Mobile B2B Sales: A Practical Guide for Operations Managers

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Paul Ziliak

As an operations manager the design and control over business operations is in your hands. As your industry evolves, your ability to stay on top of best practices and adaptation of new technologies is so important. This article offers key insights into mobile B2B sales, and a practical guide for operations managers.

Mobile sales apps for B2B represent the new standard for growing small and mid-sized businesses. In fact, mobile B2B sales may be the greatest thing to happen for manufacturing and wholesale distributor sales reps since the invention of the printing press. There are very few technologies you can add to your business today that will have as far reaching effect on the quality of operations, and the bottom line of your business as a mobile sales app.

Job #1, as always, is to meet or exceed customer expectations. Your goals are centered around metrics like on-time deliveries, days on hand inventory and inventory turns. Mobile is setting the new standard for warehouse operations, and there is no role in the organization that will gain from the transition to mobile like operations will.

How will operations benefit:

Accelerated supply chain
Reduced delays and bottlenecks
Cost reduction
Increased order and invoice accuracy
Improved on-time delivery and other key metrics

Risk factors to watch out for:

Solutions that do not cater to your unique operations environment
Out of control budgets that customize projects can lead to
Poor or improperly designed integrations with your ERP system
Reliability of the mobile solution, and need for contingency planning

If your company has outside sales reps, or sells at trade shows, on a showroom floor, from special events or on-site with a customer –for you, the era of the printed product catalog, the paper order form, and the fax machine – is over.

Ready to talk about charting a mobile sales strategy that makes sense for your operations? Contact us at info@xkzero.com or call 847-416-2009.

A new fountain of youth (Webinar)

Posted on February 25, 2016 by xkzero

“Like a kid on Christmas morning I tried it last night. This solves everything I didn’t like about Sage 100″

Sage 100 discovers the fountain of youth?

Whether you’re old enough to remember navigating the internet before Google and Yahoo or not, you’re certainly young enough to imagine how much better Sage 100 could be with the power of total search-ability.

That time is now.

xkzero cordially invites you to join us to learn how one simple add-on to Sage 100 will change the experience for every single user, forever.

Search virtually everything and anything – across companies and across modules – using words, numbers, phrases, combinations, wildcards, date ranges, right within Sage 100. Click and browse straight to what you’re looking for.

Guaranteed to improve customer service, resolve disputes, improve workflow – and reduce training costs.

Who benefits most? Those who use it most. REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR NOW

GetX – Universal search for Sage 100 by xkzero installs in 15 minutes, works with versions 2016 back to version 4.5, and won’t break any customizations. GetX even searches User Defined Fields (UDFs), Extended Item Descriptions, transaction details lines, Memos and much much more.

Controllers love it. AP clerks love it. Receptionists love it. Executives love it. Sales reps love it. Managers love it. Operations love it. Newbies love it. Power users love it.

Join our webinar Wednesday March 2 at 11 am CST to see for yourself – and to learn how to claim your FREE 30-day, no obligation trial copy of GetX by xkzero. It’s the single most powerful button in Sage 100. Ever.

Mobile B2B Sales: A Practical Guide for Sales Reps

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Paul Ziliak

Mobile automation is the new standard for B2B sales

The mobile sales app for B2B represents the new standard for growing small and mid-sized businesses. It may be the greatest thing to happen for manufacturing and wholesale distribution sales reps since the invention of the printing press. Few technologies for business have the far-reaching impact on the quality of your work and your company’s bottom line of a mobile sales app.

If your company has outside sales reps, or sells at trade shows, on a showroom floor, from special events or on-site with a customer, for you, the era of the printed product catalog, the paper order form, and the fax machine is over. The integrated smart phone and tablet era is now. xkzero has summarized some important considerations for you here.

Salespeople

The impact of having everything you need in your pocket

Off you go to your prospect meeting. Off you go to the trade show. Off you go for another day on the showroom floor. Off you go, back to your hotel room. Off you go, equipped with a product catalog printed 9 months ago, a price list printed 6 weeks ago. Hoping the fax machine doesn’t get jammed when you send in your order. Hoping that a customer service rep is ready when you call to find out the status of the inventory you’d like to sell.

The new standard for B2B selling is the smart phone. It’s replaced the fax, the printed materials, and antiquated processes that hold back a business today.

How you will benefit from a mobile sales app as a salesperson:

You’ll be better prepared with fingertip access to up-to-the-moment customer and inventory data.
Customers and prospects will sense your increased confidence.
You’ll have the chance to close larger deals.
You’ll be able to complete high transaction volume sales more quickly.
You might not ever be late for a meeting again.

