Q&A: Talking Sales Order Automation with Conexiom's New CEO

Business technologies such as ERP, CRM, e-commerce and warehouse automation are discussed at-length across many B2B publications, including Industrial Distribution and its sister manufacturing brands. But to a lesser extent is sales order automation (SOA). Despite its many advantages for unburdening distributor staff with manual order entry, ID's annual Survey of Distributor Operations indicates that SOA still trails other technologies such as those previously mentioned.

On the bright side, our 2019 Survey showed that among technologies respondents didn't currently have in place, SOA was among the top three chosen as ones respondents plan to adopt over the next two years, at 28 percent — just one percentage point behind e-commerce and e-commerce.

One service provider aiming to bring SOA to the forefront of distributors and manufacturer's priorities is Conexiom, a Vancouver, Canada-based provider of sales order and invoice automation solutions that was formed in 2000. The company announced Feb. 11 that it had appointed former Salesforce and CloudCraze executive Ray Grady as its new president and CEO.

GradyBringing 20+ years of experience in growing B2B organizations to Conexiom, Grady now leads the company into its next phase of growth. In early March, Grady joined ID managing editor Mike Hockett to chat about his job transition and what he brings to the company, his thoughts on factors currently impacting B2B distribution, and the role sales force automation can, and should, play in this market.