Top Reasons why building and maintaining a Products file is Important

STANDARDIZED PRICING

Sales Staff will be given access to a PRICING STRUCTURE created by management that includes high and low selling prices.  This keeps sales staff from accessing cost.

• Pricing is Math-A good product file will allow the company to set pricing for sales. This allows the company to do what they do best….sell….not math.
• Sell Based on Pricing not Cost-Statistically Cost based proposals calculated by sales staff often result in LOST PROFIT due to:
• “Remembered” cost versus today’s cost
• Mark Up calculation error
• Adding all the parts and pieces
• Low price selling mentality

TRACKING PRICE VARIANCES

Sales that are different from the system generated pricing should be done by applying discount structure that can be reviewed or by tracking changes for review and explanation.

EASE OF USE

• Easily Populate Bid/Estimate using product file all the information needed to build a quote is a click away, much like going onto a website and selecting what you would like to order and looking at your shopping cart, the product file enables staff to quickly and easily populate a professional proposal with pricing already programmed. All they have to do is fill in the quantity.
• Consistency is needed to FIND the product in stock and/or to show as material matching available inventory Having a product file will also help prevent ordering a product you have left over or is available in stock.
• Bundles can help automatically populate additional parts and pieces needed to complete an estimate ensures they are reviewed during the estimating process.
• Using product templates for labor and regularly used groups of products and services speeds up the process of creating an accurate estimate and can be used as a sort of checklist to make sure all things are considered.
• Carton/Square Feet available is calculated in inventory with the square feet/carton on the product record.

REPORTING

• Accurate Reporting-It is VITAL for accurate management reports throughout the system. Critical reports are directly affected by how “clean” the data is on each order.
• Top Sellers
• All Inventory Related Reports
• Materials Analysis.