The Critical Business Software Every Distribution Company Should Buy

Inventory Management is the number one reason distribution business owners buy software. But Customer Relationship Management should be the number one reason distribution business owners buy software.

In our last “Building More Profit in Your Distribution Business” post, we discussed the need for warehouse management in your software solution. Managing inventory, warehouse by warehouse is important, but only if you have the sales that are actually looking for the inventory.

How will you track sales and your sales pipeline?

How will you keep track of all the leads that come into your business from the marketing department? How will you track the conversations your sales people have had with your prospects? How will your sales people prioritize the time they spend with their prospects? How will your marketing department know which prospects need further marketing?

If sales is the lifeblood of your company, then you need a ready answer to these questions.

That’s why CRM software should be your number one priority

A robust, professional cloud-based or in-house CRM system enables you to:

Track customer activity: conversations, emails, information they’ve consumed, meetings they’ve had with you.
Track sales person’s activity: prospecting calls, follow-up calls, nurture marketing activity, demonstrations and meetings.
Market to your prospects: determine which prospects are cold and require educational marketing, and which prospects are further along the path and require more trust-building marketing.

In other words, a CRM system helps you take control of your sales process, just like an ERP system helps you manage your inventory management process.

Make acquiring a CRM system a priority

You manage your Inventory with your ERP software. But you’re not in business to move inventory from one warehouse to the other. You want to sell it. This is the purpose of your business.

So make CRM software a priority now.

Tags: crm, distribution business