5 Tips To Adapt Your C-Suite To The Digital Era

While customer-facing technology is relatively easy to install, an internal shift in mindset is a bit more complicated. While technology is nothing new overall, COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated the adoption of technology across all industries.

One survey found that 77% of CEOs sped up their companies’ digital transformation plans. Another found that COVID-19 accelerated companies’ digital communications strategies by an average of six years.

The problem with the rapid acceleration of need is that digital transformation efforts are challenging and often unsuccessful. Many organizations take the DIY approach and boost their staff and budget rather than seeking help from reliable business management software.

For a transformation to achieve sustainable success, it needs to start at the top. Your CEO, CFO, CMO, etc. must be on the same page for strategy and willing to adapt to change. It takes forward-thinking and to move into the digital age.

Here are five tips to help your C-suite adapt to the digital era.

1. Keep The Big Picture In Mind

Change is hard for any organization in any situation. And a big issue with a technology overhaul or adoption is the common thinking that by the time your team gets used to the new technology, you’ll just have to change it again.

This is a bit of a nature of the beast situation, but it's also an attitude that will leave your business behind while others continue to march forward. As long as you plan for long-term success and work with the right technology partners, your business can keep up — or better yet, stay ahead.

There’s a revolution among top management roles underway as more needs emerge in the modern workplace. Sometimes, it becomes clear that the wrong leaders are in place to move an organization forward. Suitable successors are needed and a tremendous amount of turnover may be on the horizon.

We’re at a place where tech-savvy should be the priority over traditional roles. Duties can be fluid, and there will surely be some skepticism and resistance to the changes. But if you’re able to show the transformation in a bigger context — one that is natural and essential to serve your customers better moving forward — your board will see that it’s the only way.

You’ll be able to solve day-to-day problems while you better prepare your company for success for years to come. You’ll create a bold vision that brings your entire organization together — one that your C-suite leaders can embrace, buy into, and use to motivate.

2. Visualize - What Does The Change To Digital Look Like?

Previously, business communication was slow and multi-channeled. You had to connect a bunch of dots just to schedule a meeting. Now that you can communicate openly with your entire team on a central network, things are much more convenient.

You can use your communications network to move projects and ideas forward, faster. Time-laborious meetings are becoming a thing of the past. The information flows, and so does your team’s productivity.

Leadership that embraces these modern enhancements to your company’s efficiencies are the leaders you need. They are digitally fluent and advocate for the team-forward approach. They’re able to show, rather than tell, what change looks like because they have the digital fluency in addition to business fundamentals to present a vision, then bring it to fruition.

3. Create A Culture Of Change

Once a vision is in place, it’s time to create buy-in.

The best way to get your team on board with the transition to the digital era is to get them involved in the conversation. You need to create a culture that is open to change. When you engage with your team and gather their input, you’ll create an innovative culture of change that will reinforce technology-driven shifts.

A change to digital, after all, will touch every part of your business, from the board room to your IT department. To truly benefit from these innovations, your entire organization must feel like they are part of the journey rather than dropping it into their laps and saying “figure it out.”

Embracing new technologies is hard, but when they are part of the process, they’ll be more open to learning and you’ll build a team that will develop the necessary skills to thrive.

4. Implement & Execute The Plan

You’ve already dreamed a dream with your company vision, now it’s time to take that idea and turn it into action. You can expand your C-suite from a traditional structure to include officers that will help take your company where you want to go. You’ve identified new areas of need and figured out the skills and personality you require to fill them.

With your team in place, you discuss, scrutinize, and fine-tune every level of the plan to embrace digital, then execute. It might be uncomfortable at first, but together, you’ll find a way to move forward, make more informed decisions, and embrace the change.

When your C-suite is involved and informed, you’ll have a specific, cohesive approach and a shared commitment to revenue, growth, and profit.

5. Measure Progress & Results

But a plan is only a good one if you can measure the results!

Digital initiatives fail or stall when there is no proof of a measurable return. Pull reports from your business management software regularly to see how your digital platform is performing. Use that data to make changes and better decisions.

Show your C-suite these results to show them where to best invest your company’s resources and move your organization toward those goals you’ve outlined above. Use that data to push innovation and opportunity. Develop support across the organization.

Summary

It’s important to be open-minded when moving your C-suite to the digital era. A data-driven approach helps use real data to make informed decisions rather than relying on intuition.

If you utilize a powerful business management solution to oversee your accounting, customer relationships, and resource planning, you’ll save countless man-hours and truly make the most of your digital transition.

The affordable, enterprise-level tools provided by aACE might just be the solution your team needs. Check out our feature highlights to learn how aACE can help your business increase visibility and improve your bottom line.

"aACE software is easy to use, intuitive, logical, and easily customized. It is clear that the architecture of aACE has been very well thought out. We were able to automate some previously manual processes that is resulting in literally hundreds of saved labor hours each month." – Daniel Chapman , Founder & CEO, Redd Remedies

Technology has always moved at a rapid pace, but the pandemic has kicked things to another level for businesses of all types. To survive in today’s economy, businesses must be able to make things safe and convenient for their customers, which means adopting the latest technology to stay afloat.... Learn More

Technology has always moved at a rapid pace, but the pandemic has kicked things to another level for businesses of all types. To survive in today’s economy, businesses must be able to make things safe and convenient for their customers, which means adopting the latest technology to stay afloat.

While customer-facing technology is relatively easy to install, an internal shift in mindset is a bit more complicated. While technology is nothing new overall, COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated the adoption of technology across all industries.

One survey found that 77% of CEOs sped up their companies’ digital transformation plans. Another found that COVID-19 accelerated companies’ digital communications strategies by an average of six years.

The problem with the rapid acceleration of need is that digital transformation efforts are challenging and often unsuccessful. Many organizations take the DIY approach and boost their staff and budget rather than seeking help from reliable business management software.

For a transformation to achieve sustainable success, it needs to start at the top. Your CEO, CFO, CMO, etc. must be on the same page for strategy and willing to adapt to change. It takes forward-thinking and to move into the digital age.

Here are five tips to help your C-suite adapt to the digital era.

1. Keep The Big Picture In Mind

Change is hard for any organization in any situation. And a big issue with a technology overhaul or adoption is the common thinking that by the time your team gets used to the new technology, you’ll just have to change it again.

This is a bit of a nature of the beast situation, but it's also an attitude that will leave your business behind while others continue to march forward. As long as you plan for long-term success and work with the right technology partners, your business can keep up — or better yet, stay ahead.

There’s a revolution among top management roles underway as more needs emerge in the modern workplace. Sometimes, it becomes clear that the wrong leaders are in place to move an organization forward. Suitable successors are needed and a tremendous amount of turnover may be on the horizon.

We’re at a place where tech-savvy should be the priority over traditional roles. Duties can be fluid, and there will surely be some skepticism and resistance to the changes. But if you’re able to show the transformation in a bigger context — one that is natural and essential to serve your customers better moving forward — your board will see that it’s the only way.

You’ll be able to solve day-to-day problems while you better prepare your company for success for years to come. You’ll create a bold vision that brings your entire organization together — one that your C-suite leaders can embrace, buy into, and use to motivate.

2. Visualize - What Does The Change To Digital Look Like?

Previously, business communication was slow and multi-channeled. You had to connect a bunch of dots just to schedule a meeting. Now that you can communicate openly with your entire team on a central network, things are much more convenient.

You can use your communications network to move projects and ideas forward, faster. Time-laborious meetings are becoming a thing of the past. The information flows, and so does your team’s productivity.

Leadership that embraces these modern enhancements to your company’s efficiencies are the leaders you need. They are digitally fluent and advocate for the team-forward approach. They’re able to show, rather than tell, what change looks like because they have the digital fluency in addition to business fundamentals to present a vision, then bring it to fruition.

3. Create A Culture Of Change

Once a vision is in place, it’s time to create buy-in.

The best way to get your team on board with the transition to the digital era is to get them involved in the conversation. You need to create a culture that is open to change. When you engage with your team and gather their input, you’ll create an innovative culture of change that will reinforce technology-driven shifts.

A change to digital, after all, will touch every part of your business, from the board room to your IT department. To truly benefit from these innovations, your entire organization must feel like they are part of the journey rather than dropping it into their laps and saying “figure it out.”

Embracing new technologies is hard, but when they are part of the process, they’ll be more open to learning and you’ll build a team that will develop the necessary skills to thrive.

4. Implement & Execute The Plan

You’ve already dreamed a dream with your company vision, now it’s time to take that idea and turn it into action. You can expand your C-suite from a traditional structure to include officers that will help take your company where you want to go. You’ve identified new areas of need and figured out the skills and personality you require to fill them.

With your team in place, you discuss, scrutinize, and fine-tune every level of the plan to embrace digital, then execute. It might be uncomfortable at first, but together, you’ll find a way to move forward, make more informed decisions, and embrace the change.

When your C-suite is involved and informed, you’ll have a specific, cohesive approach and a shared commitment to revenue, growth, and profit.

5. Measure Progress & Results

But a plan is only a good one if you can measure the results!

Digital initiatives fail or stall when there is no proof of a measurable return. Pull reports from your business management software regularly to see how your digital platform is performing. Use that data to make changes and better decisions.

