Digital Catalogue
Your reps need to present your products in their best light. The ability to hold your entire product catalogue on your sales app is an important one. Bear in mind some apps will give you limited capacity, meaning you’ll still need to use physical catalogues to show off your whole product range. If your chosen app has the ability to live sync to and from your ERP system, your reps can be confident they’re working with the most up to data information.
“With PixSell, it only takes a few steps to make a real visual impact. This really showcases our products in the best light.”
- Woodmansterne Publications
User Experience
One of the core functions of any mobile order taking app, is being able to process and confirm your orders on the spot. Whether you’re at your exhibition trade stand, in your customer’s store or even at home using screen sharing via video call.
Here are some essential functions you’ll want to look for –
Working offline – You won’t always have a reliable wifi connection out on the road or at trade shows, so the ability to function offline is a must.
Sharing PDFs – Creating PDF quotes and order confirmations will give your sales team an enviable level of professionalism. Even better if you can send those PDFs via third party applications such as WhatsApp or Gmail direct from your order taking app.
Barcode Scanning – If your order taking app can accommodate barcode scanning, your sales reps will be able to work a lot faster and your customers will be impressed.
On top of these functions, an added bonus would be quick links to your customers’ order history direct from each product listing. This would allow you to answer questions like ‘how many did I order last time’ with just one click.
“PixSell has helped focus our sales teams and put life back in to each sales call. Easy to use meaning more time selling and less time taking orders.”
- Rosewood Pet Products
Upsell and Cross Sell
Make sure the B2B order taking app you choose features marketing functions such as ‘offers and promotions’ to assist your sales team with their upselling targets.
BOGOFs and % discounts will increase your sales revenue, give added value to your customers and help manage any stock issues. End of line products can be cleared quickly and high margin items can be used as tempting ‘add-ons’ to existing orders. Some apps will go a step further with the ability to host product presentations and videos. This gives you a chance to offer your customers polished and engaging sales pitches. Putting you in a league above your competitors.
“Our sales team have all the information they need in one place. Any business that wants to have the competitive edge over their competition really should invest in PixSell now.”
- AL-KO
Accurate and Detailed Data
It will help your team exceed targets if your sales app does more than simply list basic customer details. If your B2B order taking app has the ability to store extensive data, your sales reps and agents will be better placed to hold informed customer interactions.
Some of our customers have moved to us because their previous sales app was unable to store the historic sales data they needed. Other data you might want your team to have access to is correct pricing, up to date stock levels, and downloadable product specs.
Comprehensive information such as order and invoicing history means your sales reps have finger-tip access to valuable insights like ‘Sales by Quarter’, ‘Unfulfilled Items’ or ‘Top 10 Products’. Being able to filter customer information like this means your reps’ visits become more effective. They’ll sell more and they’ll sell better.
Having all the data you need on one app also negates the need to switch between multiple apps and devices. Some of the better apps will also let you take photos and store them within the customer account details. This is particularly useful for recording any shelf space your products aren’t currently filling.
“As an agent, I work for 5 different brands. Having all that product and customer data for 5 different agencies under one tile on the iPad is invaluable.”
- Mark Rogers, Independent Sales Agent
Tracking and Reporting
Some order taking apps do more than just take orders. Some also act as a valuable management tool. Reps, Sales Managers and Head Office will all benefit from the extensive reporting and data filtering functions that a more advanced app will offer.
Having the ability to filter a customer list down to specific groups will save time and make your reps’ days more effective. For example, some advanced filter options will allow your team to sort their customers into those ‘not ordered within XX‘, ‘YTD spend‘, or more nuanced possibilities like ‘distance from current location‘. Seeing only the customers you want to see at any one time makes it easier to work on a single initiative or campaign without getting lost in a much larger list.
For your Sales Managers, try to get an order taking app that will give them live sales results throughout the day for both people and products, as well as monitoring rep activity. Any product or people issues can then be spotted and rectified immediately.
