Published on 11/16/2016 | Strategy
The world is moving ever faster. Customers demand a wider variety of products and services with shorter delivery times. Competitive markets demand that wholesale distributors become more efficient.
To survive in this environment, distributors must rethink their business processes. Leading companies are using digital technology to optimize business outcomes. They are implementing bold initiatives to automate core administrative business processes. They are changing the way they operate by changing or eliminating fundamental business processes. They are moving from being reactive and slow to agile, proactive, and insight-driven.
Distribution companies are taking a fresh look at their key processes. They often find that any process can be more modern or digitized. To stay ahead of competition, the time to plan and execute is now.
Here are some ways distributors are approaching this challenge.
The customer experience today is a lifecycle, not just an individual interaction. Customers expect a consistent experience during every touch point with your organization. Leading distributors provide a variety of ordering channels. These include call centers, websites, text messages, and in-person interaction. The goal is to deliver the exact products and services customers need at the time they need them.
Distributors are becoming more efficient by focusing on their best customers. They are gathering information through segmentation and stratification of their customer base. These details can help transform marketing activities, personalize user experiences, and grow customer loyalty. Companies can then nurture the most profitable customers. And they can take insight-driven action to improve relationships with the least profitable customers.
Companies should use data should to forecast and predict, not to reminisce. Imagine being able to tell your customers which products they will need and when they will need them. Companies use predictive analytics and up-to-the-minute insight to react to trends in real time.
With an eye toward higher efficiency, distributors are reimagining their operations as well. They negotiate the best deals with suppliers to improve margins, pricing, and inventory levels. They use solutions for integrated strategic sourcing and supplier management to achieve 8–14% savings. Companies use optimized operations for complex, high-volume financial processing. This can be valuable for their own company or as a service for business partners. For many companies, rebate and chargeback processes are still manual. This can leave significant revenue on the table. But digital solutions can automate these processes, identifying every opportunity to collect.
Distributors are leveraging the value of business networks. They can automatically order and pay for goods and services, both direct and indirect. Pre-defining suppliers, pricing, safety stock and reorder points enables touch-less and automated processing. Automation of these manual processes gives employees time to focus on customer-centric activities. This helps improve loyalty and increase sales.
In today’s digital economy, wholesale distributors must reimagine business processes to remain competitive and best serve customers. Distributors with vision are leading the way for the rest of the industry.
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