In order to keep things running smoothly in a product-based business it is essential that every aspect of order processing, from order entry to shipping to invoicing, happens quickly and efficiently. The order fulfillment process is much more involved and important than many small business owners and managers might realize.
A comprehensive order management system improves customer satisfaction and decreases costs by increasing communication among all company departments. It helps sales, order processing, accounting and customer service, and shipping all stay up to date with the other departments’ activities, so that all operations run smoothly. Regardless of whether you are a wholesaler who has many different departments, or where a few people wear various hats, every wholesale company can benefit from the increased communication that comes with a well-designed order management system.
Order processing is one of the most important functions of any business, and good order entry, processing, and fulfillment software can save you time and eliminate errors. If you give your customers and reps convenient 24/7 access to the information they need they will feel confident that their orders are being processed, delivered, and invoiced quickly and accurately. Rep and B2B Customer Portals that integrate with you back-room accounting software are an easy and affordable way to free up your inside and outside staff’s time and to win customer loyalty.
If your staff is spending more than an hour or two a day entering orders or answering routine questions from reps and customers, then you should consider getting them some order management software with online rep and wholesale customer portals. The more time your employees spend on mundane tasks the less time they have to spend on activities that will really help the business thrive.
Portals that let your reps and customers place orders and answer their own questions 24/7 will save you time and will increase customer satisfaction by giving them instant access to the info they need.
Utilizing the right order entry software is not only one of the most important decisions you can make to reduce data entry, customer service questions, errors, returns, and make your order processing more efficient, but did you know it can help you go paperless as well? While many small business owners are a bit intimidated by the thought of "going paperless", doing so is not only much more efficient for your sales people, your customers, your warehouse, your managers and your customer service reps, but it can save you an abundance of hard earned cash as well.
If you are like most business owners today, you know that the effort it takes to fulfill orders can be challenging and time consumingy. By employing the proper order fulfillment strategies, however, you can meet these challenges head on, saving yourself an abundance of both time and money.
If you are like most wholesalers and manufacturers, you know how important accuracy can be when it comes to order processing. One simple error, regardless of how small, can turn into a massive nightmare in the business world. It is truly amazing the number of ways in which humans can really cause problems with order processing. While nobody wants to end up with incorrect orders, inaccurate delivery instructions, short orders or delivery delays, it used to be that an error here and there was just inevitable.
Whether you’re the owner or the office manager of a small manufacturing or wholesale business, you personally know the frustrating daily challenge of trying to streamline processes across all your departments, not only to improve customer experiences, but also to help your devoted and diligent sales reps provide great service to their existing and new accounts. Without the use of an effective sales portal designed specifically for small wholesale businesses (with dreams of big B2B sales), this feat is hard to accomplish.
Business owners do not want to think about returns and refunds, and for good reason. Not only can processing high numbers of product returns and refunds become extremely time consuming, but it can be very costly as well. In order to effectively reduce the number of returns and refunds your business experiences, efficient inventory software is essential.
Every manufacturer welcomes growth, but transitioning from a small to mid-size wholesaler brings several challenges. One of the biggest issues is the burden of increased data entry. The more orders you take, the more data you enter and need to share with various departments. Eventually, the amount of information being entered and shared will become overwhelming and a new process for entering data will be needed.
