Improving Virtual Sales Relationships With SPARXiQ

Since their inception in 1993, SPARXiQ has generated billions of dollars of profitable growth for hundreds of organizations, including twenty-five Fortune 500 companies. With their help clients grow revenue, optimize margins, build more effective sales teams, and improve operations. SPARXiQ is offering two webinars designed to help manufacturers and distributors navigate the current environment.

How to Hire Sales Pros That Deliver Results 
Hiring right has always been important, especially for sales roles. Right now, this is even more true than it usually is, and even more important that your new sales hires can sell (possibly remotely, for a while) and deliver the results you need. So, whether you are hiring right now, during our current pandemic crisis, or planning to ramp up or grow again as we move into an economic recovery, your hiring decisions for sales are going to be more critical than ever.

Join Doug Wyatt and Mike Kunkle on July 17th at 2 pm for this episode of Sales Enablement Straight Talk™, to learn how to implement a proven-effective system that combines selection methods to radically improve your hiring success. Stop rolling the dice and hoping – and start hiring sales pros that deliver results!

Register on the website.

Maintaining Meaningful Relationships in Virtual Selling
Even in the new digital age, making personal connections based on trust and integrity, and supporting client goal achievement, remain essential to top sales performers. Ever since COVID-19 brought unique challenges and economic uncertainty, there has been additional pressure on businesses that deepen the importance of loyal relationships.

In this Sales Enablement Straight Talk™ webinar scheduled for August 13th at 2 pm, Mike Kunkle and Doug Wyatt share the frameworks companies can use to ensure their sales teams are intentional about strengthening customer relationships to secure revenue in this time of uncertainty.
Topics include:

• The fundamental mindsets sellers must possess to build deeper relationships 
• How to identify which customer relationships deserve the most focus 
• How to evaluate customer relationships objectively, to know how strong they really are 
• What it takes to develop the relationships with the most opportunity 

Register on the website.

For the 2020 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2020_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide_Interactive.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2020Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Vertical Markets Matrix, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Advantage Sport & Fitness Gains Visibility with SWK and Acumatica

Advantage Sport & Fitness, Inc. (ASF) is a distributor and retailer of professional fitness equipment based in Ithaca, NY, with a second retail location in Greenville, SC, and 35 distribution centers scattered across 16 states. ASF also offers installation, facility planning and design, and maintenance services for all of their equipment. Founded as a "one man shop"in 1987 by John Murray, the current President and Co-owner, Advantage Sport & Fitness now employees 97 people across all of their locations. 

In a world where projects can run from a few thousand dollars to over a million dollars, ASF’s sales and operations teams must keep track of all of the associated moving parts for the whole length of the contract. Obviously, the longer sales lifecycles require an automated solution to streamline their monitoring processes. John began searching for a new system for Advantage Sport & Fitness that would allow his team to gain deeper insight into their activities, especially inventory management.

He also added a few more requirements to the list on the functionality side, including featuring a web-based browser and SQL-based programming. While hosting their software remotely was not the biggest concern, John desired a seamless environment that would alleviate their manual IT concerns and automate the upgrade process. “I didn’t want to run around installing applications on everyone’s computer,” says John.

John and ASF began looking at several web-based software systems simultaneously and came across Acumatica. He connected with SWK Technologies to learn more. “Acumatica seemed to be the best fit for us,” says John. "I liked that it was built on the .NET framework -we’re very familiar with that here. It’s something that we can manipulate...and you can run it on a laptop, desktop, notebook, smart watch, or your phone.”

Once Acumatica went live, ASF found that it streamlined their inventory processes and automated their manual checks. “We are now managing multiple warehouses with complete confidence,” says John, “whereas before we were guessing and, in some cases, had to physically visit the warehouse. The system reflects the reality in multiple states. That was the #1 problem and it’s done a very good job.”

To learn more, visit the SWK website.

