Industrial sales organizations and sales personnel are under continuing pressure to maximize orders and bring in new business with every customer visit or interaction.
- What technologies are available today to expand your inventory at no additional cost?
- What if your sales personnel could bring-in more orders for products you don’t stock?
Imagine being a more valuable supplier to your customer and bringing in new orders for products where you may not currently allot floor space or inventory. Manufacturer’s Apps can bring significant value to both you and your customers.
The OLD METHOD of phoning back to the office or getting back to the customer later that day to answer availability questions is no longer efficient or productive enough to bring-in maximum sales; and in fact hinders the sales process.
Availability of on-the-spot, accurate product availability, not only from the distributor’s warehouse, but also from your direct manufacturer can help you be of more value to the customer and bring in order opportunities quicker. Productivity improvements like this help your sales team meet sales goals and bring home the best commissions.
Progressive manufacturers see an important opportunity to support Industrial distributors with iPhone and Android Apps that can be used by industrial sales teams from any location as an important sales tool. Your new knowledge about stock available to ship direct from your factory source and your own specialized warehouse inventory can make the difference between getting the order or missing the sale.
Aside from benefits to your sales team and customers, utilization of the newest iPhone and Android Apps provides an opportunity to utilize virtual inventory with no floor space, no additional SKU’s and no inventory dollars. The industrial distributor has suddenly multiplied his inventory and product line with no additional cost or investment.
While this concept applies to numerous industrial products, it has been especially useful to the seal and fastener industries where customers purchase high volumes of standard products on a regular basis. Fast pricing, delivery and responsiveness is usually the key to getting the order and earning new business. Imagine a fastener distributor that knows his best customer also purchases high volumes of rubber seals. The thought of taking on a seal product line is just too daunting, but through the use of the seal manufacturer’s App, he can service that OEM customer for all his O-Ring needs.
A manufacturer’s mobile App that shows real-time inventory quantities 24/7 for immediate shipment, gives the industrial salesman a fabulous advantage. In LESS THAN 10 SECONDS, you could quote the most accurate delivery times while still face-to-face with the customer.
Article Co-Authored by:
Ken Schaefer
Craig Webb – Director of Business Development, Boyd Corporation