The booking of an order is typically the culmination of a variety of factors working seamlessly together. Effective marketing, consistent performance by the sales team, and your firm’s reputation within the industry all contribute to buyers choosing you over other suppliers. It only makes sense to protect your company’s good name and make certain the hard work and investment made to land sales doesn’t go to waste. Meeting these goals begins with taking the steps necessary to ensure on-time delivery.
Avoid the Cost of Poor On-Time Delivery (OTD)
According to surveys of customers in a variety of industries, nothing squanders goodwill or erodes satisfaction faster than missing promised delivery dates. One survey of consumers buying online found that 69% said they were “much less or less likely to shop with a retailer in the future if an item they purchased was not delivered within two days of the date promised.” When it comes to B2B sales, tracking OTD is both an obvious and crucial key performance indicator (KPI).
Among the challenges relevant to hitting strong OTD metrics are how orders are booked and whether the customer’s requested date for delivery is communicated effectively to those responsible for meeting that “promised date”. Attivo All-In-One, powered by SAP Business One, provides the tools and workflows to make oversight of Sales Order commitments a routine and essential function.
Here are a few examples of how an effective ERP solution can support your customer satisfaction goals and keep crucial sales order information from “falling through the cracks”:
Inventory Tracking: Having accurate Inventory Information at everyone’s fingertips provides total transparency of the availability of saleable products so delivery dates are realistic and achievable. This avoids wasteful time spent re-scheduling deliveries and costly rush shipping charges.
Fulfillment: As Sales Order are created, reliable product availability dates can be attached to each transaction using Available-to-Promise (ATP) . A dashboard view of schedules available to Sales, Production, and Procurement provide visibility of the Sales Order and show which are Make-to-Order or Made-to-Stock. Mapping the relationship of each Customer Order to specific Production Orders and/or Purchase Orders closes the information loop, virtually eliminating shop floor scheduling issues and missed delivery dates.
Production Planning: In the event of supply chain interruptions or scheduling conflicts, seeing in advance that forecasting assumptions need to be revised provides lead time for managers to make the necessary adjustments to mitigate the impact and effectively manage customer expectations.
Meeting “promise dates” is key to maintaining superior customer service and earning high marks from those who place their trust in your business. To find out more how ERP designed and built for small to mid-sized organizations can support your OTD objectives, contact one of our expert consultants and book a demo today.
Attivo All-In-One, powered by SAP Business One has the most powerful and fully integrated analytic and reporting tools in the ERP software sector for small to mid-sized businesses. This makes it easier and more efficient to design and implement customized quality control processes and methods across your organization.
