How Todays Effective Wholesalers Make the Most of Order Entry Software

order entry softwareHaving order entry software is the first step to improving efficiency and reducing errors, but it's only the start. In order to get the maximum benefit, you need to institute the right processes within your company. This will ensure that the software’s power isn't squandered by incorrect or unnecessary practices.

Here are some ways that successful wholesalers make the most of order entry software, broken down by department or group:

Sales Reps

Inside

Depending on the company, inside sales reps may make outgoing calls, take incoming ones, or a combination of both. Those who take incoming calls often have to answer specific questions about products, inventory levels, lead times, and prices. Train them to think of order entry software as more than just a way to take down orders. Some systems offer instant access to the answers to those common questions, and if sales reps are well-trained, they'll know to use this feature instead of going from (often error-prone) human memory.

Sales reps also need to make use of the software's ability to keep track of the different pricing levels offered to clients. This ensures that the right prices will always be quoted no matter who calls in. Also, since it takes just a few clicks to get the correct data, hold times will be greatly reduced.

Outside

Outside reps gain all of the benefits obtained by inside ones, but with one giant perk: They can instantly put orders into the system with no need to call back to the inside sales desk. This avoids the awkwardness of having to tell a customer to wait for hold times. It also reduces errors since there's no need for someone to hear the order over the phone. By typing everything in directly over a Wi-Fi connection, the sales process is made quick and efficient. Customers will be impressed to see their orders being acted on right away.  The order can then be immediately sent to the warehouse speeding up ship time as well.

Customers

Wholesale customers don't like to wait any more than retail ones do, so they'll be happy to have access to a tool that will speed things up. Order entry software does this in two main ways. For customers who place orders through a rep, the software eliminates long hold times and reduces the chance of errors.

Where this software really shines is in its ability to be integrated with a customer-facing website. This allows them to place orders online, with no need to wait on the phone or schedule a sales visit. It's a great convenience, especially for clients who typically reorder the same items over and over. Adding good product information and descriptions to your items makes it so that customers can even make educated decisions about ordering new products. Finally, the right software will automatically show the right prices and discounts to each customer upon log-in.

Back Office

Software that seamlessly syncs to your accounting software such as QuickBooks, provides a plethora of benefits to your back office operations. It reduces errors and increases efficiency by eliminating the need to pass paperwork between departments. All authorized departments can log into the system to see which orders are coming through as the orders' progress though the company.  The orders can then sync into QuickBooks with no additional data entry needed.

Your company can also use order entry software to transmit orders to your warehouse or to outsourced warehouses. This eliminates the potential for transcription errors or outright loss of order information. Even more importantly, some buyers insist that wholesalers use some sort of computerized order handling system. They know that paper-based methods are prone to problems, and since computerization is so widespread, they have no trouble mandating its use.

These are just some of the ways the top wholesalers use order entry software to make it easier to bring in new customers, retain old ones, and improve back office efficiency. Give it a try, and you'll never want to deal with paper-based order management again.

Order Management System