Digital Transformation: Start With the Easy Stuff

Digital transformation is the key to success for every business looking to modernize. Unfortunately, many enterprises struggle to kick off their digital transformation journey, while countless others have seen their digital transformation endeavors fail to meet expectations.

Most often, digital transformation efforts fail because of a lack of buy-in at the executive level. Digital transformation initiatives tend to fall flat without executive support because they are about more than just a technology overhaul. Right now, digital transformation is more important than ever, which has created a shift among executive teams. It’s a greater priority for executives to search for new opportunities to reduce costs without sacrificing output. Now, the enterprises that were dragging their feet on digitally transforming have made it their primary focus.

One tactic for successful digital transformation is prioritizing revenue capture. According to Forrester, organizations must rely on automation “to create massive efficiencies and new capabilities.” By automating sales order management, businesses can jumpstart their digital transformation journey with a proven strategy that drives a positive impact on the bottom line.

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Eliminating Manual Sales Order Processing with Automation

Today, automation is the force behind digital transformation initiatives, but impacting revenue should be the goal. According to a survey from Deloitte, enterprises considered to be “digitally mature” see significantly higher net revenue growth than their competitors.

When embracing automation, many organizations opt for something low-risk with a fast time-to-value. One of the best areas to implement a strategy like this is in the supply chain. The supply chain is rife with highly repetitive, high-volume processes that pose the perfect opportunity for automation. One such process, for example, is sales order management.

Digitally Transform Without Forcing your Customer to Change

In my career, I’ve seen many digital transformations stall or fail for one main reason: lack of customer adoption. In B2B, we need to realize that what is good for us may not necessarily be good for our customers. It is more convenient for consumers to sit on their couch, browse products on their mobile phone, use one click buy and have a product on their doorstep in two days. That is not the case in B2B and, surely, not the case in order processing. The burden falls on us, not our customers. We need to recognize and put tactics in place to incent change.

How Sales Order Automation Increases Revenue

By making sales order management software the foundation of their digital transformation, organizations are prioritizing revenue capture. Through automation, purchase orders are converted into sales orders and immediately entered into the ERP system with greater accuracy.

This process removes human involvement (and the chance for error) by eliminating the need for a CSR to input information and manually review the order. Now, a customer purchase order can go from email to shipment in less than 15 minutes, which cuts down the cost per order by around 80%.

Sales Reps who were spending hours on manual sale order entries before are now free to focus on identifying new customers or cross selling into existing customers Optimizing sales order management improves the entire process, significantly increasing the volume of sales orders an organization can fulfill. As a result, organizations that automate their sales order management see increased revenue, a better ROI, and a better customer experience.

GradyDigital transformation on any level is a significant undertaking. It requires thought, effort, and teamwork, but the events of 2020 have given organizations dragging their feet no choice. Jumpstarting your digital transformation journey with sales order automation is an effective way to optimize a process that directly affects revenue and to ensure your business is future-ready.

Ray Grady is the president and CEO of Conexiom. He brings more than 20 years of experience in scaling high-growth B2B organizations, and leads the company in designing and executing Conexiom’s vision, strategic growth plans, and company operations.