So you’ve come for my powers of divination? Nix the tarot cards and glass ball, all I need to know in order to tell your company’s future is what order processing system it’s using.
Wait, you are using a solution to automate your order processing, aren’t you? Because we all know what comes to those who don’t:
- High order error rates
- Slow order processing speeds
- High cost per order
Manual order processing is such a pitiful thing. Luckily, there are order processing systems that automate it all, from reception of an order to it’s creation — I foresee such a system bringing your company quite a prophet.
In all seriousness, your chosen order processing system has a huge impact on your organization’s current and future fortune. That being said, the smartest thing you can do for your company is to choose a system that will effectively optimize your organization’s order management for many years to come. When making that choice, keep these factoids in mind.
Mazes of Manual Touch Points
You thought you were in the 21st century — until you realized how many order processing solutions out there still rely on the manual entry of data. It’s crazy — crazier than a company taking advice from a fortune teller. Manually inputting order data into your ERP/business system is costly on multiple levels due to: lost time, entry errors, limited visibility, and other not-so-amazing consequences. Putting a process like that in place makes your company’s future clear — it’s loaded with errors!
On the flipside, advanced order processing systems eliminate nearly all manual touch points. In conjunction to saving customer service representatives time and money, it abolishes ever having to deal with lost, duplicate or misplaced orders again. With electronic order processing on your side, I see nothing but good fortune in your organization’s future.
Out-of-Control IT Requirements
When it costs your company more money to implement an order processing solution than for the actual solution — you should be seeing a big red flag! You’re paying for a solution to make things easier, not tie-up employee hours and company money. Follow this path and you’ll march your company into an overwhelming and expense-laden future.
Instead, you should have a solution provider that works with you to make implementation effortless. A fully-integrated order processing system allows organizations to continue using their current IT landscape while benefiting from an advanced electronic workflow solution. Not only does it allow for implementation to happen more quickly, it also supports minimal IT requirements, learning and, most importantly, money! Beyond that, your chosen vendor should offer a team of on-call professionals to answer any and all questions you may have — allowing you to rest easy knowing everything is under control. Your future from here is smooth sailing.
Disregard to Dashboards
Another aspect where many order processing solutions fall flat is their lack of customizable dashboards . These dashboards contain key metrics and analytics pertinent to your order processing workflow and act as a looking glass into daily activities (e.g., the number of orders left to validate and their priority level, etc.), providing insight into different facets of the workflow depending on what you choose to monitor. This visibility is an important part of an order processing system, allowing your organization to take pro-active, rather than re-active, steps to possible problems. Having a solution in place with no dashboard proficiencies makes your future very un-predictable — just like your processes.
You should ensure your chosen solution gives you complete visibility into the order processing workflow. Without it, you’re blindly driving your order processing operations sans critical knowledge, stemming from customizable dashboard metrics, that could drive your process to best-in-class.
Order Processing Systems: Your Company’s Path to Good Fortune
Whatever your company’s future, you are in charge of it and the choices you make have an impact on it. So when it comes time to choose, or change, your order management, remember what I have told you.
The right order processing system provides you with ample benefits, such as:
- Faster order processing
- Reduced processing costs
- Higher staff productivity and satisfaction
- Reduced order entry error … and more!
Take control of your company’s future and find an automated order processing system — you won’t regret it.