Show your C-suite these results to show them where to best invest your company’s resources and move your organization toward those goals you’ve outlined above. Use that data to push innovation and opportunity. Develop support across the organization.

Summary

It’s important to be open-minded when moving your C-suite to the digital era. A data-driven approach helps use real data to make informed decisions rather than relying on intuition.

If you utilize a powerful business management solution to oversee your accounting, customer relationships, and resource planning, you’ll save countless man-hours and truly make the most of your digital transition.

The affordable, enterprise-level tools provided by aACE might just be the solution your team needs. Check out our feature highlights to learn how aACE can help your business increase visibility and improve your bottom line.

"aACE software is easy to use, intuitive, logical, and easily customized. It is clear that the architecture of aACE has been very well thought out. We were able to automate some previously manual processes that is resulting in literally hundreds of saved labor hours each month." – Daniel Chapman , Founder & CEO, Redd Remedies

7 Benefits of Order Management Software

In a modern eCommerce landscape, traditional manual processes no longer cut it. In a world where next or two-day shipping has become the expectation on nearly any product you can imagine, you’ll lose business if you aren’t able to efficiently communicate and quickly ship products to your customers.

Your customers expect to see when their product will arrive the moment they drop it into their cart. If it’s longer than they’d like, chances are they’ll abandon the sale. Your business needs modern technology to improve your efficiency and transparency to build trust with your customers.

Order management software is your solution.

What is Order Management Software?

Order management software will help streamline your sales process to help you meet these modern customer expectations.

This software organizes multi-channel orders into a single, central, organized system. With order management software in place, your ecommerce orders will run smoothly from the moment your customers place the order until they receive their products.

Order management software stays on top of your inventory, incoming orders, payment processing, and more. You’ll be able to use real-time data based on your customer’s location to get them their product as quickly as possible. You’ll manage your orders from start to finish and keep your entire team – and your customers – on the same page.

Most of all, you’ll wonder how you were able to manage your sales without it.

To dive a little deeper, here are seven benefits of order management software.

1. Product Options & Alternates

Having software that will suggest product options and alternatives is an incredibly powerful tool for your sales.

Let’s say you have a product that goes out of stock. It happens! With order management software, you’ll be able to automatically suggest similar products that may meet your customer’s needs. It also provides you an excellent opportunity to sell additional products your customers may not have been aware of.

It puts these product options and alternatives in front of your team right at the moment of sale. You’ll never have to place a customer on hold again. Whether it’s a substitute or an add-on, the ability to instantly show your customers additional products is something your team could never do manually. Your order management software can.

2. POS Payment Entry

When you empower your sales personnel and order writers with the ability to take payments, you eliminate the possibility of lost payments due to delays and callbacks.

Traditional payment methods are error-prone, time-consuming, unsecure, and inconvenient for your customers. But with order management software in place, you can seamlessly (and securely) process your customer payments via point-of-sale payment entry. Save time, keep your customer’s sensitive data secure, and minimize the potential for errors with fully integrated payment processing.

3. Automated Payment Processing

You can even automate the entire payment process from charging your customer’s card on file for deposits, when goods are shipped, or according to a progress billing schedule. This frees up your A/R staff for higher-level activities while shipment and invoicing is automatically generated.

You and your customers will be able to check on the progress in your system and receive notifications to stay on the same page.

4. Sales Tax Automation

Let’s face it — tax calculations are tricky, but with order management software, you can leave the complex calculations to your tools. Now, you can easily and accurately collect sales taxes without turning it into a chore.

There’s even an optional geolocation integration to pinpoint your customer’s exact tax rates, helping eliminate any surprises during the sale and making it easier to file your taxes later on.

5. eCommerce Integration

The integrations of order management software are truly endless for your eCommerce business. You can integrate with platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and Amazon, to automate your entire order.

This enhances your online ordering from top to bottom, ensuring your sales process is streamlined no matter where your customers find you or where they place the order.

6. Credit Management

When you have full accounting integration with your order management software, your entire sales team can see your customers’ current A/R balances in real-time. This ensures your customers stay up to date on their invoices – and will not allow them to place new orders if the tool finds they have exceeded their credit limit.

This can help you improve relations with your customers if you notify them of a payment issue they were unaware of and helps you avoid the bad situations that emerge from working with customers who have poor credit.

7. Accounting Automation

When you can auto-generate your invoices and purchase order records you eliminate the majority of accounting-related data entry. This saves your accounting team time and helps prevent data-entry-related errors and delays. As a bonus, you’ll also free your accounting team up to focus on planning and cash management for your business.

Summary

Surely you can see the value in having order management software if your business has multiple warehouses or sells on multiple sales channels. Order management software is imperative to ensure that your order fulfillment is seamless on every possible platform.

Your sales likely come in from a wide variety of channels, making the process of keeping up more complicated than ever. Order management software ensures a sale never gets lost and that you’re able to manage them all together, in one place.

Your business needs an order management system to handle the volume of orders coming your way to avoid bottlenecks, improve your vendor relationships, customer experience, and, of course, boost your sales.

Reliable order management software from aACE is here to help you manage your sales more efficiently. Check out our feature highlights to see what aACE can do for you today.

Looking for an easy way to keep your sales organized and accounted for? In a modern eCommerce landscape, traditional manual processes no longer cut it. In a world where next or two-day shipping has become the expectation on nearly any product you can imagine, you’ll lose business if you aren’t... Learn More

Looking for an easy way to keep your sales organized and accounted for?

In a modern eCommerce landscape, traditional manual processes no longer cut it. In a world where next or two-day shipping has become the expectation on nearly any product you can imagine, you’ll lose business if you aren’t able to efficiently communicate and quickly ship products to your customers.

Your customers expect to see when their product will arrive the moment they drop it into their cart. If it’s longer than they’d like, chances are they’ll abandon the sale. Your business needs modern technology to improve your efficiency and transparency to build trust with your customers.

Order management software is your solution.

What is Order Management Software?

Order management software will help streamline your sales process to help you meet these modern customer expectations.

This software organizes multi-channel orders into a single, central, organized system. With order management software in place, your ecommerce orders will run smoothly from the moment your customers place the order until they receive their products.

Order management software stays on top of your inventory, incoming orders, payment processing, and more. You’ll be able to use real-time data based on your customer’s location to get them their product as quickly as possible. You’ll manage your orders from start to finish and keep your entire team – and your customers – on the same page.

Most of all, you’ll wonder how you were able to manage your sales without it.

To dive a little deeper, here are seven benefits of order management software.

1. Product Options & Alternates

Having software that will suggest product options and alternatives is an incredibly powerful tool for your sales.

Let’s say you have a product that goes out of stock. It happens! With order management software, you’ll be able to automatically suggest similar products that may meet your customer’s needs. It also provides you an excellent opportunity to sell additional products your customers may not have been aware of.

It puts these product options and alternatives in front of your team right at the moment of sale. You’ll never have to place a customer on hold again. Whether it’s a substitute or an add-on, the ability to instantly show your customers additional products is something your team could never do manually. Your order management software can.

2. POS Payment Entry

When you empower your sales personnel and order writers with the ability to take payments, you eliminate the possibility of lost payments due to delays and callbacks.

Traditional payment methods are error-prone, time-consuming, unsecure, and inconvenient for your customers. But with order management software in place, you can seamlessly (and securely) process your customer payments via point-of-sale payment entry. Save time, keep your customer’s sensitive data secure, and minimize the potential for errors with fully integrated payment processing.

3. Automated Payment Processing

You can even automate the entire payment process from charging your customer’s card on file for deposits, when goods are shipped, or according to a progress billing schedule. This frees up your A/R staff for higher-level activities while shipment and invoicing is automatically generated.

You and your customers will be able to check on the progress in your system and receive notifications to stay on the same page.

4. Sales Tax Automation

Let’s face it — tax calculations are tricky, but with order management software, you can leave the complex calculations to your tools. Now, you can easily and accurately collect sales taxes without turning it into a chore.

There’s even an optional geolocation integration to pinpoint your customer’s exact tax rates, helping eliminate any surprises during the sale and making it easier to file your taxes later on.

5. eCommerce Integration

The integrations of order management software are truly endless for your eCommerce business. You can integrate with platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento, and Amazon, to automate your entire order.

This enhances your online ordering from top to bottom, ensuring your sales process is streamlined no matter where your customers find you or where they place the order.

6. Credit Management

When you have full accounting integration with your order management software, your entire sales team can see your customers’ current A/R balances in real-time. This ensures your customers stay up to date on their invoices – and will not allow them to place new orders if the tool finds they have exceeded their credit limit.

This can help you improve relations with your customers if you notify them of a payment issue they were unaware of and helps you avoid the bad situations that emerge from working with customers who have poor credit.

7. Accounting Automation

When you can auto-generate your invoices and purchase order records you eliminate the majority of accounting-related data entry. This saves your accounting team time and helps prevent data-entry-related errors and delays. As a bonus, you’ll also free your accounting team up to focus on planning and cash management for your business.

Summary

Surely you can see the value in having order management software if your business has multiple warehouses or sells on multiple sales channels. Order management software is imperative to ensure that your order fulfillment is seamless on every possible platform.

Your sales likely come in from a wide variety of channels, making the process of keeping up more complicated than ever. Order management software ensures a sale never gets lost and that you’re able to manage them all together, in one place.

