Tag Archives: management
Wholesale Distributors Meeting 21st Century Challenges
Expanding Services Margin Upside
Product margins vary for Wholesale Distributors, based on products, territories, and their own efficiencies. But clearly, service margins are usually much higher. Along with outsourcing, manufacturers are also closing branch offices and service depots. Businesses don’t want the head count or the challenges associated with the resource management of diverse and remote facilities, logistics, and people.
That represents the upside for the wholesale distributor! Local market knowledge, the strength and weakness of the product catalog, and insight can be provided into the types of services that customers need. Today, many brand companies clearly know that their channel partners are the ‘sales and service arms’ of their companies. And many have put large investments in place, from sales training to product installation, repair training and certification.
For call centre management, this capability can also be leveraged to support clients’ businesses. Again, instead of making the WD just a cost centre to manage customer interactions, it can become another service and a source of revenue.
Manufacturing services are playing a great part in the distributor’s business model. From light ‘kitting’ and assembly to custom value-added-reseller (VAR) services, the proximity to customer markets, again, allows the WD to open discussion on these higher margin activities. Once the WD is in the ‘manufacturing game,’ customer-specific services such as configuration management, pre-loaded software and installation can all be done.
Diversity and Multi-channel
A big challenge for the WD is managing diverse methods for customer sales and self-service options, often called multi-channel. This is the ability to provide a ‘single face to the customer’ regardless of their preferred shopping methoddirect sales, web, catalog, phone or showroom. Often, established customers use multiple channels. This is a huge issue if the processes, system and business tools can’t identify this customer and assure that all the appropriate services and agreements are instantly known. Does the sales person in the showroom know that this customer is entitled to a 30% discount? Does the system know that this customer, when ordering on-line, has higher priority when allocating scarce product? Can the 3rdparty warehouse have access to all the proper labeling and shipping information?
Foundationally, today’s WDs should be old pros at this type of challenge. Right?
Added to this are the complexity and diversity of the services, priorities, pricing, and ‘deals’ unique to each customer. In addition to providing transparency in sales and fulfillment, the WD’s business accounting software and billing system has to be precise, productive and transparent to the customer. Too often WDs are filled with paper tracking down pricing complaints, dealing with charge-back and settlements with customers, with no audit trail of transactions and service add-ons. Making the sale, only to lose margins in poor paperwork and ‘give backs’ to customers, who clearly did not really earn those discounts, is an all too familiar story. Diversity can cost. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
IT Project Management Consulting
Companies recognize the benefit of using project management to implement their various business strategies. The use of IT project management consulting is a valuable way to always have the most recent PM skills and knowledge available for that job.
The project manager (PM) is a critical resource in any IT project. They coordinate activities in all phases of a project including:
· Project Initiation (or Startup)
· Project Planning
· Project Execution
· Project Completion
IT Project Initiation (Startup)
The PM defines the parameters around the project such as high-level budget and impact on personnel. Specific tasks accomplished in this phase include:
· determine the business needs and create goals that meet those requirements
· define the project costs, perform a benefits analysis and develop a budget
· identify all personnel impacted by the project and how
· create a project charter with costs, tasks, deliverables and schedule to be reviewed and approved by stakeholders
Many companies use IT project management consulting in this phase to coordinate activities and insure that the work is complete and accurate. This phase can determine the “Go/No Go” status of a project.
IT Project Planning
In this phase the PM creates the roadmap by which the team reaches the project goals. The activities in this phase include:
· create a scope statement
· identify the project team
· create a refined schedule, costs and budget
Because this phase is concerned with the details of the plan and budget, PM consulting resources are often employed to assist or lead part of the phase.
IT Project Execution
While this phase could be summarized as “follow the plan” the PM is responsible for keeping everything on track. The activities in this phase include:
· determine where the team is on the plan
· determine how far the team is off the plan
· identifying risks and how to address them so as to get the work back in line with the plan
IT project management consulting is often used in this phase to support the risk management efforts. These can lead to the creation of “mini-projects” as new activities are created to bring the overall activities in line with the project plan.
IT Project Completion
In this phase the PM wraps up the project with two important activities:
Obtain sign-off on the project by the stakeholders
Transition the project deliverables to the companys post-production support team
There are other tasks involved in a project close but these two are an indication that all work on the project has completed.
It is often convenient to have the support of consulting project managers to make sure all activities are addressed and completed at a project close.
IT Project Management Consulting provides companies with a source of experienced project managers. They can be engaged to work on specific phases of a project, or coordinate the activities from beginning to end.
IT Project Management Consulting
Companies recognize the benefit of using project management to implement their various business strategies. The use of IT project management consulting is a valuable way to always have the most recent PM skills and knowledge available for that job.
The project manager (PM) is a critical resource in any IT project. They coordinate activities in all phases of a project including:
· Project Initiation (or Startup)
· Project Planning
· Project Execution
· Project Completion
IT Project Initiation (Startup)
The PM defines the parameters around the project such as high-level budget and impact on personnel. Specific tasks accomplished in this phase include:
· determine the business needs and create goals that meet those requirements
· define the project costs, perform a benefits analysis and develop a budget
· identify all personnel impacted by the project and how
· create a project charter with costs, tasks, deliverables and schedule to be reviewed and approved by stakeholders
Many companies use IT project management consulting in this phase to coordinate activities and insure that the work is complete and accurate. This phase can determine the “Go/No Go” status of a project.
IT Project Planning
In this phase the PM creates the roadmap by which the team reaches the project goals. The activities in this phase include:
· create a scope statement
· identify the project team
· create a refined schedule, costs and budget
Because this phase is concerned with the details of the plan and budget, PM consulting resources are often employed to assist or lead part of the phase.
IT Project Execution
While this phase could be summarized as “follow the plan” the PM is responsible for keeping everything on track. The activities in this phase include:
· determine where the team is on the plan
· determine how far the team is off the plan
· identifying risks and how to address them so as to get the work back in line with the plan
IT project management consulting is often used in this phase to support the risk management efforts. These can lead to the creation of “mini-projects” as new activities are created to bring the overall activities in line with the project plan.
IT Project Completion
In this phase the PM wraps up the project with two important activities:
Obtain sign-off on the project by the stakeholders
Transition the project deliverables to the companys post-production support team
There are other tasks involved in a project close but these two are an indication that all work on the project has completed.
It is often convenient to have the support of consulting project managers to make sure all activities are addressed and completed at a project close.
IT Project Management Consulting provides companies with a source of experienced project managers. They can be engaged to work on specific phases of a project, or coordinate the activities from beginning to end.