Advent

How can we manage our stock more efficiently?

Managing and keeping track of stock is critical for any distribution business. Having an inventory management system in place is certainly the starting point, but it is equally as important to have a system that enhances productivity, performance and leads to a satisfying customer experience.

Using Sage 200 software, we can bring our experience to the fore. Having worked with many distribution businesses, we know how to maximize efficiencies in the warehouse. We can also introduce barcode scanning software to further automate your processes.

Communicating between departments

An efficient warehouse will have a positive impact on Sales, Customer Service, Despatch, Procurement and Finance & Cash Flow.

For a distribution company, the warehouse is one of the most important cogs in the wheel. Enabling Sales Orders to smoothly flow through to the Warehouse through to Despatch, Invoicing and Cash Collection makes for a very efficient business.

Knowing what orders to place with suppliers and when is also critically important.

Using the right tools

Using Sage 200 Financial & Commercial Modules, we can help organisations to achieve measurable business benefits. As a software development company, we can also use our technical expertise to customise the software or integrate with other systems to reflect customer specific requirements.

 How can we deliver customer service?

Most organisations strive to achieve the best customer service levels, but in practice it is often the inefficiency of internal systems and processes that can let them down.

Using Sage CRM software, we can help businesses to implement standard help desk and ticketing processes so that customer service is delivered in a consistent manner, regardless of who answers the phone or sends the email. This solution can be applied across a wide range of industries ranging from IT helpdesks to distribution businesses.

Communicating between departments

The Finance Department may be concerned with getting paid customer service issues may be causing delays.

The Customer Service team may need to communicate back to the sales & marketing departments if there are particular issues with the messaging/communications being delivered.

The Customer Service team needs to be aware of issues throughout all of the departments.

Using the right tools

Having in place the right systems to provide visibility of all customer queries including responses, communications and resolutions can bring real efficiencies to any business – large or small. Even organisations that don’t have a dedicated customer service department may still have customer queries or issues that need to be recorded, communicated and managed.

Video Link:

Watch Sage CRM for Customer Service

Having an accurate picture of what’s in stock, what’s on order from customers and what’s due in from suppliers will enable the Warehouse Manager make informed decisions about what to order and when to order. Over-stocked warehouses can lead to cash flow difficulties, which can have further knock-on affects in the business.

Using Sage 200 software, we can assist distribution business gain the best results from a procurement system.

Communicating between departments

Buying fast moving stock should result in a good cash flow position for the business.

Ensuring customer orders are fulfilled in a timely and efficient manner will positively impact on customer service, repeat orders and customer referrals.

From an accounts perspective, applying rules for Purchase Order Authorisation can help to control expenditure before the order is placed with the supplier.

By using the Sage 200 Purchase Order Processing system, this will assist the accounts department with Month End Accruals.

Using the right tools

Using Sage 200 Financial & Commercial Modules, we can help organisations to achieve measurable business benefits. As a software development company, we can use our technical expertise to customise software or integrate with other systems to reflect customer specific requirements.

Providing you with detailed information on which to base decisions about your entire business, the Sage 200 Financials Suite is equipped to deliver extensive reporting and analysis so that you can plan for the short and long term.

Using an ERP system such as Sage 200, we can offer advice and assistance on the best set-up of the Financial Suite and how to use the available reporting and analysis tools to give the required results for your business.

communicating between departments

The Business Intelligence module comes as standard with the Sage 200 Financials Suite. This will give you a unified and integrated view of important data, with complete management dashboards and analysis. This will help departmental managers and owners to embrace strategic planning by identifying key trends and patterns over periods of time. Reports are presented in a very user-friendly way using Microsoft Excel ®. Additionally, user friendly dashboards may be used to present data in a meaningful way.

using the right tools

Using Sage 200 Financials Suite incorporating Business Intelligence, we can help organisations to achieve measurable business benefits. As a software development company, we can also use our technical expertise to customise the software or integrate with other systems to reflect customer specific requirements.

Talk to us about how a joined-up approach to Finance can benefit your business.

The Sales Process connects to many other parts of the organisation. A smooth flowing sales process can bring significant benefits throughout the organisation. We use our knowledge and experience to assist businesses to get the most out of their CRM system. Understanding how sales departments work and where the bottlenecks lie can help us to define a joined-up approach to managing sales processes.

How can we increase sales?

Sales is about connecting with people at different levels. It involves managing a host of tasks and activities, managing time, managing sales pipelines and forecasts. It involves a high degree of organisation so that the sales person’s time is optimised for actual sales activities. Too often the sales person becomes caught in a web of administrative duties which can detract from selling. Better systems and processes can help to turn a good sales person into a high performing sales person.

