Order errors aren’t part of doing business - they’re killing it.
I was recently speaking to a sales manager, and like the many other sales managers I’m lucky enough to deal with, she spoke about the impact that order errors were making on the businesses bottom line.
Her reps - who are time poor in an effort to meet their KPI’s - are prone to rushing through systems that are in place to fulfil orders. At the low end of the functional scale, we see paper-based systems that rely on information about the order being recorded by the rep and transmitted to an admin team who keys it in. This method is prone to mistakes, both from the rep and again from whoever enters the order. Further to this, the orders are usually keyed into an accounting package that is not designed to receive orders - or if it is, the interface is a secondary concern and not optimised to be used by your reps.
The other reality is the reps are using some form of incumbent software such as a CRM that is not specifically designed to take orders in the field. Once again, administrative errors are all too common as the interface isn’t structured to provide a nice flow and opportunities to increase sales for the reps are missed.
In both these cases, order entry is slow and it’s not optimised to increase sales and reduce, and almost eliminate order errors.
As a result, money is being lost and stock is being wasted.
Like any other sales managers, this can be stressful when you’ve got your own KPIs and expectations to meet yourself. Business is hard enough right now, and while order errors are a common pitfall in the wholesale industry, there’s a hidden cost here that’s probably even more damaging than the losses incurred.
So, what’s the loss?
The real price of our order errors.
The loss here is trust. It’s trust with a customer that’s never held a higher premium. Even if the mistake was small, and even if you fixed the error quickly, your customer was inconvenienced.
As a result of the error, they probably couldn’t deliver on their own promise, and the chain of trust diminishment continued. They might have been calm when the honest mistake was made with the order, but when they had no choice but to let their own customer down, losing revenue in the process, that’s when your relationship takes the hit.
Now, I know this is blunt, and it’s obviously the worst-case scenario. So, what’s on the other side of this?
Well, we already know that order errors are all too common in the wholesale space.
How we can use this to our advantage.
It’s your chance to differentiate yourself. What you sell may be a commodity in an overly price-sensitive market, but everything that sits around what you offer is your chance to stand out as a brand.
What if you become the type of business that rarely makes order errors?
What if you become the brand that allows your clients to place orders for stock when they need it, instantly?
What if you become the brand that has an understanding of your clients’ needs and expectation like no other?
Order errors in the wholesale industry are a true lose/lose situation. However, an awareness of this reality is also a massive opportunity for sales managers.
So, what’s the solution here? How do we minimise our order errors while gaining an understanding of our customer like no other?
The Solution - a streamlines sales process.
It all begins with our systems. Firstly, we need to evaluate our entire sales process and question it’s viability. Is room for error built right into what you do?
For wholesalers using cumbersome hard-copy catalogues with a paper-based order fulfilment process, chances are that the margins for error are naturally higher.
If you’ve been able to digitise your sales process, often the chances for error are lower. Still, it’s important you look at your sales process and ensure you’re giving your reps the best tools to shine in the different aspects of their role. Why would you allow your competitors to have better information available to their reps than yours?
If its affects order fulfilment and knowing your customers business, it’s a worthy investment of your time to explore what’s available.
In a highly competitive market you have a responsibility on behalf of your team to stay on the front foot with cutting edge tools to help boost revenue and bolster client relationships.
Only you know how much time you spend generating reports and how helpful those reports are to you to implement strategic goals for your team. Ideally you want powerful reports at your fingertips giving you better insights to steer your team to success.
A tangible way of evaluating your sales process is to map it out in a diagram.
If you don’t already know, here at Inzant we provide a mobile sales platform that places your entire sales process into one easy to use iPad app. Here’s a flow chart of what our clients’ sales process looks like.
You can see it’s straightforward, and the margin for error is slim. We’d say perfect, but nothing in life ever is!
How does your sales process look right now?
If your current sales process feels is cumbersome and prone to consistent order errors, then I’d be happy to have a consultative chat with you.
I hope you’re 2021 is off to a great start, and here’s to making fewer order errors.
It matters more than you know.
Damien Britton
Commercial Advisor | Inzant Australia
e: enquiries@inzant.com.au
m: (02) 4987 6413
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