Author Archive for Donna Hedge Burns
Donna Hedge Burns is a public relations specialist for Cincom Systems, who specializes in ERP, product configuration and other smart guided selling technologies.
The 5 Most Common Wastes in the Front Office
Businesses implementing lean manufacturing often bypass the front office and target their manufacturing processes. After all, front offices have paperwork not inventory, right? However, it is possible to implement lean strategies in the front office, and there are great reasons to do so. Order entry, quoting, scheduling, design, and engineering are front-office functions that can [...]
The Sales Challenges of Complex Manufacturers
Streamlining the quote-to-order process improves competitive advantage
Specialty Vehicle Manufacturers Excel at Automated Sales Functions
When compared to their peers in similar industries, transportation and specialty vehicle manufacturers are excelling at automating some of the most crucial selling strategies and critical links in the overall sales process.
Commercial HVAC/R Manufacturers Lack Guided Selling: Cincom Report
Despite selling complex engineer-to-order products that are challenging to sell, none of the commercial HVAC/R manufacturers that responded to a recent Cincom survey stated that they had true predictive guided selling systems.
Using Product Configuration for Sales Force Automation
When the Semiconductor Equipment Manufacturing Center at Air Products, introduced their GASGUARD product line back in 2000, the thousands of options and product combinations made selling it a herculean task.
Deciding If Your Special Projects Are Products in Disguise, Part 2
Cincom’s experiences in applying bidding, estimating, quoting and product configuration strategies to manufacturers’ pain-points has resulted in the following series of recommendations for transforming special projects into products.
Electrical Equipment Manufacturers Excel at Mixed-Mode Manufacturing
Nearly half (48%) of electrical equipment manufacturers use an automated, integrated system to manage their mixed-mode manufacturing processes. This is 18% more than the composite average of comparable industries. An automated, integrated system often results in reduced inventory cycle times and costs.
Guided Selling with Dealers
Challenge for today’s Director or VP of Channel Sales, Marketing Operations or Channel Management: How to get the most accurate product information to your indirect dealer channel faster than your competitors and turn that speed into profits?
Deciding If Your Special Projects Are Products in Disguise, Part 1
In achieving the higher margins from special and highly customized, one-of-a-kind orders, many manufacturers sacrifice control over the processes that are critical for them to stay profitable. Transitioning special projects into products can be done profitably. Here are several take-aways Cincom has learned from helping companies make the transition.
Move to the Big Leagues with Guided Selling and Channel Maturity
Top performing companies who achieve Channel Maturity can capture more sales opportunities through;
A collaborative selling environment, driven by automation and integration that feed
Guided Selling Systems
• Indirect as well as direct sales channels -critical
Unfortunately, there are still many complex manufacturers “stuck in a rut” with a single channel strategy –that is, relying on a direct sales force.