Your business needs an order management system to handle the volume of orders coming your way to avoid bottlenecks, improve your vendor relationships, customer experience, and, of course, boost your sales.

Reliable order management software from aACE is here to help you manage your sales more efficiently. Check out our feature highlights to see what aACE can do for you today.

Transforming Your SMB For The Digital Age Is Easier Than You Think

Simply put: These businesses won’t last. The power of convenience is taking over, and digitization makes it possible. But for many of these SMBs, digitization seems like a daunting task. Whether they think it’s too expensive or too time-consuming to integrate (or both), many businesses hold onto their old-school mentality.

However, this thinking is outdated. In fact, many of these organizations are going through some form of digital transformation without even realizing it. Maybe it’s finally launching that website or accepting new-age forms of payment. There are many ways to move forward and be relevant in today’s marketplace to meet customer demands and expectations.

The best news is that it’s not the incredible task many believe it to be. And the ROI? Try this — digital SMEs grow revenue and profits up to twice as fast as their offline competition. The bottom line is pretty simple: Go digital to drive revenue and growth.

But there’s no one right way to move into the digital age. You don’t want to go for it all at once — take baby steps, but the right ones. Here are a few strategies your SMB should keep in mind when going digital.

1. Adopt The Technology You Actually Need

Whether it’s installing barcode readers or credit card payment swipes, you can go as tech-savvy as would best suit your particular needs. But having a customer need to find an ATM to complete their purchase is definitely archaic and not providing a good customer experience.

The first thing to do is to consider what technology your business needs. Every company has unique needs and goals — step one is to write them down. Then, prioritize what you need to optimize your customer experience. Whether that means improving delivery times, spending less time at the check-out counter, or handling orders online, you’ll figure out how to easily implement technology to improve your processes and drive revenue.

2. Think Of Technology As Your Ally, Not A Burden

Technology isn’t the enemy! When used properly, technology is your friend. It will make your life easier, improve your customer experience, and drive greater revenues. Aren’t those the three hallmarks of any thriving business?

No matter the size of your enterprise, technology can help you reach a bigger audience.

If you've already adopted basic technology but aren’t taking advantage of the data, we can help. You can define what processes need to be updated and optimized via automation. Then, you can spend your valuable time actually working on your business. Develop new products, spend more time engaging with your customers, and improve your all-around operations with a little help from your friend: digitization.

3. Go Beyond The Website

A digital presence is more than just having a website, and you will need a bigger digital footprint and impact to be competitive in today’s tech-savvy market. Don’t just throw a website up there for the sake of it — optimize it so your name actually shows up in search results. Introduce your customers to the sales funnel and turn a site visitor into a loyal customer.

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly as websites are not one-size-fits-all when it comes to our devices. You have to cater the experience to the increasingly-mobile crowd.

And digitization means installing modern tools in your office or shop as well. Card readers, scanners, pay systems, and more will make your check-out process more convenient.

4. Let Your Data Work For You

The digital age is really based on data. What can you learn about your operation from your sales numbers? Are you using your numbers to your advantage or just logging them for the sake of it?

With digital tools, you can analyze your data in real-time and make better business decisions. You’ll gain insights into your customer behavior and preferences. You’ll learn what to push and what to eliminate. Your business will surely benefit.

Summary

Digitization should no longer be scary for SMBs. On the contrary, it should be embraced with open arms for its sheer power to turn profit. You can harness the power of digitization and ride the wave of a stronger revenue stream.

And you don’t have to do it yourself — find a trusty partner like aACE business management software to help move your company into the digital age. Learn how to manage your operations in a single platform and see what a modern solution can do for you today. Let’s connect!

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) still have a long way to go when it comes to digitization. While the big chain retailers and restaurants allow you to pay through your phone, some small businesses are still cash only. While online ordering is becoming the norm, some don’t even have a... Learn More

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) still have a long way to go when it comes to digitization. While the big chain retailers and restaurants allow you to pay through your phone, some small businesses are still cash only. While online ordering is becoming the norm, some don’t even have a website.

Simply put: These businesses won’t last. The power of convenience is taking over, and digitization makes it possible. But for many of these SMBs, digitization seems like a daunting task. Whether they think it’s too expensive or too time-consuming to integrate (or both), many businesses hold onto their old-school mentality.

However, this thinking is outdated. In fact, many of these organizations are going through some form of digital transformation without even realizing it. Maybe it’s finally launching that website or accepting new-age forms of payment. There are many ways to move forward and be relevant in today’s marketplace to meet customer demands and expectations.

The best news is that it’s not the incredible task many believe it to be. And the ROI? Try this — digital SMEs grow revenue and profits up to twice as fast as their offline competition. The bottom line is pretty simple: Go digital to drive revenue and growth.

But there’s no one right way to move into the digital age. You don’t want to go for it all at once — take baby steps, but the right ones. Here are a few strategies your SMB should keep in mind when going digital.

1. Adopt The Technology You Actually Need

Whether it’s installing barcode readers or credit card payment swipes, you can go as tech-savvy as would best suit your particular needs. But having a customer need to find an ATM to complete their purchase is definitely archaic and not providing a good customer experience.

The first thing to do is to consider what technology your business needs. Every company has unique needs and goals — step one is to write them down. Then, prioritize what you need to optimize your customer experience. Whether that means improving delivery times, spending less time at the check-out counter, or handling orders online, you’ll figure out how to easily implement technology to improve your processes and drive revenue.

2. Think Of Technology As Your Ally, Not A Burden

Technology isn’t the enemy! When used properly, technology is your friend. It will make your life easier, improve your customer experience, and drive greater revenues. Aren’t those the three hallmarks of any thriving business?

No matter the size of your enterprise, technology can help you reach a bigger audience.

If you've already adopted basic technology but aren’t taking advantage of the data, we can help. You can define what processes need to be updated and optimized via automation. Then, you can spend your valuable time actually working on your business. Develop new products, spend more time engaging with your customers, and improve your all-around operations with a little help from your friend: digitization.

3. Go Beyond The Website

A digital presence is more than just having a website, and you will need a bigger digital footprint and impact to be competitive in today’s tech-savvy market. Don’t just throw a website up there for the sake of it — optimize it so your name actually shows up in search results. Introduce your customers to the sales funnel and turn a site visitor into a loyal customer.

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly as websites are not one-size-fits-all when it comes to our devices. You have to cater the experience to the increasingly-mobile crowd.

And digitization means installing modern tools in your office or shop as well. Card readers, scanners, pay systems, and more will make your check-out process more convenient.

4. Let Your Data Work For You

The digital age is really based on data. What can you learn about your operation from your sales numbers? Are you using your numbers to your advantage or just logging them for the sake of it?

With digital tools, you can analyze your data in real-time and make better business decisions. You’ll gain insights into your customer behavior and preferences. You’ll learn what to push and what to eliminate. Your business will surely benefit.

Summary

Digitization should no longer be scary for SMBs. On the contrary, it should be embraced with open arms for its sheer power to turn profit. You can harness the power of digitization and ride the wave of a stronger revenue stream.

And you don’t have to do it yourself — find a trusty partner like aACE business management software to help move your company into the digital age. Learn how to manage your operations in a single platform and see what a modern solution can do for you today. Let’s connect!

Why Distributors Need ERP Software

How can distributors benefit from ERP software? Let’s take a deeper look.

What Is Distribution ERP Software?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems allow businesses to share real-time data across all departments and manage their back-end processes. This can help streamline your operations and automate common, time-consuming tasks. An ERP solution does that by putting all areas of a business, such as product planning, development, HR, accounting, supply chains, inventory, manufacturing processes, sales, marketing, and more, into one complete enterprise system.

ERP systems are intimately tied to the manufacturing and distribution industries. With an ERP distribution system, all of your organization’s data will be kept in one safe, organized, accessible space. One program keeps track of all the moving parts and gives you a clear picture of your day-to-day operations.

When we’re specifically talking about distribution, this is helpful for order quantities and volume. Depending on the size of your enterprise, you may deal with small or large orders and therefore have a different volume to manage.

Your distribution ERP software can help you through every step, from placing the bulk order with the manufacturer to selling the smaller quantities to stores or end-users. Your ERP will help with logistics and marketing that are difficult and time-consuming to handle in-house. These are vastly different areas of your supply chain, but the right ERP will be flexible enough to manage these needs.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of tools that provide insights into your customer buying habits in addition to ways to optimize your end-to-end solutions. Distribution ERP software can help with inventory management, fleet management, marketing, shipping, and more.

Why You Need Distribution ERP Software

Your distribution ERP software will streamline your processes into a single database and be there to catch issues before they spiral out of control. No matter where an error occurs, whether it’s product issues, shipping, supply chain, or fleet management, your ERP system will alert you to a problem and help you take immediate action. This response time could save your company thousands of dollars.

Your ERP software can also help you manage pricing and forecast changes in your marketplace, helping your business to stay competitive in the rapidly-changing distribution marketplace.

