The world of a wholesale distribution business is full of chances and opportunities for people all across the globe.
The internet has grown tremendously over the years, and people who are in the wholesale distribution industry have found new and creative ways to take their businesses to new heights. The use of the internet has presented wholesale distribution businesses with more opportunities than ever and opened new doors for them.
People are always trying to find out how to buy wholesale for small businesses, and the industry is growing. There are countless elements and aspects of running a wholesale distribution business that has to be considered when you are a part of the industry. There are often massive volumes of orders that need to be fulfilled as soon as possible.
When running a wholesale distribution business, you have to ensure you have a foolproof control system for your inventory. Accounting software like Vencru can provide you with the right tools to manage your inventory and run your business as smoothly as possible. Vencru is invoicing software for small businesses that provides you with countless other benefits and features.
As we mentioned above, wholesale distribution businesses need to consider multiple things to ensure their business runs successfully. Let’s have a look at some tips that can help you run a wholesale distribution business.
7 Tips For Running A Wholesale Distribution Business
Stop Managing Orders Manually
When it comes to challenges regarding orders for a wholesale distribution business, the most common is making errors when writing the orders manually. There are still wholesale distribution businesses that jot down orders on a piece of paper. Some businesses have moved to PDF order forms or excel sheets for all wholesale distribution orders.
However, all of these methods are not efficient enough. Technology has advanced rapidly, and writing the orders down manually and managing them manually is not the most efficient way. There are tools and software that can provide order-writing technology. Sales representatives can use any device to get the orders along with product catalogs and customer information.
Provide Your Sales Reps With What They Require
To stand out as a sales rep in this day and age, you need a lot of information when going in for a sales appointment. The times are much more advanced, and when sales reps go for appointments, they need to have valuable conversations. All the people on the sales team must have access to all the information and data they require.
Wholesale distribution businesses that want to stand out and become experts in the field enable their sales reps to have quick access to various types of information. Sales reps should know customer order history, stock levels for each product, most ordered items, and much more. You can provide your sales reps with digital catalogs containing this information instead of making them memorize all the data.
Hire People Who Are Good For Your Business
It seems like something pretty obvious. Of course, all businesses should hire people who will be beneficial for their company. However, more often than you expect, businesses fail to put in enough effort during the hiring process. You have to make sure that you set a benchmark for hiring employees and assess each candidate against the benchmark.
Hiring employees is one of the most crucial decisions for any business, and wholesale distribution businesses are not any different. When carrying out the interview, you should avoid asking general questions and focus on more specific questions that will enable you to judge the candidates a lot better. When hiring, you should find out how the candidate will be handling any challenges regarding the business.
Have Control Over Your Inventory
If you don’t have your inventory under control and proper inventory management, it will be nearly impossible for you to run a wholesale distribution business successfully. Most businesses have a minimum limit of the stock level they maintain and once the levels of the inventory reach the minimum limit, they restock and replenish the inventory.
Other businesses always keep a safe stock of certain products. The safety stock helps when there’s a sudden increase in the demand for certain products. Some businesses manage their inventory by delivering items just in time for manufacturing or shipment. You should always track the incoming and outgoing inventory, carry out regular inventory counts, and maintain your inventory based on any fluctuation in demand for certain products.
Keep Control Over Your Cash Flow
Like any other business, cash flow is the lifeline for a wholesale distribution business. As a wholesale distributor, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to give more extensions of credit to your customers. If your customers are making demands for an extension, you should never accept them and collect the receivables as soon as you should.
As a wholesale distribution business, you can receive online payments, outsource collection, and accept credit card payments if necessary. You should be aware of your business’s financial status at all times. Keeping regular records and generating reports can help you keep track of all the finances of your wholesale distribution business.
Quick Order Fulfillment
According to surveys that have been conducted, respondents can get orders from the field to the back office in under twenty-four hours. Some respondents can carry this out in less than an hour. When it comes to shipping, almost half of the wholesale distributors ship out the orders in less than twenty-four hours of the order being placed.
Some wholesale distribution businesses set an impressive benchmark for others to follow. If you want to succeed in the industry of wholesale distribution, you need to digitize the ordering process to make it as efficient as possible. If you are slow with order fulfillment, you will not get your ideal amount of customers and will probably lose your clients to your competitors.
Provide Value-Added Services
As we have talked about it earlier, the wholesale distribution industry is becoming more and more competitive with each passing day. If you want to be successful in this industry, you have to stand out and provide something to your customers that others in the industry are not providing. Wholesale distributors can resort to the oldest trick in the book: providing higher discounts and lowering their prices.
Using these tricks can help you get attention quickly, and you can grow your business from it temporarily. However, for more long-term results, you need to work on capturing your customers’ attention and retaining it. Providing excellent customer service is one aspect of your business that can help you retain your customers. Treat your customers in such an outstanding way that they never even consider switching over to a different wholesale distributor.
Running a wholesale distribution business – in a nutshell…
Running a wholesale distribution business in this day and age is not as easy as you might think. The industry is cutthroat and competitive, and when you are starting out you can use wholesale distribution software for small businesses. You have to consider various things when running a wholesale distribution business and do your best.
Accounting software like Vencru can help you run your wholesale distribution business as smoothly as possible. Vencru is invoicing software for small businesses and it can help you manage the inventory of your wholesale distribution business.
