5 Essential Capabilities of a Modern Order Management System

modern order management systemOrder management is a crucial part of any business. Without it, orders get lost, delayed as they pass between departments, or suffer from an excess of transcription errors. For years, it has been typical for small companies just getting started to come up with their own systems for preventing these problems.

Alas, many homegrown systems are put together piecemeal as businesses try to keep up with changing times. The real solution is to invest in a well-built, polished order management system from a development firm that specializes in such programs. This will ensure that the solution not only meets current needs, but continues to meet your needs as you grow.

Here are some of the key capabilities to look for:

Interdepartmental Access

One of the biggest problems with both paper- and email-based systems is the need to manually send orders from one department to the next. Orders can be lost, which causes unacceptable delays in the fulfillment process. If an order needs to be manually transcribed at each step, it also introduces opportunities for errors. A good, modern order management system eliminates these issues. With this system, an order only has to be entered once. All of the company's departments can then see the orders and their statuses just by checking their computers.

Access from Beyond Your Company's Walls

Outside sales reps can't be helped by a system that they can't use once they're on the road. Working around this by having them call in or email orders is clunky and old-fashioned and slows down the order process. Replacing old-style systems will allow your reps to add orders directly to the system from wherever they can get an internet connection. This will impress their customers, eliminate the need for them to wait on hold while customers get impatient, and reduce the chance of errors.

Allow Customers to Place Their Own Orders

Sending a sales rep out is great when a customer is new. Once a business has dealt with you before, however, its purchasing agent will likely want to place repeat orders of known products. In this case, he or she won't want to have to wait for a rep to come out or sit and chat. Instead, the purchaser will want to place an order quickly and be on to the next task of the day.

A modern order management system includes a B2B e-commerce portal to make it easy for your customers to do this. This portal works much like its B2C counterpart, but with specialized B2B functions added. Such functions include the ability to set up client-based pricing, handle purchase orders, deal with credit accounts, and other things typical of the wholesale business.

Works with Existing Company Software

One of the biggest obstacles to upgrading is the rarity of solutions that work with what companies already have. Ensure you find one that works seamlessly with your accounting software like QuickBooks. If it works with QuickBooks, there's no need to install an entire new database to get things going. Because of this, the expense and tech support needed to modernize is minimal.

Easy to Learn

Training employees to use a new system is easy when the system is laid out in an intuitive way. An intuitive user interface can be implemented quickly. Of course, it's also naturally easier to learn a single system than it is to memorize a collection of disparate order-taking methods.

Find a company without long term contacts and there's no reason not to make the switch. It won't be long before your company reaps the benefits of a modern, unified system that can pay for itself through increased efficiency and better customer satisfaction.

Order management software