Here’s a quick rundown of the many benefits of having distribution ERP software in place:

• Keep everything in one place — accounting, sales, operations — everything! Stop wasting time tracking down all of your different departments and moving parts. Let your ERP keep you organized and make faster, better decisions.
• No more data errors/redundancy — When your data is all over the place, repetition and mistakes are common. But when you integrate an ERP into your distribution business and gain complete visibility into your operations, you can greatly decrease the opportunity for human error.
• Increase revenue and scale faster — You can use real-time sales and revenue data to make better use of your resources and manage cost variances, leading to increased revenue. When revenue grows, you’ll be able to scale fast without feeling overwhelmed, focusing on managing the increased volume while your ERP handles the data.
• Improve your customer experience — An ERP allows your team to use accessible, real-time data to better serve your customers. Keep your customers up-to-date without ever putting them on hold.
• Make smarter decisions — By now you see that an ERP solution helps you make difficult decisions, fast. Not only faster, but armed with real-time data, you’ll also consistently make the best possible decision. That’s a powerful distribution tool.

See How aACE Is The Distribution ERP Software You Need

Want to learn more about how an ERP can benefit your business? Check out our success stories to learn how real customers have been able to take their businesses to the next level with aACE.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software exists to help businesses manage, collect, store, and communicate data across all functions of your organization. ERP solutions work for many different types of businesses and manufacturers, but for this piece, we’d like to talk specifically about... Learn More

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software exists to help businesses manage, collect, store, and communicate data across all functions of your organization. ERP solutions work for many different types of businesses and manufacturers, but for this piece, we’d like to talk specifically about distributors.

How can distributors benefit from ERP software? Let’s take a deeper look.

What Is Distribution ERP Software?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems allow businesses to share real-time data across all departments and manage their back-end processes. This can help streamline your operations and automate common, time-consuming tasks. An ERP solution does that by putting all areas of a business, such as product planning, development, HR, accounting, supply chains, inventory, manufacturing processes, sales, marketing, and more, into one complete enterprise system.

ERP systems are intimately tied to the manufacturing and distribution industries. With an ERP distribution system, all of your organization’s data will be kept in one safe, organized, accessible space. One program keeps track of all the moving parts and gives you a clear picture of your day-to-day operations.

When we’re specifically talking about distribution, this is helpful for order quantities and volume. Depending on the size of your enterprise, you may deal with small or large orders and therefore have a different volume to manage.

Your distribution ERP software can help you through every step, from placing the bulk order with the manufacturer to selling the smaller quantities to stores or end-users. Your ERP will help with logistics and marketing that are difficult and time-consuming to handle in-house. These are vastly different areas of your supply chain, but the right ERP will be flexible enough to manage these needs.

You’ll also be able to take advantage of tools that provide insights into your customer buying habits in addition to ways to optimize your end-to-end solutions. Distribution ERP software can help with inventory management, fleet management, marketing, shipping, and more.

Why You Need Distribution ERP Software

Your distribution ERP software will streamline your processes into a single database and be there to catch issues before they spiral out of control. No matter where an error occurs, whether it’s product issues, shipping, supply chain, or fleet management, your ERP system will alert you to a problem and help you take immediate action. This response time could save your company thousands of dollars.

Your ERP software can also help you manage pricing and forecast changes in your marketplace, helping your business to stay competitive in the rapidly-changing distribution marketplace.

Here’s a quick rundown of the many benefits of having distribution ERP software in place:

• Keep everything in one place — accounting, sales, operations — everything! Stop wasting time tracking down all of your different departments and moving parts. Let your ERP keep you organized and make faster, better decisions.
• No more data errors/redundancy — When your data is all over the place, repetition and mistakes are common. But when you integrate an ERP into your distribution business and gain complete visibility into your operations, you can greatly decrease the opportunity for human error.
• Increase revenue and scale faster — You can use real-time sales and revenue data to make better use of your resources and manage cost variances, leading to increased revenue. When revenue grows, you’ll be able to scale fast without feeling overwhelmed, focusing on managing the increased volume while your ERP handles the data.
• Improve your customer experience — An ERP allows your team to use accessible, real-time data to better serve your customers. Keep your customers up-to-date without ever putting them on hold.
• Make smarter decisions — By now you see that an ERP solution helps you make difficult decisions, fast. Not only faster, but armed with real-time data, you’ll also consistently make the best possible decision. That’s a powerful distribution tool.

See How aACE Is The Distribution ERP Software You Need

Want to learn more about how an ERP can benefit your business? Check out our success stories to learn how real customers have been able to take their businesses to the next level with aACE.

7 Benefits of Integrating Inventory Management and Accounting Software

When you’re able to take full control of your inventory and finances, you’ll be well on the right path to optimizing your business performance and profits.

Just what are inventory management and accounting software and how can they help your business? Let’s take a look.

What is Inventory Management & Accounting Software?

Inventory management and accounting software are vital components of a high-performing retail or wholesale business. Those that have them installed already know, but those that don’t yet will wonder what they’ve been waiting for.

Your inventory management software will track how much product you have on your warehouse shelf, in your store, or sitting with other retailers and distributors. When you know your stock amounts, you ensure you have the right number of units in the right place, at the right time, for the right price.

Effectively tracking and controlling your physical inventory helps you know when you’re running low on certain items and replenish your stock in order to keep sales moving. Busy business owners need to be able to do this at a quick glance, or better yet, with automated software that does it for you. That’s what inventory management software does.

Meanwhile, full-featured accounting software integrated with your CRM and ERP handles many business owners’ least favorite task — working the books. Accounting software allows you to track a sale from the lead to the balance sheet without duplicate data entry.

Accounting software defines the current standing of your business while inventory management maintains your inventory health. You can see why each is a must for a business of any size. They will give you a competitive edge, minimize risk, save your money and make your business more efficient, smart, and profitable.

Here are seven ways how:

1. Maintain The Proper Stock

When you optimize your inventory, you can maintain customer satisfaction and avoid wastage. When you have too much stock, excess inventory will become costly as it becomes outdated or obsolete. Excess inventory costs your business money just by sitting there. Likewise, a shortage leads to missed sales opportunities and disappointed customers. This can be harmful to both your bottom line and business reputation.

Inventory management and accounting software will maintain accurate inventory by providing accurate, up-to-date counts at all times. You can use data to make sales forecasts to help predict when you require more or less stock to avoid running into any shortages or overages.

2. Eliminate Missed Sales

You never want your business to lose a sale because you don’t have the item in stock. An accurate inventory report helps you never run out of products and miss out on sales. Clearly, it’s a much more efficient system than relying on your memory or a warehouse visit to determine what you need.

Your inventory management software will allow you to set minimum inventory levels for each item, automatically generating purchase orders for more when you hit the determined threshold. You’ll always be on top of what you need before you need it!

3. Use Your Money Wisely

Having the right amount of inventory is essential for retail success. Remember, your inventory is an investment, and buying the right quantity of each product ensures you keep sales going and avoid outages. It also ensures that items don’t just sit on the shelves and increase carrying costs.

Accurate inventory reports help you quickly identify slow-moving products, mark them down, and clear them out to free up cash and make room to invest in new products, marketing efforts, or whatever else your business may require.

4. Catch Problems Early

When you have inventory management software, you’ll always have an eagle eye on your inventory levels. This enables you to catch problems immediately rather than months later during your annual inventory counts. By then, the discrepancy may have already cost your business a lot of money!

Sometimes, steps in the warehouse process can be missed or errors have been made on sales orders. You need to catch these errors as quickly as possible so they don’t become bigger problems. Bullet-proof inventory management is the way.

5. Make Your Customers Happy

When you have exact inventory reports, you can provide better customer service. How?

Let’s say a customer claims they haven’t received a product they ordered. Rather than just checking in with your supply chain management, you can check your inventory report and see whether or not you have one sitting in the warehouse. You’ll also be able to catch incorrect shipments sooner.

When you’re up to date with your purchase orders, you can sell customers on the products they need because you’ll know inventory is on the way. That kind of upfront communication gives your customers confidence that they can trust you, an incredibly valuable asset for any business.

6. Reduce Your Costs

Labor and warehouse expenses can add up quickly. Relying on staff to manually keep track of your inventory is a costly and time-consuming endeavor. When your inventory management software handles it, it saves you loads of time and money.

And when your staff isn’t wasting time counting your inventory, they can be grabbing product and shipping it out your door, bringing more sales revenue into your business. Accurate inventory levels and accounting software help you optimize your warehouse and reduce labor costs.

7. Provide More Accurate Reports

All businesses must check their inventory stock with accounting data to avoid discrepancies. Your stakeholders and investors rely on you to provide accurate reports and accurate financial statements for tax purposes. When discrepancies become the norm, it tells your stakeholders that you aren’t running a tight ship.

You also need to be able to manage your balance sheet and have a good handle on your cost of sales. These will be vital to management decisions. Accounting software removes complications and helps you provide the accurate reports you need.

Summary

When you’re able to automate each of the above processes, your business will operate much more efficiently. Your staff will be freed up to work on other more important tasks, and your business will always have accurate inventory and accounting numbers.

This is why integrated inventory management and accounting software is so important for the performance and health of your business. They’ll help you assess your needs, optimize your sales, make smart decisions, and make plans for future growth.

Ready to get started? Then see how aACE can streamline your business today!

If you operate a retail or wholesale business, you could assuredly benefit from inventory management and accounting software. When you’re able to take full control of your inventory and finances, you’ll be well on the right path to optimizing your business performance and profits. Just what are... Learn More

If you operate a retail or wholesale business, you could assuredly benefit from inventory management and accounting software.

