Many wholesale and manufacturing companies are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the pace of purchasing, production and delivery. The reason is that they have often grown exceptionally fast and/or their ICT structure does not allow them to be flexible and agile and respond to the needs of the increasingly “demanding” customer.
As a result, crucial mistakes are made, sales opportunities are missed and many extra (unnecessary) costs are incurred. Does the above sound familiar to you and would you like your company to be fast, flexible and agile and able to meet your customer's wishes and requirements?
Read below for the 10 most important tips.
1. Put the customer first
That is easier said than done, putting the customer first. For many wholesale and manufacturing companies, this has quite a significant impact.
First of all, make sure you put together a project team that clarifies the objectives once again and examines how the current processes work in the areas of: marketing, social media, sales, purchasing, delivery and product support (customer service).
2. Use the right tools and software
Putting the customer first is only possible when you have the right technology in place that gives you insight into all the different communication and marketing channels and gives you the ability to manage all those channels. A system that can monitor all the necessary channels is therefore indispensable.
3. Work with one database
Wholesale and manufacturing companies often still work with different databases and software, such as Excel for inventory management and contact details, Mailchimp for sending emails, and Exact for accounting. Often these databases are not directly integrated with each other, making it difficult to enrich customer profiles with useful and historical customer data. By working with one database, everything remains clear for all employees and they have direct access to customer data.
Train employees to think from the customer’s perspective
People make the difference, no matter how beautiful and effective the technology is. So make them aware of customer-focused thinking. Set the example from senior management and have them coached by external consultants who can provide training and/or presentations.
5. Start small and simple
As mentioned, placing the customer at the center of your business processes has quite a significant impact. So start small and simple and make sure, for example, that you integrate 2 to 3 sales or marketing channels. Evaluate these steps and then keep adding more channels. Keep testing and optimizing and set realistic goals (KPIs) for yourself.
6. Start personalizing
If you put the customer first, address them personally as well (Dear Jaap, ) and send them targeted information they are looking for. So no general mailings or one-size-fits-all messages. Make sure you try to enrich their profile with, for example, date of birth or personal interests. This makes it possible to personalize even more, for example by sending flowers when he or she has a birthday or inviting him or her to, for example, a music concert or football match.
7. E-commerce
Searching for information and buying products is nowadays no longer done only by phone, email or personal appointment, but increasingly online as well. Customers are informing themselves more and more via the internet and may visit competitors' websites. So make sure you also have an online presence, not just with a website as a “business card”, but with a website that offers relevant information and where it is possible to order or reserve products online. Make sure your purchasing and inventory management are linked to this webshop, so that you can respond accurately to requests from different sales channels: phone, personal appointment and/or webshop.
8. Responsive
Also make sure that your website and webshop are responsive. This means that the customer can visit the website via the various screens of their smartphone (iPhone), tablet (iPad) and/or computer / laptop and place their order immediately.
9. Create relevant content
(Potential) customers are often looking for information in the initial phase. So make sure you make relevant content available. Think of blogs, how-to videos, online presentations, brochures, whitepapers, etc. If you find it difficult to produce relevant content yourself, hire an external party. There are many freelancers who can help you with this. An additional advantage is that you will also be easier to find on Google and your customers will appreciate the fact that you offer a lot of relevant and valuable information.
10. Prevent confusion
Make sure that you project uniformity across all sales and marketing channels and are consistent in your message, so that promotions you activate online are also communicated during personal appointments, with clear and unambiguous information about product information, prices and delivery.
If you have any further questions about how to put the customer first and/or which software is best to use for that purpose. Feel free to contact us.
