Manufacturing Sales Chain Management
A common issue for Manufacturers is how to manage multiple sales channels. I often see Manufacturers that have a direct sales force handle certain territories or areas, while using manufacturer’s reps or distributors to handle others. This mix of sales personnel can create unique challenges for a manufacturing organization. Dynamics CRM provides an excellent solution for manufacturers facing this issue. Company employees are motivated in different ways, tracked differently by management, and perform their sales responsibilities in different ways from their sales rep counterparts.
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Manufacturer’s reps will often sell for multiple companies and multiple product lines, whereas a company’s sales staff is focused on a specific product. Another struggle the manufacturers face is finding a way to allow reps access to valuable customer information, such as order status and product and service history, which can greatly increase success levels. The goal of manufacturers is to motivate the reps to give their specific product more attention and sales effort, while simplifying communication and ensuring that leads and sales don’t fall through the cracks.
Vision Manufacturing CRM allows us to provide a great solution for manufacturers to collaborate with their various sales channels. We have seen clients achieve excellent sales success by using Microsoft Dynamics CRM to communicate and share information between the manufacturer and manufacturer sales reps. We can deploy a partner portal for reps, allowing them access to view and update certain specific information, without creating security concerns caused by completely opening up the CRM system to individuals outside the organization.
This portal also allows for the efficient passing of leads to reps, with the ability to track the progress of the lead or the status of the sales opportunity. The sales Reps are motivated by the ease with which they can sell and place orders and view history and service records, and happy to have a full 360° view of the customer. These same tools provide the manufacturers with a concise way to better manage the work being done by the reps. Using Dynamics CRM provides a solution that meets the needs of the manufacturers and their sales reps.