As we near the end of the first month of 2016, the holiday dust has settled, you’ve started the year reinvigorated from the tradeshows and excited to sell new products! It’s a great time to look at how you can improve the selling process for your clients and for yourself. Could this be the year they are ready for a Company Store solution?
Let’s explore what to look for when qualifying your clients and prospects:
Noticing a pattern? The first place to start is to pick up on some clues about how your clients are placing their orders.
- Multiple Orders from Various Locations
- Making Repeat Orders
- Shipping Small Quantities
- Quick Turnaround Time on Orders
- Using Various Payment Methods
These behaviors are excellent qualifiers in determining if your client is ready for Company Store solution. Manually taking these orders over the phone or email can take a lot of time and energy – often resulting in an logistical nightmare. A Company Store solution provides a centralized ordering location, streamlining the process for both you and your client.
What do they need? Ask some questions, so you can get a better idea of what they will need to get out of their Company Store.
- Who will be using the store and why?
- Will users have different store experiences from other users?
- Would you like the store to track live inventory?
- Do you require particular payment and approval methods?
- How much annual spend is expected?
- Will the Company or Organization support the store? Will they make it a policy?
Asking these questions will give you valuable insight on the functionality they require – such as permissions and payment methods. You can also find out just how serious their organization is about actually using the store. After all, you don’t want all of your hard work of getting the store up and running to fall by the wayside.
And lastly,
Know when to walk away: There comes a point when you just have to say no, or recognize that now is just not the time – but when? These red flags will help you figure that out:
- Annual spend is too low
- They want you to own the inventory
- Poor payment terms on inventory
- Tight profit margins
Sometimes they are a good fit and sometimes they are not, and that’s okay! A Company Store doesn’t necessarily make sense for everyone. And we are always here to help you make that determination. We will even help you pitch a solution to your client. We know that launching a Company Store is a big task and want to make sure that you and your client will get the most out of the investment.