iSales 100 Resources for Mobile Distributor Sales Automation

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Advanced Mobile Sales Apps for Distribution – Resource Guide

This resource page is designed to provide you a one-stop location to learn how to use iSales 100 (advanced mobile sales automation for distributor needs) to not only improve customer service and establish your distribution business as the most modern in your industry, but also to grow your business and your profits.

A great mobile sales solution starts when you and your team are confident that your solution will 1) meet and exceed your business objectives 2) create a great user and customer experience and 3) provide a high level of reliability and supportability.

Need additional resources or looking for more information on how iSales 100 can help your business?  Contact us at info@xkzero.com, call 847-416-2009 or visit www.xkzero.com.

Useful iSales 100 (Advanced Mobile Sales for Sage 100) Resources:

Need additional resources or looking for more information on how iSales 100 can help your business?  Contact us at info@xkzero.com, call 847-416-2009 or visit www.xkzero.com.

iSales 100

Create and maintain receipt formats: iSales for Sage 100

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Now with iSales 100 version 4.1 individual receipt formats can be created for each Sage 100 company / user / and transaction type.  HTML skills are required, and we’ve documented here what you’ll need to know to self serve this feature.

The HTML is on the Sage 100 server and can be edited by anyone with basic HTML knowledge.   Upon request, xkzero can do this for a fee (contact us at info@xkzero.com).

We designed the receipt as an HTML file and use standard web technology to create the page, allowing the form to be previewed in a web browser. We use a template engine, which allows us to merge the data from the transaction into the page. It’s called Mustache – because the variables are bracketed with {{ and }} so they look like mustaches.

The HTML form is found on the Sage 100 server at:

…\MAS90\XS\Content\SalesOrderReceipt.html

Individual receipts may be setup for each specific Sage 100 company as well as specific Remote User (within a company).  This can be done by adding directories under ‘Content’.  For example, to add a receipt just for ABC company it would be:

…\MAS90\XS\Content\ABC\SalesOrderReceipt.html

And for Remote User ‘JEFF123’ in XYZ Company: 

…\MAS90\XS\Content\XYZ\JEFF123\SalesOrderReceipt.html

In addition, in the 4.1.0 version we added the ability to setup different receipts for other transaction type. This is done by making an HTML file named by the transaction type as follows:

  • QuoteReceipt.hmtl
  • InvoiceReceipt.html
  • CreditMemoReceipt.html

Below is a list of Variables (labeled ‘MustacheVariables’) that are available. There are 2 parts of the page. There is the main page level and then there is the line level. The template will hit the line level and repeat the section for every line. So, in the variables file there are Line specific data elements.

In the file there are indented sections under Customer. This is a sub section. So, for each order we can get to the Customer information using ‘dot’ notation. For example:

{{Customer.SalespersonName}}

Similar for Item information in the lines section.

Any information not in the list of variables is not available. So, UDF’s that are not one of the 8 UDF’s on Customers and Items (setup in Remote User Maint) are not available.

Limitations:

- Because it’s basically a web page, it is one big page without breaks. We are investigating ways to make it print like a standard form where the header will print at top of every page and a

footer at the bottom. But, for the time being it simply breaks wherever the page ends and continues printing on the next page.

