With internet-based order management becoming the norm for modern businesses, investing in an advanced sales order management (SOM) solution is no longer an option for companies that want to achieve greater efficiency and are keen to automate their day-to-day operations.
Here are seven key benefits that small and medium wholesale businesses can achieve by investing in a good sales order management product.
End of manual processing and reels of paperwork
A successful SOM solution eliminates the need for your sales team to rely on physical documentation to process orders. When you adopt computer-based order technology that can be easily integrated into your sales process, you can largely do away with the use of paper in your premises by having easy-to-use electronic versions of your product catalogues, price list, order forms, invoices and so forth.
This will not only enable faster order processing but also reduce your expenditure in printing, managing and storing paper documents.
Upgradation of existing backend processes
Regardless of the scale of your operations, you’re most likely using an ERP system to run your wholesale business. When you adopt a technology-based sales management solution that can fully and easily integrate with your existing processes using an application program interface, your business operations get further streamlined and your employees can work more efficiently.
Furthermore, a good SOM product worth its price will also offer the ability to import your existing database into the new system.
Integration of order history
Order history is vital data for your business and your SOM product should allow you to import past and ongoing sales orders along with comprehensive product information and customer details. Otherwise, your sales team may be left struggling to cope with the old and new systems and managing data at two different places.
An SOM system makes it easy for your employees to keep track of past and current orders and, thus, make more accurate demand and supply forecasts.
Round-the-clock operations
With an automated SOM system in place, your business is operational 24×7 as customers no longer need to wait for your sales reps to be present to place an order. Just as ecommerce customers are able to buy what they need when they want; B2B customers are also increasingly looking for ease of doing business with wholesalers.
A web-based sales order system allows your distributors to place and track orders real time, which does away with the need for human interaction and the inconvenience of following up through traditional channels.
This simple functionality helps improve revenues as your B2B customers are now able to reorder items whenever and wherever. Furthermore, with financial data tracking in place, managing payments and credits becomes a breeze.
Offline and online order processing
Some sales order management systems don’t only process mobile orders but also enable offline ordering for the rare situations when there is no internet. Wholesale businesses and their sales teams need access to the ordering system as well as the price lists and catalogs regardless of their location and access to internet. Not all sales order management systems have this capability; if it’s -important for your business, look for software that does offer offline ordering.
Better decision making based on reporting and data analysis
Modern inventory and sales management software comes equipped with several modifiable reporting options, which provide wholesale businesses in-depth insight into demand and supply trends, credits and payments, employee performance and inventory trends across locations and customers.
With extensive reports available at the click of a button, you can make better business decisions founded on sound data points and reliable, real-time tracking of the various sub-processes in the SOM system.
Additionally, while not all sales management software is designed the same way, most modern systems are designed to ensure the highest levels of data security to protect vital business information.
Scalability and flexibility
How about a sales order management solution that, unlike a dated ERP, adapts itself according to the needs of a growing wholesale company? A good SOM solution is scalable and can easily handle the additional workload as your business expands to include new products, vendors and customers.
Advanced technology-driven solutions are costly, so it’s important for wholesalers to invest in a product that will not go obsolete a couple of years down the line. Implementation of the software into your organization and training your employees to use the new system take both time and money, so do your research and buy a system that will stretch itself when needed without breaking down.
