Some salesorder management solutions do now allow for offline use––a major deal breaker for mostwholesalers. Sales reps must be able to access their product catalog, write orders, andcontinue to do their jobs, no matter the location.

5. Give retailers the ability to place an order 24/7.

B2B buyers are increasingly demanding the convenience of eCommerce in their work lives.

Giving your retailers access to an online B2B portal where they can place reorders at theirconvenience is key to building an effective omni-channel strategy that not only creates a muchbetter customer experience for your retailers, but also a steadier stream of re-orders andhealthier cash flow.

6. Be intuitive enough for easy adoption.

Look for a sales order management platform that is easy to use––this may be the mostimportant point on this list. The last thing you want to do is invest in a solution, only to have it beso clunky (or the learning curve so high) that your sales reps or back office team refuses to useit.

7. Provide data-driven insights to drive more sales.

A sales order management solution should treat your data as building blocks, not justinformation in a repository. It should be able to use order history and sales performance data asa foundation for useful insights (customer reporting, product popularity, trade show sales, salesrep performance, etc.) that will help you make more sales and better serve your customers.

8. Keep your data secure.

Any software vendor should be committed to keeping your data safe. This has to do with dataredundancy, or the ability to have multiple failures at the data level without losing any of theinformation critical to your business.

9. Scale with your business.

Imagine this: you’ve been using this technology for a few months without any problems. As youadd more additional products, new customers, and order data (as sales are made every day),however, the app begins to crash. It can’t handle your sales volume. A sales order managementplatform should be able to scale and grow with your business, no matter how big it gets.

10. Improve the customer experience.

Ultimately, the purpose of this technology is to optimize the experience for your sales reps, andby extension, your customers. By driving the sales conversation with useful information andremoving much of the minutiae of manual order writing and data entry, sales order managementtechnology should increase customer loyalty, retention, and lifetime value.Post originally located at: https://www.handshake.com/blog/10-things-sales-order-manage-ent-technology-should-do-for-you/

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