Product category:
Manufacturing Information Technology systems
News Release from: Vecta Sales Solutions | Subject: ERP system and sales Intelligence software
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 September 2006
Extend ERP with sales intelligence
Extending an ERP system using sales Intelligence software can provide a simple path to delivering timely and actionable information to sales and marketing teams without upgrading a back office system.
Changing or upgrading an ERP or Accounts system in order to provide improved sales and marketing functionality is usually a longwinded, extremely labour intensive and disruptive process Neither is simply 'bolting on' a CRM module going to provide an ideal solution for manufacturing, distribution and wholesale businesses with hundreds of products and a large number of active customers
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 1 Aug 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Extending an ERP system using Sales Intelligence software however can provide a simple path to delivering timely and actionable information to sales and marketing teams without the cost and disruption associated with upgrading or replacing a back office system.
Most medium to large manufacturing and distribution companies operate an accounting package such as Sage or an ERP system such as, SAP, Navision, JDEdwards, Kerridge, etc, but few derive anything like the potential value that is available from the sales information residing in those 'back office' systems.
The reality is that extending, changing or upgrading the ERP system is usually a time consuming, complex and costly exercise, and as many companies will attest, the resulting system rarely delivers the desired results.
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The difficulties in changing or upgrading systems arise from the need to configure the new system, convert data from one system to the other, redesign business processes, manage the transition to the new system and complete end-user training.
All of these issues are presented while the existing system that is the backbone of the business still has to be maintained.
The whole process typically takes at least 12-18 months, if you are lucky.
If the changes are being made to provide better sales data or add CRM functionality for example, the knock on effects can reach right through to the production line where they have no interest in the end result.
Consequentially this means that several departments and many personnel are potentially required to agree, adapt and help implement the changes - something that requires time, effort, organisation, management and cost.
Applying Sales Intelligence systems, on the other hand, takes a minimal amount of effort from the IT department and the sales and marketing teams that benefit from the results.
Sales Intelligence software works alongside ERP and accounting systems, automatically referencing the sales history, customer and product data it needs to proactively direct the sales team toward.
Information on profitability, individual accounts and product lines also enables sales teams to easily identify and act intelligently on opportunities for increased sales.
ERP systems are designed to manage production, inventory, order processing etc even enterprise wide solutions still have their roots in product flow, not in the sales office.
This dictates the type of information that is produced and the manner in which it is presented i.e static and mainly for office based users.
Similarly, the primary role of accounting systems is to help manage the financial side of the business, not support sales.
CRM modules or basic CRM capability can be provided as an add-on for most ERP and accounting packages, but that is of limited use as a sales tool when compared to a genuinely sales orientated Sales Intelligence system that provides CRM functionality, but also brings with it genuine sales tools.
Because installing sales Intelligence software does not change the way an ERP or accounts system operates, it simply draws information from it; there is no restriction on compatibility.
Vecta Sales Intelligence can 'talk to' any system, from popular accounts packages such as Sage and expansive ERP systems such as SAP, through to bespoke production management software written for a particular organisation.
Two to three years worth of sales transactions is the typical period a Vecta system will analyse.
The data is downloaded from the client company's system once, validated and then the Vecta database is connected to the system for automatic updates from then on.
Referencing back over this length of time usually requires some fine tuning to make sure any discontinued lines and historical changes to product margins are included in the database, but again, once completed it does not have to be done again.
Vecta works with customers to implement the software and automate the data extraction, transformation and load routines, ensuring that the Sales Intelligence solution is deployed across the business within days not months or years, and with minimal client involvement.
The information Sales Intelligence will provide that traditional ERP and accounts upgrades won't.
The big difference is that even when CRM or Business Intelligence (BI) upgrades are carried out on existing systems the net result is still static data.
There may be a series of smart graphs and reports that are easy to view and print off, but, the sales and management teams are still left to interpret those reports to find relevant, meaningful information or identify trends that will enable them to make informed decisions.
Sales Intelligence does this automatically and will present a sales person with a list of alerts that detail each customer and the opportunity that is available.
This may be an opportunity to sell a product line into a customer that they should be buying based on their profile, a customer that has stopped buying an item and needs to be re-sold or reassured, or one that should be upgrading to a new line.
Up-sell, cross-sell and customer retention opportunities are delivered to the front line and do not need any interpretation in order to act upon them.
Vecta Sales Intelligence software has already helped many manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and resellers to improve sales performance.
The company also has solid ROI figures from those customers to prove it.
With Vecta, sales teams are provided with the actionable, relevant and timely information they need to sell more on every call.
Wyko is the largest supplier of industrial maintenance and power transmission related products and services to the UK market, with 160 branches, 35 repair centres and an annual turnover of more than 250 million pounds sterling.
The company has introduced Vecta to support a new pro-active customer service programme using 'Sales Intelligence' to enhance the customer experience and improve profitability.
"Our objective in deploying VECTA was to improve our customer service response, to become more proactive and ultimately achieve higher sales turnover," explained Bill Wilson, CEO of Wyko.
"The prevailing culture in the maintenance industry has changed from the traditional approach of addressing issues when they arise toward a more pre-emptive approach.
Our products and services have also become far more orientated towards predicting any plant issues and addressing them before they affect production, it is a logical step for us to apply this pre-emptive rationale to our sales data.
We are already achieving sales growth of around fifteen per cent, and the sales intelligence approach is now helping to effect change improving performance of both outbound and branch-based sales." IMI Norgren one of the largest motion and fluid control companies in the UK is using Vecta Sales Intelligence software to improve the customer experience and provide the sales and marketing team with a strong competitive advantage.
Project leader at IMI Norgren, Luc Senechal commented, "Our aim is to reverse the usual 'reactive' stance technical sales people find themselves in and help to position them in a more 'proactive' role.
In order to achieve this we needed the ability to analyse buying trends in great detail and develop proactive selling campaigns without having to manually upload a large amount of data.
The Vecta solution provides an ideal fit for our requirements, providing all the information we wanted and automatically alerting us to immediate cross-selling and link-selling opportunities." Swagelok is a world leading hydraulics company with a 1billion US Dollar turnover, Sales Intelligence is being used to reduce purchase costs for UK customers and at the same time increase profitability.
Swagelok distribution company, Manchester Fluid System Technologies.
Sales director Jon Hall comments, "Vecta Sales Intelligence software has provided the solution to a number of our priority business objectives; the foremost of which is the ability to provide our sales staff with more timely and actionable sales data, allowing them to perform more pro-actively and resulting in our customers receiving a more personal and 'value added' service." This is where Sales Intelligence scores over using an ERP system in isolation, Swagelok were using Crystal reports to provide static data that then had to be interpreted before it could be acted upon.
Vecta on the other hand now provides accurate and timely data directly to the sales management team, who are then able to distribute sales opportunities and instructions rather than just directions and analysis.
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