Are you managing a large list of customers or items?
Distributors tend to have large lists of customers, large lists of items, and prices that change often. We discovered many ERP systems are designed with static price lists and don’t allow for changes by date. This means, if you have an upcoming price increase on your product offerings, you would have to wait until midnight the night before to enter that data. I don't know about you but I wouldn't want to be up at midnight to do that.
Are you offering Rebates to your customers?
Distribution companies have such tight margins that it’s imperative to track rebates and ensure you are collecting on them. So, if you don’t have an easy way to track them, you are probably giving customers larger discounts than intended. Best practices are to ensure those rebates deliver the desired price, volume, and mix. Rebates are a best practice but if not properly managed it can lead to costly errors. Rebates can help you stay competitive, so having a process in place is a win-win for all.
Are you able to modify a price and optionally track it?
When tracking a price adjustment it should be distributed to the debit and credit general ledger account in your ERP system. Whether it is a seasonal promotional 10% discount or a discount of $10 it is important to track that to a GL accrual account. Then, at the end of the promotion, you will know exactly how much money you discounted on this promotion. This will help you compare it to the overall sales and see how successful the promotion really was. Tracking it can lead to the success of future promotions as well.
Are you pushed and pulled in multiple directions? 
This could include demanding consumers, increasing product variety, regulatory requirements, and implementing new technologies. With all of this on your plate, wouldn’t it be nice to know there is a pricing solution out there to help?
That is why we put together this infographic to show you the 7 Ways Distributors Drive Profits.
With this you will learn how to:
- Protect margins with dynamic pricing
- Save time with simplified price lists
- Empower your sales team with imperative information
Imagine having full visibility across all your operations, entities, and locations all in one place. This includes financials, inventory, warehouse, sales, purchasing, quality control, reporting, and more. Now imagine what you could achieve with built-in pricing and rebate management designed to make your business more profitable.
This only takes minutes to read. It will help you be armed and ready to show your team how you can manage complex pricing problems with ease. I promise it will be worth it.