Using Sage CRM software, features such as Lead and Opportunity Management will help track enquiries and prospects. The Web Self Service portal can further streamline processes by automatically taking web enquiries and converting them into Leads. Notifications or Alerts to the Sales Team will ensure that all enquiries are followed up. Integration with Microsoft Exchange Server for appointments and e-mail communications will bring efficiencies throughout the sales process. Implementing workflows within Sage CRM allows businesses to reflect their internal processes in the Sage CRM system. This will ensure that users follow a standard process.

Communicating between departments

The Finance Department may be concerned with credit control issues and may require visibility of aged debtors analysis by sales person. The sales person may also need to know whether an account is on-hold or what the balance on the customer account is.

The Sales and Marketing departments are inter-dependent. Understanding why sales have increased or decreased in critical in assessing what is/isn’t working. Knowing and understanding whether a slow-down in sales is a result of a reduction in the number of leads, poor quality leads, low conversion rates, longer sales cycles, ineffective marketing campaigns, market conditions etc will go a long way towards finding a solution to the problem.

The Customer Service department may need to communicate back to the sales department if there are particular issues arising from selling a product/service in a particular way. Inconsistent messages from Sales & Marketing may result in an increase in customer service calls.

Providing an accurate Sales Forecast can assist the Warehouse Manager and the Procurement Manager to calculate stock levels and plan ahead.

Using the right tools

Using the CRM dashboards, Sales Managers can clearly see what’s happening within the sales department. Providing visibility across customers & prospects, activities and at individual sales person level will assist the Sales Manager to make key decisions.

Using tools such as Sage CRM mobile will enable sales people update and enquire on records while on the go - this is one of the key benefits of using a CRM system.

 Video Link:

Watch Sage CRM for Sales Users

Having the best of breed Payroll & HR Solutions means that administrative tasks become much more streamlined and the whole Finance department can benefit from having integrated systems.

We bring our experience and advice to our customers in getting the most out of their Payroll & HR solutions.

Communicating between departments

Connecting your Payroll System to your Finance and HR Systems means that information can flow without the need to manually re-enter data.

Using the web-based PeopleLink application, employees across all departments can view their own timesheet/payroll data, thus reducing payslip distribution time, costs and payslip queries.

Using the right tools

Smart businesses use the right tools for the job. MicroPay, Sage HR and PeopleLink can bring lots of efficiencies to your business.

Our belief is that the marketing function forms a vital part of any business or organisation, large or small. Advent will bring skills and experience to your table, that will help transform your marketing function to drive more business.

We look at marketing challenges in a logical way and use a joined-up approach to enhancing your marketing processes. This may involve integration with external systems or customising an “out of box” solution, like Sage CRM, to address specific marketing goals and objectives. The bottom line is that we look at every challenge in isolation and will always identify and deliver the best solution for your individual needs.

How can we deliver better marketing results?

Marketing is about connecting with your customers and prospective customers at their level, delivering the right message to them at the right time. It’s about understanding their buying behaviour and creating marketing messages that your target audience can relate to.

Using Sage CRM, we will enhance your marketing by introducing specialist tools such as Social Media Marketing and e-marketing to cost effectively communicate with your customers and prospective customers. You can then monitor results of campaigns, so you will know what worked or didn’t work in the past, when deciding on future marketing strategies. Sage CRM is a very useful tool to have when implementing a digital marketing plan.

Communicating between departments

The Finance Department may be concerned about over-runs on marketing expenditure – Our solutions, like Sage CRM, include a budget tracking facility so that this can be easily monitored. In most businesses, the Marketing Team generally has a direct relationship with the Sales Team, so that campaigns can be adapted or escalated to suit current sales activity and projected sales forecasts. The Customer Service and Sales departments may need to communicate back to the marketing department if there are particular issues with the messaging/communications being delivered.

Using the right tools

A well organised marketing department or function does not require a large budget. It’s about being more creative - using modern tools to drive new business and to retain existing customers. It’s about creating the right connections both between internal departments and with external contacts. And above all, it is about partnering with the best solutions provider to take your business to the next level.

Video Links:

Watch the Sage emarketing video here

Watch the Sage CRM for Twitter video here

Sage Project Accounting is very flexible and can be configured to suit a wide range of different industry and business requirements.

Communicating between departments

Knowing what projects were most profitable will assist the Sales Team in quoting for future projects.

Web based Time & Expense Management ensures that billing information is captured in a timely manner and will help with cash flow.

Using the right tools 

Using the Sage Project Accounting module can bring measurable benefits for any business involved in Projects.