When you’re able to take full control of your inventory and finances, you’ll be well on the right path to optimizing your business performance and profits.

Just what are inventory management and accounting software and how can they help your business? Let’s take a look.

What is Inventory Management & Accounting Software?

Inventory management and accounting software are vital components of a high-performing retail or wholesale business. Those that have them installed already know, but those that don’t yet will wonder what they’ve been waiting for.

Your inventory management software will track how much product you have on your warehouse shelf, in your store, or sitting with other retailers and distributors. When you know your stock amounts, you ensure you have the right number of units in the right place, at the right time, for the right price.

Effectively tracking and controlling your physical inventory helps you know when you’re running low on certain items and replenish your stock in order to keep sales moving. Busy business owners need to be able to do this at a quick glance, or better yet, with automated software that does it for you. That’s what inventory management software does.

Meanwhile, full-featured accounting software integrated with your CRM and ERP handles many business owners’ least favorite task — working the books. Accounting software allows you to track a sale from the lead to the balance sheet without duplicate data entry.

Accounting software defines the current standing of your business while inventory management maintains your inventory health. You can see why each is a must for a business of any size. They will give you a competitive edge, minimize risk, save your money and make your business more efficient, smart, and profitable.

Here are seven ways how:

1. Maintain The Proper Stock

When you optimize your inventory, you can maintain customer satisfaction and avoid wastage. When you have too much stock, excess inventory will become costly as it becomes outdated or obsolete. Excess inventory costs your business money just by sitting there. Likewise, a shortage leads to missed sales opportunities and disappointed customers. This can be harmful to both your bottom line and business reputation.

Inventory management and accounting software will maintain accurate inventory by providing accurate, up-to-date counts at all times. You can use data to make sales forecasts to help predict when you require more or less stock to avoid running into any shortages or overages.

2. Eliminate Missed Sales

You never want your business to lose a sale because you don’t have the item in stock. An accurate inventory report helps you never run out of products and miss out on sales. Clearly, it’s a much more efficient system than relying on your memory or a warehouse visit to determine what you need.

Your inventory management software will allow you to set minimum inventory levels for each item, automatically generating purchase orders for more when you hit the determined threshold. You’ll always be on top of what you need before you need it!

3. Use Your Money Wisely

Having the right amount of inventory is essential for retail success. Remember, your inventory is an investment, and buying the right quantity of each product ensures you keep sales going and avoid outages. It also ensures that items don’t just sit on the shelves and increase carrying costs.

Accurate inventory reports help you quickly identify slow-moving products, mark them down, and clear them out to free up cash and make room to invest in new products, marketing efforts, or whatever else your business may require.

4. Catch Problems Early

When you have inventory management software, you’ll always have an eagle eye on your inventory levels. This enables you to catch problems immediately rather than months later during your annual inventory counts. By then, the discrepancy may have already cost your business a lot of money!

Sometimes, steps in the warehouse process can be missed or errors have been made on sales orders. You need to catch these errors as quickly as possible so they don’t become bigger problems. Bullet-proof inventory management is the way.

5. Make Your Customers Happy

When you have exact inventory reports, you can provide better customer service. How?

Let’s say a customer claims they haven’t received a product they ordered. Rather than just checking in with your supply chain management, you can check your inventory report and see whether or not you have one sitting in the warehouse. You’ll also be able to catch incorrect shipments sooner.

When you’re up to date with your purchase orders, you can sell customers on the products they need because you’ll know inventory is on the way. That kind of upfront communication gives your customers confidence that they can trust you, an incredibly valuable asset for any business.

6. Reduce Your Costs

Labor and warehouse expenses can add up quickly. Relying on staff to manually keep track of your inventory is a costly and time-consuming endeavor. When your inventory management software handles it, it saves you loads of time and money.

And when your staff isn’t wasting time counting your inventory, they can be grabbing product and shipping it out your door, bringing more sales revenue into your business. Accurate inventory levels and accounting software help you optimize your warehouse and reduce labor costs.

7. Provide More Accurate Reports

All businesses must check their inventory stock with accounting data to avoid discrepancies. Your stakeholders and investors rely on you to provide accurate reports and accurate financial statements for tax purposes. When discrepancies become the norm, it tells your stakeholders that you aren’t running a tight ship.

You also need to be able to manage your balance sheet and have a good handle on your cost of sales. These will be vital to management decisions. Accounting software removes complications and helps you provide the accurate reports you need.

Summary

When you’re able to automate each of the above processes, your business will operate much more efficiently. Your staff will be freed up to work on other more important tasks, and your business will always have accurate inventory and accounting numbers.

This is why integrated inventory management and accounting software is so important for the performance and health of your business. They’ll help you assess your needs, optimize your sales, make smart decisions, and make plans for future growth.

Ready to get started? Then see how aACE can streamline your business today!

Take Control of Your Inventory with These 5 Tips

What Does Inventory Control Do?

Inventory control tells you what’s currently in stock. It operates as part of your inventory management system. Inventory management handles things like purchasing, production, sales, and reporting while inventory control maintains and manages your stock.

Inventory control will tell you the condition and location of your products and determine when they arrive and leave the warehouse. Your inventory control system will detail not only how much of an item is available, but also when supplies are coming in or going out. This monitors and controls every item that comes in and out of your warehouse.

Inventory control, therefore:

• Improves loss prevention
• Optimizes inventory spaces
• Creates less over- or under-stocking

Now that you know the purpose inventory control serves, let’s take a look at some best practices.

1. Organize Your Floor Plan

You need to organize your warehouse in a way that makes sense. Place your most popular items near the shipping area to maximize efficiency and productivity. As supply and demand change over time, make sure to modify your floor plan accordingly.

2. Improve Your Efficiency With Clear Labels & Signage

When you have labels that clearly state where things are, your warehouse team will be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. This creates more efficient fulfillment. Clearly (and concisely) label all of your racks, bins, and products. You can even use tools like labeling software, RFID systems, barcodes, inventory tags, scanners, and more that assist with real-time inventory control.

3. Utilize Cycle Counting

Counting everything all at once is an overwhelming task. Instead, use cycle counting where you count items in small sections according to a set cycle. This helps you effectively maintain inventory control and find mistakes quickly.

4. Implement A Warehouse Management System

A big cause of issues in the warehouse is human error. With warehouse management and an inventory control system, your team can easily track all of your items, reducing the potential for mistakes. These systems will include barcode scanners, tags, apps, and other tools that provide real-time tracking of your inventory. Your inventory will always be easily accessible within the systems you put in place.

5. Automate Your Inventory Control

When you automate your inventory control, you will greatly reduce the potential for human error and gain greater oversight into your stock. You’ll have more complete data, which leads to more productivity and revenue potential.

aACE can help you take full control of your inventory by giving you the means to track your products from the moment they enter the warehouse until they go out for shipment. You’ll get tools like barcode scanning, label making, reporting, data management, and other features to help you operate a more efficient warehouse.

Not only that — but automated inventory control will free up your staff for other projects, like landing new business. When things run more efficiently in the warehouse, more product can move out the door, and you’ll never run out of inventory.

Implement Inventory Management Software To Reduce Costs and Control Your Business

aACE business management software helps you manage your entire warehouse process from beginning to end. You’ll be able to plan more productively and accurately, which helps eliminate costly mistakes and reduces the need for excess inventory. Of course, inventory control is seamlessly integrated into the platform.

If you’re not yet convinced you need inventory control, consider the following:

• Without an organized warehouse and clear labeling, staff will spend more time searching for items, leading to more man-hours and expenses.
• When you aren’t consistently up-to-date on your stocks and what products or supplies you need to order, you’ll run into shortages or overstock issues.
• When your data isn’t reliable, you can’t accurately forecast your inventory.
• If there is a break in your supply chain, you won’t have a backup plan in place and your items may not go out on time.

All of these issues cause your operating costs to go up. Plus, your customers will notice the mistakes and will take their business elsewhere. But with efficient inventory control in place, you’ll have a backup plan for when problems arise, and will always be on top of your inventory.

Check out our feature highlights to see how aACE can streamline your business today!

If you aren’t careful, inventory control can easily slip into disarray. Every organization should have the right system in place to optimize its merchandising process. This can help you keep track of your products, better organize your inventory, provide accurate data and reports, and improve... Learn More

If you aren’t careful, inventory control can easily slip into disarray. Every organization should have the right system in place to optimize its merchandising process. This can help you keep track of your products, better organize your inventory, provide accurate data and reports, and improve your warehouse efficiency. Best of all, inventory control does all that while increasing your revenue!

But inventory control only works if you put it to proper use. Let’s dig in on some best practices to help you optimize your warehouse.

What Does Inventory Control Do?

Inventory control tells you what’s currently in stock. It operates as part of your inventory management system. Inventory management handles things like purchasing, production, sales, and reporting while inventory control maintains and manages your stock.

Inventory control will tell you the condition and location of your products and determine when they arrive and leave the warehouse. Your inventory control system will detail not only how much of an item is available, but also when supplies are coming in or going out. This monitors and controls every item that comes in and out of your warehouse.