 For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Follow Us on Twitter

KSM Stainless Steel Enhances Customer Experience With Shoptech

For many job shops and fabricators, time is of the essence. But there’s nothing quite like working with the entertainment industry to really understand how much a system like Shoptech's E2 can both catapult your business and keep you sane within a time of massive growth.

Lisa Burgess, President and Owner of KSM Stainless Steel Fabricators near Vancouver, British Columbia knows all too well the aggressive time lines the movie and TV show industry will impose on her team’s projects. “Every job is a rush. Instead of weeks to plan, develop and create a custom piece, we sometimes get just days,” said Lisa. " Because nearly everything we do is custom and is requested and then expected so quickly, we field daily calls from our customers asking the status of their project.

Of course, it wasn’t always like that. Like many shops, it was a sea of hand-written notes, spreadsheets and multiple systems that never really worked hand-in-hand. “To answer project status questions back then, we had to go out on the floor, find the order, talk to multiple employees — it was time consuming, to say the least.” As for the growth of the company, Lisa believes along with investments in equipment, implementing E2 was a key factor in their success.

KSM also works with fine artists and businesses as well. “Many of our customers’ projects have small parts and pieces and we still like having a paper that travels with that part as it makes it less susceptible to loss,” said Lisa. “It’s nice that E2 is flexible and can adapt to some of the ‘old ways’ when necessary.” Whether they’re creating blockbuster movie set pieces or an intricate metal puzzle, KSM has found a way to adapt to the unique customers they serve and the impossible time lines they are given.

To read more, visit the Shoptech website.

For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Follow Us on Twitter

Mar-Bal Manufacturing Stays Strong With IQMS

Mar-Bal operates four manufacturing facilities in North America and a sales office in Shanghai, China. They manufacture thermoset composite products essential to the appliance, electrical distribution, and industrial marketplaces.

Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, Mar-Bal continues production under the guidelines set forth by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. The Ohio policy, which was one of the first enacted in the US, recognizes the need for critical manufacturers required to continue operation to supply the state and country during these difficult times. Mar-Bal serves multiple industries whose continued operation is necessary to make it through the challenge we all face.

Supply chain fluctuations caused by the pandemic wreak havoc on Mar-Bal’s production scheduling. While they have minimal staff at their administrative headquarters, manufacturing operations are nearly fully staffed with the personnel necessary to produce orders – supervision, production and quality assurance. From their headquarters, despite minimal staff, they are able to centrally process incoming orders using their IQMS DELMIAworks ERP system and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). These orders automatically update the production schedule and generate work orders to distribute to their widespread manufacturing operations. Remote visibility of orders, inventory, and operations for their personnel who work at home and in-branch locations system has been essential to these continued business operations. The same can be said for forecasting, planning, and scheduling tools that have been critical to their ability to react to rapidly changing conditions.

At Mar-Bal, DELMIAworks manufacturing software has been essential to continued operations during the COVID-19 disruptions.


To read more, visit the IQMS website.

For the 2019 Distribution and Manufacturing Software Guide:

http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Distribution_Manufacturing_Software_Guide.pdf?utm_source=DownloadElectronic&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Guide

Visit our website to learn more about the Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services at http://www.software4distributors.com and to use our Software Features Comparison Wizard, visit http://www.software4distributors.com/compare/default.aspx.

Also, read our 2019 Mid-Year Supplements at http://www.software4distributors.com/downloads/2019_Mid_Year_Supplement_Blog.pdf?utm_source=DownloadPDF&utm_medium=Blog&utm_campaign=2019Supp.

Developed through a partnership with Industrial Supply, Contractor Supply Magazine and Brown Smith Wallace Advisory Services, these 12 page Supplement Guides provide valuable, independently researched information. Each Guide details software company information, identifies vertical markets, highlights functions and technology features, new developments to the software package, shows graphs of the user range, basic entry price point, sales channel (how and where the software is sold), along with company contact information. The Supplement Guides provide everything you need to know when beginning your software selection and evaluation process.

Follow Us on Twitter