MustacheVariables

{
  PrintedDate
  OrderID
  OrderType
  OrderTypeDesc
  OrderDate
  ShipExpireDate
  CustomerPONumber
  ConfirmTo
  EmailAddress
  Comment
  ISalesCommentLabel
  ISalesComment
  SalespersonDivisionNo
  SalespersonNo
  SalespersonName
  CustomerName
  AddressLine1
  AddressLine2
  AddressLine3
  AddressLine4
  City
  State
  Zip
  Email
  Phone
  Fax
  ShipToCode
  ShipToName
  ShipToAddress1
  ShipToAddress2
  ShipToAddress3
  ShipToAddress4
  ShipToCity
  ShipToState
  ShipToZipCode
  SubTotalAmt
  TaxableAmt
  NonTaxableAmt
  SalesTaxAmt
  TotalSubjectToDiscount
  DiscountRate
  DiscountAmt
  FreightAmt
  OrderTotalAmt
  ShipVia
  Customer {
    ARDivisionNo
    CustomerNo
    CustomerName
    AddressLine1
    AddressLine2
    AddressLine3
    AddressLine4
    City
    State
    ZipCode
    EmailAddress
    CountryCode
    TelephoneNo
    TelephoneExt
    FaxNo
    Comment
    ContactName
    ContactTitle
    SalespersonDivisionNo
    SalespersonNo
    SalespersonName
    PriceLevel
    CustomerType
    URLAddress
    CreditHold
    PrimaryShipToCode
    TermsCode
    TermsCodeDesc
    DateLastActivity
    DateLastPayment
    DateLastStatement
    DateLastFinanceChrg
    DateLastAging
    DateEstablished
    LastPaymentAmt
    OpenOrderAmt
    CurrentBalance
    AgingCategory1
    AgingCategory2
    AgingCategory3
    AgingCategory4
    UserFld1
    UserFld2
    UserFld3
    UserFld4
    UserFld5
    UserFld6
    UserFld7
    UserFld8
  }
  Lines[] {
    SeqNo
    ItemCode
    ItemType
    ItemDesc
    WarehouseCode
    UnitOfMeasure
    Comment
    UMConvFactor
    OrderQty
    UnitPrice
    Extension
    LineDiscountPercent
    Item {
      ItemCode
      ItemType
      Description
      ProductLine
      PriceCode
      CommentText
      DefaultWarehouseCode
      SalesUnitOfMeasure
      PurchaseUnitOfMeasure
      StandardUnitOfMeasure
      PurchaseUMConvFctr
      SalesUMConvFctr
      StandardUnitPrice
      UserFld1
      UserFld2
      UserFld3
      UserFld4
      UserFld5
      UserFld6
      UserFld7
      UserFld8
    }
    Warehouse {
      WarehouseCode
      WarehouseDesc
    }
  }
}

Any questions or comments?  Customers current on xkzero maintenance and support plans should contact us at info@xkzero.com.

 

 

More iSales 100 resources from xkzero.  http://erpappsblog.com/isales-100-advanced-mobile-sales-for-sage-100-resources/

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Cool Ideas for Distribution Companies

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Distributor sales rep
These days, with increasing frequency, your sales reps spend less time in the office tied to a desktop PC, and more time out and about—building relationships, and hopefully closing new deals for your distribution business. Have you given much thought to how well equipped your sales reps are—or are not—with mobile resources? Do they have access to the information they need? Are they prepared to anticipate and attend to the needs of customers and prospects? And can they do these things with the confidence and accuracy needed to win their trust, and ultimately—loyalty to your brand?

The key to more sales and happier customers could be sitting right in your sales person’s pocket. It can be as simple as taking advantage of the great mobile sales solutions available to distributors and manufacturers today. Think about it. If your sales reps are going to leave the office with just one tool in their pockets, shouldn’t it be one that provides information to make their lives—and your business—better?

Let’s look at 6 cool ideas for distribution companies -  specific things you can do for your sales reps to improve their performance:

  1. Provide downloadable and dynamic access to customer information and contact details. Not only do new sales reps normally have to manually enter all these details themselves—names, addresses, multiple contacts, phone numbers, email addresses and on and on—but they have to maintain them too. Let’s be realistic. Relying on manual updates, how accurate and complete will that data be over time?
    A good mobile sales app will allow you to distribute all the customer and contact info directly to the smart phone with only a login and a password. If you follow best practices, that information will be maintained in your back office ERP/CRM/accounting system. That way, you’ll never have another worry about whether your rep has accurate contact information to always be connected to your customers.
  2. While you’re at it, give them dynamic inventory access, too. This is especially useful if you can provide visibility by warehouse, and differentiate between quantity on hand and quantity available. If your inventory has visual appeal and your mobile app can display images, you’re on the path to eliminating those expensive, never current product catalogs you’re still publishing.
  3. Equip them with historical sales information. Do you want to convey to your customer that you DON’T care for them? Then make sure your sales reps are not able to recite what the customer has purchased from them throughout time—when and at what price. But if it’s informed sales reps you want, mobile access to sales history is vital.
  4. Let them enter their own orders. Does your sales process require making a call, or filling out an order form that’s faxed to the office to be rekeyed by someone else? If so, congratulations because by enabling a mobile sales app that allows for transaction entry will save you boat loads of administrative labor, and will get the orders placed, picked, and delivered faster. This will also eliminate all kinds of errors.
  5. Empower sales reps to accept payments, too. Even if your long-standing distributor relationship leads you to grant 30-day payment terms, perhaps a change is in order. The culture of immediacy of all things consumer apps (especially as millennials flood the workforce) may be reason to rethink payment collection. Let’s face it, no one wants a paper check. No one wants a paper invoice.
    And while you’re not likely to be accepting Bitcoin, swiping a credit card may become the new normal. If your business model includes selling at tradeshows, from a sales counter, or a showroom floor—taking payment directly on your smart phone or tablet could both delight your customer, accelerate your cash flow—and provides yet another opportunity to save on administrative costs.
  6. Have sales reps collect new intelligence. I see a lot of businesses scrambling to find the latest, greatest business intelligence tools. They seek the latest dashboard, the most meaningful pivot table, the easiest-to-use query. What I don’t often see is companies evaluating the nature of the information they collect.
    Mobile apps and smart phones are naturals for gathering survey information of any kind. That could be customer, competitor, sales rep, or vehicle data. You name it. Mobile apps also leverage a wide range of tools your smart phone or tablet affords, allowing you to collect photos, other images, videos, audio notes, electronic signatures, and even location-centric (GPS) data.

There are a number of important considerations before investing in a mobile sales app. However, as you can see—there is opportunity-a-plenty to stand out in your industry as the most informed, up-to-date, confident, efficient and modern distribution/manufacturing business. How cool is that?

Other resources distributors may be interested in:

Ready to build your own mobile sales strategy?  We’d love to hear from you. Email us at info@xkzero.com, visit www.xkzero.com, or call 847-416-2009.

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iSales version 4.10 – Driving Better Sales Results

xkzero has released the latest version of our popular mobile sales app for distributors and manufacturers – iSales for Sage 100 – and the new release is all about making the customer experience and the salesperson experience – better and better.

Here’s what’s new in iSales 100 version 4.1:

  • Ability to select multiple items at once during transaction entry
  • Reprint Open Orders, Quotes, Invoices and Credit Memos directly from the device
  • Ability to create unique receipt formats by transaction type (Sales Orders, Quotes, Invoices, Credit Memos)
  • Change Price Level at either the Header or Line level during transaction entry
  • Ability to set default values for Tax Schedule, Terms Code and Price Level when creating New Customers on the device
  • Fix: display of Customer Memos on iPads
Mult-item selection with iSales

Mult-item selection with iSales

iSales 100 requires Apple devices supporting iOS version 7 and higher (including iOS 9), and is natively integrated with Sage 100 version 2015, 2014 and 2013.

Please note that while you may download iSales version 4.1 now, you will need to arrange for installation of the compatible backend components on your Sage 100 server to enable the new set of features.  Contact your xkzero account executive at info@xkzero.com for more information.

xkzero‘s commitment is to create the most flexible and powerful mobile sales app designed to make the exacting needs of your business.  Download your free trial version today!

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iSales (mobile sales) for Sage 100 and iOS 9

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Apple will be depositing iOS 9 onto your iPhone and iPad any day (any hour?) now, so you should know that xkzero has you covered – iSales 100 is compatible with iOS 9.  But in order to be compatible with iOS 9 you’ll need to download and install the newly released version 4.1 from the Apple app store.

iOS 9 is filled with great new features, so we figured we’d add some great new features to iSales 100 too.  Read about our new release here!

In order to take advantage of the new features in iSales 100 version 4.1 please contact your xkzero account executive at info@xkzero.com for details about installing the necessary components on your back end Sage 100 server.

To learn more about iSales 100 and the benefit of mobilizing your salesforce, please visit our website or contact us at 847-416-2009.

Enjoy!

Great new operating system from Apple, and great new features from xkzero too!

Great new operating system from Apple, and great new features from xkzero too!

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