Inventory control, therefore:

• Improves loss prevention
• Optimizes inventory spaces
• Creates less over- or under-stocking

Now that you know the purpose inventory control serves, let’s take a look at some best practices.

1. Organize Your Floor Plan

You need to organize your warehouse in a way that makes sense. Place your most popular items near the shipping area to maximize efficiency and productivity. As supply and demand change over time, make sure to modify your floor plan accordingly.

2. Improve Your Efficiency With Clear Labels & Signage

When you have labels that clearly state where things are, your warehouse team will be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. This creates more efficient fulfillment. Clearly (and concisely) label all of your racks, bins, and products. You can even use tools like labeling software, RFID systems, barcodes, inventory tags, scanners, and more that assist with real-time inventory control.

3. Utilize Cycle Counting

Counting everything all at once is an overwhelming task. Instead, use cycle counting where you count items in small sections according to a set cycle. This helps you effectively maintain inventory control and find mistakes quickly.

4. Implement A Warehouse Management System

A big cause of issues in the warehouse is human error. With warehouse management and an inventory control system, your team can easily track all of your items, reducing the potential for mistakes. These systems will include barcode scanners, tags, apps, and other tools that provide real-time tracking of your inventory. Your inventory will always be easily accessible within the systems you put in place.

5. Automate Your Inventory Control

When you automate your inventory control, you will greatly reduce the potential for human error and gain greater oversight into your stock. You’ll have more complete data, which leads to more productivity and revenue potential.

aACE can help you take full control of your inventory by giving you the means to track your products from the moment they enter the warehouse until they go out for shipment. You’ll get tools like barcode scanning, label making, reporting, data management, and other features to help you operate a more efficient warehouse.

Not only that — but automated inventory control will free up your staff for other projects, like landing new business. When things run more efficiently in the warehouse, more product can move out the door, and you’ll never run out of inventory.

Implement Inventory Management Software To Reduce Costs and Control Your Business

aACE business management software helps you manage your entire warehouse process from beginning to end. You’ll be able to plan more productively and accurately, which helps eliminate costly mistakes and reduces the need for excess inventory. Of course, inventory control is seamlessly integrated into the platform.

If you’re not yet convinced you need inventory control, consider the following:

• Without an organized warehouse and clear labeling, staff will spend more time searching for items, leading to more man-hours and expenses.
• When you aren’t consistently up-to-date on your stocks and what products or supplies you need to order, you’ll run into shortages or overstock issues.
• When your data isn’t reliable, you can’t accurately forecast your inventory.
• If there is a break in your supply chain, you won’t have a backup plan in place and your items may not go out on time.

All of these issues cause your operating costs to go up. Plus, your customers will notice the mistakes and will take their business elsewhere. But with efficient inventory control in place, you’ll have a backup plan for when problems arise, and will always be on top of your inventory.

Check out our feature highlights to see how aACE can streamline your business today!

Does An ERP Make Sense For Your Small Business?

It’s hard to know which are legit, what partners you can trust, and what you need versus what would be nice to have. Not to mention what you can squeeze into your budget!

You already have enough on your plate running your business — and that’s exactly what you should be spending your time doing: running the actual business.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software can help. Let’s take a quick look at how.

What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software?

An ERP is a software solution that collects information from all of your departments into a single, centralized database. Depending on what your business does, this may include critical business functions like finance, inventory, manufacturing, sales and marketing, order management, scheduling and more.

With an ERP in place, your team has access to real-time information that covers the entire scope of your small business. This data is available through your ERP's reporting and analytics, which will help your business make smarter, data-driven decisions.

An ERP solution provides enhanced visibility into your business operations and can help improve inefficiencies. You’ll also be able to highlight growth opportunities and use real data to get there.

When you have an ERP in place, your organization can use the program to keep track of your moving parts. All of your data will be in one safe, organized, accessible central database. You won’t ever lose anything to a spreadsheet again.

With an ERP, you have a complete picture of your business’s daily operations. It’s a transparent solution to manage your departments and work together to achieve your goals.

Benefits of ERPs for Small Businesses

We’ve already discussed the benefits of ERPs for businesses, but they’re a bit different when we’re talking specifically about small businesses.

Beyond providing complete visibility into your daily operations, your ERP will make your organization more efficient in these key ways:

Increase Productivity & Reduce Costs

The biggest benefit of an ERP is the ability to identify inefficiencies without having to hire additional IT or staff. The information you capture can help you learn about your business and gain a competitive edge. Using this data, you and your team can become more efficient and productive while reducing your operating costs.

It’s a smarter way to manage your small business.

Gain Agility

The small business environment is challenging and ever-changing. The success of your business depends on how well, and how fast, you are able to respond to that change.

When you have a flexible and scalable ERP, you will be knowledgeable about changing market dynamics. You’ll also have insights into your customer needs and be able to see a shift coming. You can then make decisions to respond to these changes and/or be ready for bigger movements. Staying agile means you’re ready and adaptable. These are the types of businesses that grow and survive.

Enhanced Analytics

ERPs are also incredibly powerful analytical tools. Since all of your information will be collected into one central database, you’ll be able to put that data to good use.

You can see where your business stands and use real data to determine what changes need to be made to meet your goals. You’ll be flexible and scalable and able to respond to shifting market demand. The ability to not just have a collection of data, but to understand and use its power helps your business stay a step ahead.

Become More Productive

Small business ERPs will automate tedious tasks that normally take up too much of your time. Things like manual data entry, inventory monitoring, creating reports, timesheets, invoicing, and more, can all be automated through your ERP. This frees up your team to work on more important tasks for your business.

Summary

Now that you see the value, the next step is to find the best ERP for your small business. With the right partner, your ERP software will keep costs down, improve the efficiency and productivity of your office, and help you scale and grow. Check out our free white paper to learn what kinds of questions you should be asking as you search for the right ERP for your SMB.

It seems like every day there’s a new solution that will change the way you run your small business. It’s hard to know which are legit, what partners you can trust, and what you need versus what would be nice to have. Not to mention what you can squeeze into your budget! You already have enough... Learn More

It seems like every day there’s a new solution that will change the way you run your small business.

It’s hard to know which are legit, what partners you can trust, and what you need versus what would be nice to have. Not to mention what you can squeeze into your budget!

You already have enough on your plate running your business — and that’s exactly what you should be spending your time doing: running the actual business.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software can help. Let’s take a quick look at how.

What is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software?

An ERP is a software solution that collects information from all of your departments into a single, centralized database. Depending on what your business does, this may include critical business functions like finance, inventory, manufacturing, sales and marketing, order management, scheduling and more.

With an ERP in place, your team has access to real-time information that covers the entire scope of your small business. This data is available through your ERP's reporting and analytics, which will help your business make smarter, data-driven decisions.

An ERP solution provides enhanced visibility into your business operations and can help improve inefficiencies. You’ll also be able to highlight growth opportunities and use real data to get there.

When you have an ERP in place, your organization can use the program to keep track of your moving parts. All of your data will be in one safe, organized, accessible central database. You won’t ever lose anything to a spreadsheet again.

With an ERP, you have a complete picture of your business’s daily operations. It’s a transparent solution to manage your departments and work together to achieve your goals.

Benefits of ERPs for Small Businesses

We’ve already discussed the benefits of ERPs for businesses, but they’re a bit different when we’re talking specifically about small businesses.

Beyond providing complete visibility into your daily operations, your ERP will make your organization more efficient in these key ways:

Increase Productivity & Reduce Costs

The biggest benefit of an ERP is the ability to identify inefficiencies without having to hire additional IT or staff. The information you capture can help you learn about your business and gain a competitive edge. Using this data, you and your team can become more efficient and productive while reducing your operating costs.

It’s a smarter way to manage your small business.

Gain Agility

The small business environment is challenging and ever-changing. The success of your business depends on how well, and how fast, you are able to respond to that change.

When you have a flexible and scalable ERP, you will be knowledgeable about changing market dynamics. You’ll also have insights into your customer needs and be able to see a shift coming. You can then make decisions to respond to these changes and/or be ready for bigger movements. Staying agile means you’re ready and adaptable. These are the types of businesses that grow and survive.

Enhanced Analytics

ERPs are also incredibly powerful analytical tools. Since all of your information will be collected into one central database, you’ll be able to put that data to good use.

You can see where your business stands and use real data to determine what changes need to be made to meet your goals. You’ll be flexible and scalable and able to respond to shifting market demand. The ability to not just have a collection of data, but to understand and use its power helps your business stay a step ahead.

Become More Productive

Small business ERPs will automate tedious tasks that normally take up too much of your time. Things like manual data entry, inventory monitoring, creating reports, timesheets, invoicing, and more, can all be automated through your ERP. This frees up your team to work on more important tasks for your business.

Summary

Now that you see the value, the next step is to find the best ERP for your small business. With the right partner, your ERP software will keep costs down, improve the efficiency and productivity of your office, and help you scale and grow. Check out our free white paper to learn what kinds of questions you should be asking as you search for the right ERP for your SMB.

5 Ways CRM Software Will Change Your Business For The Better

This means your business needs to be prepared. Are you providing a user-friendly web experience that boosts your business profile, or do you have a bare-bones website that only serves to make you look illegitimate?

You can’t afford not to give your online presence proper attention any longer. Thankfully, it’s not such a daunting task when you have customer relationship management (CRM) software in place. In this post, we’re going to cover why your business needs CRM software and give you five powerful reasons why it will change your business for the better.