The price of not doing anything

Over 90 percent of the mobile sales automation projects xkzero has implemented over the past several years have been for companies that previously relied on the tools and processes of yesterday—printed product catalogs, paper order forms, and fax machines. For many of these businesses, sales reps had to call customer service for the status of anything customer or inventory related. Representing the entire spectrum of manufacturing and wholesale distribution industries, they have one thing in common. Once they switch from paper and manual processes to an automated mobile solution—they don’t change back.

More practical guides – Mobile B2B Sales: A Practical Guide for Executives

Ready to talk about charting a mobile sales strategy for your business? Contact us at info@xkzero.com or call 847-416-2009. Visit the xkzero website to learn more about our winning solutions.

Mobile B2B Sales: A Practical Guide for Executives

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Paul Ziliak

Mobile sales apps for B2B represent the new standard for growing small and mid-sized businesses. In fact, mobile B2B sales may be the greatest thing to happen for manufacturing and wholesale distributor sales reps since the invention of the printing press. There are very few technologies you can add to your business today that will have as far reaching effect on the quality of your work, and the bottom line of your business as a mobile sales app.

The new standard for B2B sales is mobile

The integrated smart phone and tablet era is now. xkzero has summarized some important considerations for you here.

All stakeholders in your company—Executives, Salespeople, Operations Managers, Accounting and Finance and IT professionals—look at your business from a different angle. The great news is mobile can and will benefit all of them. But you need to avoid several pitfalls that can cost you money and headache.

If you have not yet mobilized your sales team, here are some important things for executives to consider.

Executives

From sales enablement to new revenue streams

Making or producing a great product is never enough to ensure business success, and relying on antiquated methods of selling can leave you vulnerable to new competitors that enter your market, hoping to disrupt.

More practical guides – Mobile B2B Sales: A Practical Guide for Sales Reps | Mobile B2B Sales: A Practical Guide for Operations Managers

A mobile sales app can do more than simply replace the fax machine with a smart phone as a means to get orders in your system. (Think about that for a minute.) It can turn you into a disruptor yourself.

How your team will benefit:

Increased revenue
New revenue streams
Reduced administrative costs
Better served customers
New and improved customer intelligence
Attraction of a new generation of sales reps and customers
More profits

Risk factors to consider:

Choice between a packaged solution and a solution that is custom designed specifically for your business
Adaptation by your team and overall usability
Ability to integrate with your existing systems
Achieving a justifiable ROI

The Cost of Inaction

Over 90 percent of the mobile sales automation projects xkzero has implemented over the past several years have been for companies previously relying on the tools and processes of yesterday – printed product catalogs, paper order forms, phone calls to customer service for the status of anything customer or inventory related. Fax machines…

These companies represent the entire spectrum of manufacturing and wholesale distribution industries.

One thing all of the companies have in common is that once they switch from paper and manual processes to an automated mobile solution, they don’t change back.

Ready to talk about charting a mobile sales strategy for your business? Contact us at info@xkzero.com or call 847-416-2009.

Visit the xkzero website to learn more about our winning solutions.

Former Sage Mobile Sales Specialist Joins xkzero

Posted on February 11, 2016 by xkzero

reposted for original publication via PR Web

Mobile sales app developer xkzero today announced the addition of Karen Foreman as mobile sales specialist. Foreman comes to xkzero from Sage where she served in a similar capacity selling Sage Mobile Solutions and CRM.

“We are very fortunate to have Karen join our team,” xkzero co-founder, Paul Ziliak said. “Her knowledge of the Sage channel and understanding of the unique needs of Sage customers alone brings us great value, but what really sets Karen apart is her passion for mobile as the next generation technology for business. xkzero continues to invest in its products to help small and mid-sized distributors and manufacturers grow. Adding Karen to our team will only accelerate the number of companies benefiting from the larger orders, new revenue streams and reduced administrative burden delivered through mobile.”

Regarding her decision to join xkzero, Foreman expressed enthusiasm about the company’s offerings. She said, “xkzero continues to make major investments in the evolution of its products. iSales 100 provides advanced mobile selling capabilities that can not only satisfy very unique requirements, but it is also incredibly easy to set up and use. xkzero Mobile Commerce (XMC) offers enterprise caliber functionality out-of-the box for companies using Direct Store Delivery (DSD), and Route Selling as a business growth strategy. Food and beverage producers and distributors are a natural fit for XMC, and its pre-built integrations to Sage 100 and Sage X3 create significant business advantages for growing companies.”

About xkzero:

xkzero specializes in mobile sales, route sales and direct store delivery automation for small and mid-sized manufacturers and wholesale distribution companies. xkzero is also a certified developer for Sage X3, Sage 100 and Sage 500, creating integrated and embedded mobile solutions into some of North America’s most popular and powerful ERP and accounting systems for the mid-market.

For more information about xkzero or to contact Karen, please visit our website, email us at info@xkzero.com, or call 847-416-2009.

ERP apps

thoughts on improving your business by xkzero

Monthly Archives: February 2016