Cause and effect. 

Are your business practices ensuring your customers and sales reps have positive experiences? 

The reality is inefficient processes can make it harder for your sales reps to make money and confuse customers to the point where they just leave. If the short- or long-term health of your company could be impacted by stagnant sales, you need to provide the best experience possible.

As a startup or small business owner, how can you seamlessly improve performance while simplifying processes for staff and customers? 

Choosing the Right Software 

There’s no question businesses are spoiled with a vast selection of software choices. A vast and sometimes confusing selection of choices. 

Does your ecommerce website cater solely to the public? Are you a B2B wholesaler that doesn’t sell directly to the public but via a sales team or vendor accounts? Perhaps a mix of both? However your business operates, finding the right program, app, or SaaS doesn’t need to be too difficult. 

If you have a global presence and provide omnichannel ecommerce on a large scale, you have options like SAP. If you’re a startup or small business, you have options like Flowsmith. 

But don’t get too caught up in the size of your business. Remember, the goal is to provide the best possible user experience. Determine how to achieve that before anything else. 

Determine What You’re Currently Lacking

Where are your current processes lacking? Are your reps spending far too much time phoning and emailing to find out stock levels? Do you have staff spending unnecessary hours on things like order management and data entry? 

Talk to your reps in the field. Talk to your downstream supply chain. They’re the ones in the best position to point out the problematic aspects of their user experience. When you listen and act on what you learn, the benefits can be tremendous. 

Customers and sales reps don’t much care about how you and your company will benefit from streamlined processes, but a better user experience often equates to increased sales. Not to mention increased loyalty to your brand. 

Discover your problem areas and move on from there. 

Evaluate Your Current Software Stack 

You started your business with an array of tools you thought would be sufficient. And maybe they were at the time. But if the feedback you received when you followed the above advice highlighted problem areas, it might be time to reassess.

And before you panic, this doesn’t necessarily mean completely scrapping your current software for something entirely new. If you already have a solid software foundation that works for you—for the most part—there may be tools or apps that you can integrate into your existing stack. 

For example, many startups and small businesses use QuickBooks. Perhaps you’re one of them. In that case, adding something like Flowsmith, mentioned above, is a smart choice. 

Consider the Learning Curve 

There’s always a learning curve when you implement new software or processes. 

Following the rationale above, you can minimize it by simply adding to your current software stack instead of scrapping what you have and starting over. 

If what you have is working to a point, if possible, augmentation is likely the smartest approach. You can streamline whatever internal processes need to be addressed but not at the frustration and expense a from-scratch learning curve would cost. 

Ultimately, it’s a win win situation. You’re saving money, you’re providing a better user experience for your reps and downstream, all while increasing sales and loyalty. 

Go For Something User Friendly

Remember, your objective is to ensure a positive user experience. 

Sales organizations of any type could benefit from a tool like Flowsmith, which can be custom tailored to suit your needs. Whether you have sales reps in need of a portal to place customer orders and verify stock or downstream customers who would benefit from clear visuals of your product. It’s simple and intuitive to use and presented via a sleek modern design. 

Imagine an easy flow of information between your team, your customers, and your business. Flowsmith is synchronized with QuickBooks, efficiently connecting your inventory and sales processes. Saving you time and increasing performance. 

Providing software that’s easy to learn and easy to use will have a positive impact on your team, your customers, and ultimately your sales.  

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