The latest guide by Sales-i providing top insights on the 7 reasons why your company needs business intelligence, targeted towards distributors. For more information and other ebooks visit http://www.sales-i.com

1. 7 SIGNS
YOU NEED BUSINESS
INTELLIGENCE
DISTRIBUTORS
A publication of

2. The wholesale distribution sector was worth
$6 trillion in 2014.“
“
For the most part, the distribution industry has weathered
the economic storm of late. Despite warnings of a
slump in the market, the wholesale distribution sector
was up in 2014 to a staggering $6 trillion. With sectors
such as manufacturing and retail sales seeing double-
digit percentage growth in the last year, the market is
undoubtedly going from strength to strength.
As the market continues to flourish, many industry
challenges are now coming from much further afield. From
globalization to increased competition and the rising costs
of overheads, many distributors now need to focus and
ensure that their entire operation is aligned with demand.
This is something that can be challenging in a growing
business.
These inherent trials form the backbone of many a
distributor’s downfall and are early warning signs that you
need a Business Intelligence solution in place to mend the
cracks and create a solid business foundation.
Business Intelligence (BI) solutions automate the task
of analyzing data, providing a better understanding of
company performance, creating a proactive sales culture
offering a complete customer view for the entire business
and streamlining the sales and marketing process.
7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
WWW.SALES-I.COM
SHARE THIS EBOOK

3. 7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
1. Remaining competitive
The growth in competition has been incredible and the pressure
upon smaller distributors in particular is mounting. As many
companies seek to buy into different products, markets or even
countries, distributors are likely to be competing head on with
deep-pocketed companies that dominate the market.
Remaining competitive is vital if any company is ever to succeed
and technology is one of the only ways to do this. BI solutions
level the sales playing field, allowing smaller companies to
compete directly with the industry giants. Spotting valuable sales
opportunities before your competition is one of the best ways
to outsmart them. The ability to understand where sales lie in
seconds will give you the edge every time. You can act quickly
to capitalize on these opportunities before the competition even
catches a scent of it.
What’s more, you can provide a personal level of customer
service where the ‘big boys’ simply can’t. With instant insight
into each and every one of your customer’s buying habits, you
can create personalized campaigns, special offers and provide a
customer service experience to make them feel valued. And what
could be more important? A happy customer is a loyal customer.
WWW.SALES-I.COM
SHARE THIS EBOOK

4. 2. Rising costs: needing additional revenue
In order to succeed as a distributor, all business resources and operations must be aligned
with customer demand at the very best price. The need for access to timely sales data
when coupled with a responsive sales operations is paramount and will minimize costs,
poor sales margins and boost profits. Without the complete visibility of transactional
information such as sales value, GP% and margin, companies are struggling to manage
diverse product ranges at the best possible value.
A BI solution will provide a complete view of your entire distribution operation. From a
sales point of view, this level of visibility will empower your team to make smart business
decisions that result in more profitable sales. From identifying their top GP% line items to
spotting opportunities to grow your share of the customer wallet.
Generating additional revenue is simple with a BI solution, with easy cross and switch
selling opportunities being brought to light. If a customer is purchasing nuts from you but
not bolts, why not offer a targeted discount on bolts to get their custom? What’s more, as
this way of thinking becomes second nature for your sales team, they’ll begin to find more
opportunities of their own accord.
7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors

5. 3. Difficulty identifying growth
Distributors work in very competitive markets and it’s for that reason
that every opportunity for growth must be seized with both hands. The
potential for growth within the distribution sector is huge, from diversifying
to international markets to extending or focusing on a particular product.
Introducing a BI solution to your business can ease the identification
of growth opportunities and decision-making process. Analyzing your
company’s historical sales and transactional data, trends will begin to
appear in the data that will point you in the right direction for success.
Are sales storming ahead in Europe? Is your automotive distribution
channel closing 50% more business than last year? It is this level of
insight that will afford your company the ability to make well informed,
fact-driven decisions, rather than taking a punt on gut-feeling.
4. Little customer loyalty
The thing with distributors is that, for the most part, they rely on one or
two big customers to keep healthy revenues flowing. It doesn’t bear to
think about losing a high-spending customer and the amount of revenues
you’d lose along with it. While it is paramount to keep your biggest
accounts happy, your smaller accounts are equally as important. They
may not attract six-figure sums, but the thousands they do bring in are
just as important to keep business ticking over.
Any good BI system will integrate your sales data with your customer
information and provide you with a complete overview of each account.
Not only will this allow you to stay on top of their performance, but will
also act as a central information point for your entire business and you
can provide a level of service that is truly second to none.
Potential growth for the
distribution sector is huge.
“
“
7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
BI means that you can become a trusted advisor to your customers,
extending the user experience far beyond the first initial sale. This
doesn’t mean waiting for customers to come to you with questions or
queries, but instead going to them with information and advice. If you’ve
discovered that your customers regularly buy a particular item from you,
then offer up some advice and add value. You’ll be raising your profile and
setting their mind at rest when it comes to re-ordering from you.
WWW.SALES-I.COM
SHARE THIS EBOOK

6. 7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
5. Forecasting demand
The distribution industry is built upon forward planning and a minuscule
margin of error. So when it comes to forecasting customer demand,
data should be driving most of your planning and decision-making, yet
numerous businesses continue to rely on gut instinct and feelings to
make their supply decisions.
Guess work and intuition alone are no longer acceptable decision making
tools, especially when there is an endless supply of data stored in every
single business waiting to be used. This data, when analyzed and
presented correctly can provide a level of insight into customer demand
that is truly second to none. You can monitor spending habits down to a
granular level of detail.
A tool such as BI will feed on your company’s past sales data, tracking
and identifying customer behavior to highlight trends and average
demand throughout the year. Within seconds you will be able to
understand the average demand of your entire customer base and can
use this information to forecast with precision.
WWW.SALES-I.COM
SHARE THIS EBOOK
SKU 04937
at its peak

7. 6. Seeking to improve efficiencies
Any good distributor will be constantly seeking to improve the efficiency of their
business. The pain points of many comes from not having enough time, money,
resource and the like.
From a sales perspective, time is money. There is little use in wasting hours ringing
around hundreds of prospects and existing customers with no real talking points in the
hope of making a lucky sale. What’s more, waiting around for orders to fall at your feet is
just as useless and not making the best use of the resources at your disposal.
7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
Opportunity A
Opportunity B
BI software is the key to proactive sales calls. Trawling your data for valuable sales
opportunities, it will feed your team with the information they need to make smart calls
that count. 10 well informed calls would have a far better closing ratio than 100 cold
calls. Concentrating on key areas that will result in sales will ensure that time isn’t being
wasted talking about the weather or last night’s game, but will guarantee that every
single call counts and sparks an interest in your offering.

8. 7. Need to monitor individual products
As a distributor, it’s highly likely that you’ll be managing hundreds, if not thousands of
products, ensuring they get to the right customer, at the right time and for the right
price. Managing these thousands of products from a sales performance point of view is
often an uphill battle. With thousands of products, knowing which of those are your best
sellers, your most profitable and even your worst sellers can take hours to decipher.
With a BI solution, you’ll have a clear picture of your entire product portfolio,
from GP% to margin and even which customers have purchased that product
in the last 12 months. Or more importantly, which haven’t bought a particular
product from you but should be.
7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
A complete overview will help you to better manage your products, as you
will know which you need to be pushing as a team and which you could
potentially discontinue due to a lack of sales. The key here is to concentrate
on what makes you the most money at the best cost. A BI solution will bring
all of this information to light in seconds, removing the need to interrogate
endless rows of sales data.
SKU 02632
in decline

9. www.sales-i.com
STREAMLINE
YOUR SALES AND
MARKETING PROCESS
sales-i is a powerful cloud based Business Intelligence solution that joins
your ERP data together with your CRM data to give you actionable sales
information for each and every customer. We turn a good sales person
into a great one.
7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors7 Signs You Need BI: Distributors
UK address
Prologis House
1 Monkspath Hall Road
Solihull
B90 4FY
United Kingdom
0845 508 7355
USA address
sales-i
1840 Oak Avenue,
Suite 100,
Evanston,
IL 60201
1-847-868-8175
WWW.SALES-I.COM
SHARE THIS EBOOK