How Sales Order Processing Software Is Helping Businesses Grow

Gaps within the sales order process often disrupt day-to-day operations and negatively impact bottom lines. Poorly implemented workflows lead to stock depletion, negative cash flow and conflicts in your primary and secondary sales channel. In today’s post, we discuss how these gaps impact business growth and how AI-based distribution management software can remedy them.

The most common gaps that exist in Sales Order Management are human error, lack of automation and improper data management.

Human Errors

Manual entries have always been prone to errors but can lead to even costlier mistakes for enterprises handling big data volumes. Typing errors and verbal miscommunication are often the reason behind input of wrong order quantities, product codes, price quotes, billing and shipping information etc. Moreover, human errors are known to affect companies using advanced price strategies. For example, a variation in price for B2C and B2B customers or selling the same product at different price points depending on season or geography.

All in all, human errors disrupt or slow down the Order to Cash Cycle for both small and large businesses and need a remedy.

Lack of Automation

While we see automation taking over a lot of routine tasks in our daily life, a large number of SMEs are operating without its benefits. These enterprises still rely on manual entry of sales orders and inventory data and its communication. These repetitive tasks not only affect the overall productivity but also waste precious time and money which could be invested in growth.

Lack of real-time inventory and order management, billing information etc. often leads to duplication, confusion and even lost sales.

Improper Data Management

Relying on spreadsheets and word processors for business data management leads to the creation of a false economy. These old-fashioned techniques fail to present the real state of Sales Order Process and Cash to Order cycle. Quite often, costs add up quickly when companies try to save money by cutting corners in data management. It is rightly said that ‘data is the new oil’ as it powers business growth.

How switching to Sales Order Processing Software helps

In recent years, big data processing has witnessed a quantum leap in terms of processing power, affordability and availability. The Sales Order Process has also benefitted from these advancements in Cloud-based AI and ML technologies. Software solutions like Outreach Distribution Management System are capable of end-to-end integration of your Sales Order and Cash to Order processes. Here’s how these Sales Order Processing Software minimizes the gaps mentioned above.

1. Minimizing Human Errors: Costly sales errors can become a thing of the past with rule-based digital oversight provided by Sales Order Processing software. Advanced Distribution Management Solutions protect against human error by automatically adjusting the pricing on sales order records to match the price rules set by you. DMS also helps in tracking stock levels within your supply chain and notifying about excess stock or stock-out situations. Moreover, end-to-end Sales Order Process Software includes advanced inventory management for sorting and distributing products using machine-readable codes to reduce human errors.

2. Automation of Order to Cash Process: Software integration saves your organization from a lot of paperwork and manual oversight, allowing automated creation of sales order documents. Estimates, sales orders, shipping orders and invoices can be created with a few clicks, exponentially speeding up the Order to Cash process. AI-based DMS solutions also analyze inventory records and flag when stock levels run low in your distribution channel, allowing you to initiate secondary sales in advance.

In time, AI and ML enable real-time tracking of KPIs, such as bestsellers, profit margins, returns on sales ratio etc. allowing further speeding up of the Order to Cash cycle.

3. Advanced Data Management & Analytics: Digital oversight of data also allows you to see gaps and opportunities that were getting missed under the manual entry system. Integrated business growth tools in the latest and greatest Sales Order Processing Software provide a variety of useful insights for use in strategic management.

4. Improved Customer Relationships: An integrated Sales Order Processing Software also helps in improving customer relationships by streamlining the workflow and enhancing the ease of doing business with your company. Secondary sales channels also benefit from uniform scheme activation, delivery and timely claim settlements. Moreover, real-time sales & inventory data management ensures that your operations are never disrupted for want of more product or services to sell.

5. Financial Benefits: Implementing Sales Order Processing Software also enables Sales Force Automation, saving millions of man work hours for your organization. Thus, providing a veritable boost in productivity and profits with your existing workforce.

To know more about Sales Order Processing and Distribution Management Software, you can reach UBQ Outreach.