Sales Ordering Software

18 February 2019

We have listed below some of the reasons business owners and senior managers have contacted us for Sales Ordering Software.

Business procedures

Many of our clients approach us as their business grows beyond the point where the owner can no longer control the whole process themselves. They are probably using a spreadsheet to manage their sales order process and have over time developed a workflow which they carry out on each sales order, however, as they expand, they need to delegate part or all of the sales order process and are reluctant to lose the control that they have previously had. Inevitably, this issue is a barrier to expansion and hence a barrier to increasing profits. Indeed, if control is lost, the increased turnover gained by expansion may actually lead to reduced profits.

Cost control

As mentioned above, many businesses start life by processing sales on spreadsheets. These methods are error prone as there is generally little in the way of data validation within the spreadsheet and much of the data is copied from other documents be they other spreadsheets or emails. The ensuing errors damage the businesses reputation and cost money to correct.

Quality control

Similar to cost control, where the process is more complex than a simple “quantity of product” errors occur in processing the sale. Examples include “kit of parts” type sales where the buyer requests a single product but this is satisfied by supplying a collection of “sub-products”. Similarly, a simple concept like minimum order quantity or pre-packed boxed quantity can lead to errors which are expensive to correct.

Stock errors

Knowing what a business has available to sell, either because it is in stock, or because it is due to arrive in stock imminently, has a key effect on the sales process and without comprehensive software systems even the most complex of spreadsheets finds it hard to process orders without significant risk of errors or delays.

Speed

Even when a business has moved on from spreadsheets they may well find that non-integrated systems slow down their ability to take and dispatch orders. A common issue we hear is that the goods in the process require that stock is put on the shelves prior to it being able to be picked. This leads to the madness that the warehouse staff receive goods in, put the goods away, confirm this to a computer system and then immediately are instructed (by the computer system) to get the goods off the shelves for a dispatch!