Any businesses success, whether in wholesale, financial services or manufacturing, rests on satisfying its customer’s needs.
If a customer places an order for something, you need to know that you have that item or resources in stock and that you can provide answers on pricing and product availability quickly.
For SME’s and larger companies there’s no way any one person is going to know all this information. It needs to be automated.
Fortunately, Sage have a solution. It’s called the Commercials module and it integrates seamlessly with the rest of the Sage 200 software.
It manages stock, controls the supply chain and automates the delivery of customer orders so you should have nothing to worry about.
Responding to product and pricing demands quickly is essential to maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. This is how you do that.
In a moment we’re going to look at the key features of this great module but first, a little background, if you weren’t already in the know.
We’re guessing you’ve heard of Sage before but if you need a refresher, here’s a rundown of one of the best pieces of business accounting software out there.
Sage is a UK based FTSE 100 company which serves more than 800,000 businesses in the UK and Ireland alone, including more than a third of the other FTSE 100 companies.
Sage 200, their primary solution to all of the biggest problems faced by SME’s, is highly customisable and allows specialist modules to be added to serve business specific needs.
One of these modules is the Commercials module. It’s ideal for those businesses dealing with a large number of suppliers and business customers such as wholesale and distribution companies.
But it can also be hugely effective for any business dealing with customers in any industry, such as manufacturing, food or the automotive industry.
Managing customer enquiries and sales orders includes multiple stages and is best done using software.
Users of the Sage commercials module can see order acknowledgements, delivery notes and invoices amongst other key documentation for each sale.
It may be that you have complex pricing plans because of the nature of what you sell. This module can account for that and adapt to you.
Maybe you also have user and employee privileges in your company? Discounting for users can be configured and implemented with ease.
Obviously, you want to make it as easy for new customers to onboard and buy from you whilst still getting them to be an effective part of your system.
Fortunately, with the commercials module you can send prospective customer quotations without them needing to have an account. If a customer wants to know how much something is and whether or not it’s available, this information is easily accessible and can be found quickly.
The invoicing system is super streamlined and multiple templates and layouts are available. They can also be created at any time; you don’t necessarily need to have had a despatch to do this.
All stages of the sales order are made simple – allocation, acknowledgement, despatch, invoicing and more – with the commercial’s module. Never lose track of a sale.
Purchase orders – concerning sales of goods between suppliers and buyers – are also kept on top of using the commercials module.
Every eventuality of a purchase order can be recorded and actioned. What labels are needed, allocating stock, foreign currency orders, cancelled orders, multiple delivery addresses – you name it.
If goods need to be returned to the supplier this can be easily managed. Information about suppliers is automatically logged and therefore available to anyone in the supply chain. If someone isn’t a regularly used supplier, staff will quickly be informed.
A big part of keeping on top of all this is ensuring stock management is tip top.
You want to know at all times what you have on inventory. What’s selling fast? What’s not so popular?
The commercials module ensures stock availability is easily viewable at all times. Stock can also be allocated in various fields; sell by date, first in, first out, user defined orders and more. You can also allocate stock to your most valuable customers first using the in-built rating system.
As with the other modules we’ve talked about, this module fully integrates with the rest of the Sage 200 accounting software.
Get on top of what’s coming in and what’s going out and keep your customers satisfied by adding the commercials module to your business processes.
If you want to know more about this and how we can help you implement it in your business, get in touch. We’re only a phone call away.