But first…

What Is CRM Software?

Keeping your customers happy is a basic principle of good business, no matter your industry. A long-held belief in business is that if you provide high-quality customer service, you will build customer loyalty.

This is where CRM software can help. CRM software can help you run your business more efficiently by managing your customer relationships. You can build connections, attract new clients, and retain your current customers in a much more personal, impactful way.

CRM software is able to provide enhanced service and convenience through automation. You’ll be able to streamline your business operations and organize your customer interactions in one central platform. Here, you can store all of your customer and prospect data to leverage to increase satisfaction and sales, in addition to boosting your staff or team's productivity.

CRM software is highly customizable and can be tailored to fit any business, large or small.

So how can it change your business? Let’s take a deeper look.

1. Improved Customer Relationships & Service

Good customer relations is about much more than just a friendly hello when your customers come in.

Today, it mainly refers to the service you provide before a customer ever sets foot in your business – if they ever will at all. That means you need to provide an incredible user experience online.

A CRM helps you manage your online presence by analyzing and interacting with those who visit your pages. You can keep your prospects and customers engaged by using their data to nurture stronger relationships and provide them with what they are looking for.

A good CRM gives you a 360-degree view of your customer and can manage business tools like document signing, accounting, billing, and more. Identify new leads quickly and turn them into conversions through the power of data and automation.

2. Harness The Power Of Automation

When you have an automated CRM, you can save your team valuable time often spent on repetitive administrative work. A CRM takes care of these tasks and improves your overall productivity and efficiency.

A good CRM puts your entire team on the same page and gives them access to the same information. Everyone has access to the central network and can make informed decisions for marketing campaigns. Your CRM will make it easier for you to convert a lead into a customer by handling the tedious tasks along the way and helping you build stronger customer relationships.

When time-consuming tasks are automated and addressed properly, your team can collectively use its time more wisely and focus on more important tasks while your CRM handles the busy work.

3. Smarter Reporting & Analytics

Generating reports is one of many time-consuming tasks that your CRM can handle for you in seconds. You can easily track how your campaigns are performing, segment audiences, and determine if you are meeting your goals or if changes need to be made.

CRM reporting and accurate revenue forecasts help you make informed decisions to grow your business. You can customize the settings in your CRM to generate reports for only the most important information. This enhanced reporting keeps you up to date on the health of your business and the success of your campaigns, so you can learn what works and what doesn’t, where and when to meet your target customers, and more.

You can even keep track of your team members to see how each are performing, learn what products are selling best (or worst), and what marketing strategies are delivering the most or least ROI. Then, you can keep optimizing to find the best course of action to stay on target to meet your goals.

4. Enhanced Collaboration

Having all of your data and marketing efforts stored on one central system allows for enhanced collaboration across your team and with your clients and customers.

When you have a CRM in place, all of your team members have access to the same information in real-time. This allows your team to work together on campaigns, chat with each other, provide instant feedback, and get things done faster.

With a good CRM, your team can collaborate on documents, share important data and insights, and automate tasks and communications that would otherwise need to be done manually. This streamlines your processes and allows for higher productivity, freeing your staff to work on bigger picture tasks, all while building better customer retention.

Likewise, when working on a client campaign, you can keep them up to date with the progress of your project and allow them to provide feedback and suggest changes along the way, rather than waiting for a final product. This transparency builds trust with your clients and assures them that the project is being done to their preferences.

5. Targeted Marketing Practices

You know your marketing efforts are key to the success of your business, but a CRM helps you and your team work smarter so you can make better choices.

Your team can use your CRM to access your prospect’s data and give them customized marketing content. You can use data gathered in your CRM to tailor your customer experience, meeting your target customers at the perfect time with exactly what they’re looking for. You can modify calls to action, alter product details, and more.

Your CRM can also segment your customers to get the most out of your campaigns. Divide your customers into groups based on things like age, location, gender, preferences, and other categories. Then, you can give them detailed information that is geared specifically for that target group.

Doesn’t that sound like a better marketing plan?

Summary

With detailed insights provided by a robust and reliable CRM, you’ll never miss an opportunity to build a new customer relationship again.

Despite the shift in today’s business moving mostly online, people still value content that feels personal. A CRM allows you to do just that and will strengthen your relationships with customers, vendors, partners, and more.

Check out our customer success story below to learn how aACE’s CRM can streamline your operations and manage your business relationships today.

Today’s business world has shifted from an in-person experience to the convenience of shopping online. You can find everything on the web — any product and service you need is there on the Internet. This means your business needs to be prepared. Are you providing a user-friendly web experience... Learn More

Today’s business world has shifted from an in-person experience to the convenience of shopping online. You can find everything on the web — any product and service you need is there on the Internet.

This means your business needs to be prepared. Are you providing a user-friendly web experience that boosts your business profile, or do you have a bare-bones website that only serves to make you look illegitimate?

You can’t afford not to give your online presence proper attention any longer. Thankfully, it’s not such a daunting task when you have customer relationship management (CRM) software in place. In this post, we’re going to cover why your business needs CRM software and give you five powerful reasons why it will change your business for the better.

But first…

What Is CRM Software?

Keeping your customers happy is a basic principle of good business, no matter your industry. A long-held belief in business is that if you provide high-quality customer service, you will build customer loyalty.

This is where CRM software can help. CRM software can help you run your business more efficiently by managing your customer relationships. You can build connections, attract new clients, and retain your current customers in a much more personal, impactful way.

CRM software is able to provide enhanced service and convenience through automation. You’ll be able to streamline your business operations and organize your customer interactions in one central platform. Here, you can store all of your customer and prospect data to leverage to increase satisfaction and sales, in addition to boosting your staff or team's productivity.

CRM software is highly customizable and can be tailored to fit any business, large or small.

So how can it change your business? Let’s take a deeper look.

1. Improved Customer Relationships & Service

Good customer relations is about much more than just a friendly hello when your customers come in.

Today, it mainly refers to the service you provide before a customer ever sets foot in your business – if they ever will at all. That means you need to provide an incredible user experience online.

A CRM helps you manage your online presence by analyzing and interacting with those who visit your pages. You can keep your prospects and customers engaged by using their data to nurture stronger relationships and provide them with what they are looking for.

A good CRM gives you a 360-degree view of your customer and can manage business tools like document signing, accounting, billing, and more. Identify new leads quickly and turn them into conversions through the power of data and automation.

2. Harness The Power Of Automation

When you have an automated CRM, you can save your team valuable time often spent on repetitive administrative work. A CRM takes care of these tasks and improves your overall productivity and efficiency.

A good CRM puts your entire team on the same page and gives them access to the same information. Everyone has access to the central network and can make informed decisions for marketing campaigns. Your CRM will make it easier for you to convert a lead into a customer by handling the tedious tasks along the way and helping you build stronger customer relationships.

When time-consuming tasks are automated and addressed properly, your team can collectively use its time more wisely and focus on more important tasks while your CRM handles the busy work.

3. Smarter Reporting & Analytics

Generating reports is one of many time-consuming tasks that your CRM can handle for you in seconds. You can easily track how your campaigns are performing, segment audiences, and determine if you are meeting your goals or if changes need to be made.

CRM reporting and accurate revenue forecasts help you make informed decisions to grow your business. You can customize the settings in your CRM to generate reports for only the most important information. This enhanced reporting keeps you up to date on the health of your business and the success of your campaigns, so you can learn what works and what doesn’t, where and when to meet your target customers, and more.

You can even keep track of your team members to see how each are performing, learn what products are selling best (or worst), and what marketing strategies are delivering the most or least ROI. Then, you can keep optimizing to find the best course of action to stay on target to meet your goals.

4. Enhanced Collaboration

Having all of your data and marketing efforts stored on one central system allows for enhanced collaboration across your team and with your clients and customers.

When you have a CRM in place, all of your team members have access to the same information in real-time. This allows your team to work together on campaigns, chat with each other, provide instant feedback, and get things done faster.

With a good CRM, your team can collaborate on documents, share important data and insights, and automate tasks and communications that would otherwise need to be done manually. This streamlines your processes and allows for higher productivity, freeing your staff to work on bigger picture tasks, all while building better customer retention.

Likewise, when working on a client campaign, you can keep them up to date with the progress of your project and allow them to provide feedback and suggest changes along the way, rather than waiting for a final product. This transparency builds trust with your clients and assures them that the project is being done to their preferences.

5. Targeted Marketing Practices

You know your marketing efforts are key to the success of your business, but a CRM helps you and your team work smarter so you can make better choices.

Your team can use your CRM to access your prospect’s data and give them customized marketing content. You can use data gathered in your CRM to tailor your customer experience, meeting your target customers at the perfect time with exactly what they’re looking for. You can modify calls to action, alter product details, and more.

Your CRM can also segment your customers to get the most out of your campaigns. Divide your customers into groups based on things like age, location, gender, preferences, and other categories. Then, you can give them detailed information that is geared specifically for that target group.

Doesn’t that sound like a better marketing plan?

Summary

With detailed insights provided by a robust and reliable CRM, you’ll never miss an opportunity to build a new customer relationship again.

Despite the shift in today’s business moving mostly online, people still value content that feels personal. A CRM allows you to do just that and will strengthen your relationships with customers, vendors, partners, and more.

Check out our customer success story below to learn how aACE’s CRM can streamline your operations and manage your business relationships today.

Using Automation to Modernize Inventory Management

In a matter of time, poor inventory management can and will affect customer experience. For example, a customer is on your site and decides to purchase an item. Despite being readily available in the online marketplace, the item is actually out of stock. One of two things has to happen: you need to spend extra resources, time, and money in order to fulfill that order or you have to disappoint the customer with a long wait time, risking your customer relationship and your reputation.

The risks involved with poor inventory management have only heightened during the global pandemic. A change in dramatic consumerism has caused many challenges including imbalance, scarcity, shortages, and overstocking. According to a study by the IHL Group, the estimated value of out-of-stock items in 2020 was $1.14 trillion.

An automated inventory system, or the use of software that tracks current inventory levels without manual intervention can help your business scale while saving money. An automated inventory management system represents an end-to-end improvement in business functions. Not only can automation help you streamline workflows, it can generate actionable documentation and analytics, and streamline supply chain operations. Here are some other ways your automated inventory management can benefit your business:

Increase Visibility

Inventory is constantly shifting. Just minutes after a manual inventory count, a sale comes in, and inventory numbers shift – leaving your inventory spreadsheet inaccurate. With automated management, as soon as a sale comes in, real-time counts of active inventory update, even while the item is still in the warehouse. Once the item has shipped, the numbers are updated again to reflect the current on-hand inventory.

With new stock orders, inventory is added to your availability as soon as it arrives. This not only reduces the need for manual inventory checks, it minimizes the time between order and customer availability, ultimately saving you time and money. This visibility is crucial and decreases the risk of over-selling or under-selling your products.

Decrease Human Error

In manual inventory management, there is always the potential for human error. When updating spreadsheets, mistakes can be made and data can be distorted. There are a number of ways human error can have a negative effect on inventory management. One, counting errors can occur if an employee misses a product or mistakenly counts a product twice. Fatigue can also set in and mistakes can happen while writing and recording data. Finally, human error can cause workers to forget to save valuable data, distorting information for many users

A decrease in human error has trickle-down effects for the whole order process. According to EasyPost, an integrated order processing system can increase productivity by 25% and lead to a 30% improvement in stock use efficiency. Wireless barcode technologies are an easy and cost-effective way to improve accuracy, rather than error-prone counting by hand. Barcodes create an intuitive way to use numbers and letters to transmit inventory data in real-time.

Organize Processes & Integrate Disparate Systems

As a business leader, you are always looking for ways to save time and reduce labor costs. Extra time spent manually counting inventory or pulling data from siloed systems and multiple locations is not a good use of time and does not contribute to the well-being of your employees or the business as a whole. An inventory management system can operate as a single hub for inventory and warehouse operations.

With one centralized hub, you can standardize systems from order processing to shipping procedures. A future-proof system will allow you to integrate existing systems to achieve an omnichannel sales and supply system. A unified system will allow you to not only have one source of truth for inventory and quantity, but also all of the data stored about each of the products in your inventory. Within the system, workers will be able to find valuable info about the products, including SKU, weight, dimensions, supplier information, add-ons and alternatives, and more.

Features to Look for in an Inventory Management System

When it comes to inventory management systems, the market offers a few different types. What system is best for your business depends on who it is for. Two of the most common types are standalone inventory management software and an inventory management system within an ERP system.

Standalone IMS is sold as specialized software. This software can have advanced features that typically suit huge enterprises such as a wide array of warehouse options and cycle counts. Despite some integration ability, these systems can be siloed and not integrate properly with other factions of your business such as Accounting and Sales. Because the systems are inherently disconnected, there can also be a lag in real-time analytics. Finally, these systems are more expensive and therefore suited for complex and specific needs.

Integrated IMS is a solution included in your existing ERP. Because of the existing integration, the inventory management function shares the same database as all your orders, accounting, CRM, and reporting. This centralized data will empower your teams with the same real-time data, accuracy, and consistency. Your workflows will also be simplified because of their ability to all live in the same system. Finally, your overall technology spend will be lower compared to purchasing, implementing, and onboarding multiple systems.

Wrapping it Up

Inefficient and ineffective inventory management strategies could be costing your business valuable time, resources, and money. An automated inventory management could improve the workflow of your team and reduce the propensity for human error. The aACE Inventory module seamlessly integrates with other core business functions like accounting and CRM. To learn more about aACE's inventory management engine, check out our success story on Restylers' Choice.

Brick and mortar retailers and ecommerce retailers alike lean on inventory management processes to manage fulfillment, orders, and supply chain management. The demand for accurate inventory counts is ever-tightening — an inaccurate and inefficient inventory management process can end up affecting... Learn More

Brick and mortar retailers and ecommerce retailers alike lean on inventory management processes to manage fulfillment, orders, and supply chain management. The demand for accurate inventory counts is ever-tightening — an inaccurate and inefficient inventory management process can end up affecting the entire business, from accounting to sales.

In a matter of time, poor inventory management can and will affect customer experience. For example, a customer is on your site and decides to purchase an item. Despite being readily available in the online marketplace, the item is actually out of stock. One of two things has to happen: you need to spend extra resources, time, and money in order to fulfill that order or you have to disappoint the customer with a long wait time, risking your customer relationship and your reputation.

The risks involved with poor inventory management have only heightened during the global pandemic. A change in dramatic consumerism has caused many challenges including imbalance, scarcity, shortages, and overstocking. According to a study by the IHL Group, the estimated value of out-of-stock items in 2020 was $1.14 trillion.

An automated inventory system, or the use of software that tracks current inventory levels without manual intervention can help your business scale while saving money. An automated inventory management system represents an end-to-end improvement in business functions. Not only can automation help you streamline workflows, it can generate actionable documentation and analytics, and streamline supply chain operations. Here are some other ways your automated inventory management can benefit your business:

Increase Visibility

Inventory is constantly shifting. Just minutes after a manual inventory count, a sale comes in, and inventory numbers shift – leaving your inventory spreadsheet inaccurate. With automated management, as soon as a sale comes in, real-time counts of active inventory update, even while the item is still in the warehouse. Once the item has shipped, the numbers are updated again to reflect the current on-hand inventory.

With new stock orders, inventory is added to your availability as soon as it arrives. This not only reduces the need for manual inventory checks, it minimizes the time between order and customer availability, ultimately saving you time and money. This visibility is crucial and decreases the risk of over-selling or under-selling your products.

Decrease Human Error

In manual inventory management, there is always the potential for human error. When updating spreadsheets, mistakes can be made and data can be distorted. There are a number of ways human error can have a negative effect on inventory management. One, counting errors can occur if an employee misses a product or mistakenly counts a product twice. Fatigue can also set in and mistakes can happen while writing and recording data. Finally, human error can cause workers to forget to save valuable data, distorting information for many users

A decrease in human error has trickle-down effects for the whole order process. According to EasyPost, an integrated order processing system can increase productivity by 25% and lead to a 30% improvement in stock use efficiency. Wireless barcode technologies are an easy and cost-effective way to improve accuracy, rather than error-prone counting by hand. Barcodes create an intuitive way to use numbers and letters to transmit inventory data in real-time.

Organize Processes & Integrate Disparate Systems

As a business leader, you are always looking for ways to save time and reduce labor costs. Extra time spent manually counting inventory or pulling data from siloed systems and multiple locations is not a good use of time and does not contribute to the well-being of your employees or the business as a whole. An inventory management system can operate as a single hub for inventory and warehouse operations.

With one centralized hub, you can standardize systems from order processing to shipping procedures. A future-proof system will allow you to integrate existing systems to achieve an omnichannel sales and supply system. A unified system will allow you to not only have one source of truth for inventory and quantity, but also all of the data stored about each of the products in your inventory. Within the system, workers will be able to find valuable info about the products, including SKU, weight, dimensions, supplier information, add-ons and alternatives, and more.

Features to Look for in an Inventory Management System

When it comes to inventory management systems, the market offers a few different types. What system is best for your business depends on who it is for. Two of the most common types are standalone inventory management software and an inventory management system within an ERP system.

Standalone IMS is sold as specialized software. This software can have advanced features that typically suit huge enterprises such as a wide array of warehouse options and cycle counts. Despite some integration ability, these systems can be siloed and not integrate properly with other factions of your business such as Accounting and Sales. Because the systems are inherently disconnected, there can also be a lag in real-time analytics. Finally, these systems are more expensive and therefore suited for complex and specific needs.

Integrated IMS is a solution included in your existing ERP. Because of the existing integration, the inventory management function shares the same database as all your orders, accounting, CRM, and reporting. This centralized data will empower your teams with the same real-time data, accuracy, and consistency. Your workflows will also be simplified because of their ability to all live in the same system. Finally, your overall technology spend will be lower compared to purchasing, implementing, and onboarding multiple systems.

Wrapping it Up

Inefficient and ineffective inventory management strategies could be costing your business valuable time, resources, and money. An automated inventory management could improve the workflow of your team and reduce the propensity for human error. The aACE Inventory module seamlessly integrates with other core business functions like accounting and CRM. To learn more about aACE's inventory management engine, check out our success story on Restylers' Choice.