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How Inefficient Sales Processes and Workflows Are Hurting Your Company

It’s hard to do your best work when the tools get in the way

Every company has at least one process that the staff avoids like rush-hour traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike. It’s bad enough when the avoidance is over a little-used, manual workaround needed to delouse a once-in-awhile database processing exception. It’s another level of problem when the offending workflow is the one slowing down sales, fulfillment, or billing.

It’s easy to believe that this is the exception to the rule, but when 20% to 30% of revenue is lost each year to egregious process inefficiencies, you have to wonder.

Too many times, “process” is confused with “work”

Every business process is supposed to exist in the service of actual work. That’s all well and good — all work has its process, doesn’t it?

But in many contemporary professional environments, the process has become an end unto itself. Work generates value; process consumes it. A certain amount of process is necessary to bring work to completion, but too much process dilutes the effort of everyone involved. The proliferation of process isn’t just a systems issue or an efficiency issue; it’s a morale issue.

And from where is all this “process” coming?

In a word: systems. Applications that have been put in place to enhance efficiency and increase output — different, incompatible programs brought in by siloed departments that themselves don’t do a very good job of communicating with each other.

Most of these programs aren’t very good at talking to each other, but they all must work together to one extent or another. It’s challenging to go about the business of creating value when so much of the effort that should go to productive work is taken up by the process. Many valued “workers” are reduced to glorified gophers, trying to keep fundamentally incompatible “efficiency-enhancing” programs on the same page.

There is something very wrong here.

Less “process,” more actual work

The concept is simple, but the implementation somewhat less so. The biggest time waster and friction generator is having humans functioning as the interface between two systems that don’t comprehend each other’s language. It’s here where enosix’s solutions can be invaluable.

It would be best if you had workflow solutions that allow the systems in question to interoperate in real-time. Anything less means you’re merely reducing process when you had the opportunity to virtually eliminate it.

Optimized workflows automate the most repetitive business processes and reduce processing times. Properly configured workflows enhance the efficiency and quality of the process, reducing — and here’s the key — manual effort. They free up human hands and minds to do actual, value-creating work.

SAP Cloud for Customer workflows in action

There are literally thousands of interactions between systems where workflows can save time, effort, and grief.

Here’s one example: When a salesperson makes a sale, they enter the order into Salesforce themselves directly. Normally, that order then needs to be duplicated in SAP by an expert operator. If there is an inventory shortage or product configuration error in the signed order, that must be communicated back to the salesperson who may need to go back to the customer and renegotiate the deal or delivery terms. With enosix, inventory and configuration information are synced in Salesforce and the order can be sent directly through to SAP with the touch of a button.

Except for manual logins and clicks, all the pertinent records along the way are automatically updated, eliminating the need for any additional labor, stress, or staff time to be spent processing the request. It negates the need for the salesperson to involve anyone else in the process that doesn’t need to be, and enables your salespeople to be more responsive to your customers because they can provide immediate feedback on any issues that come up.

Let enosix harness the full power of your IT investment

enosix’s integration technology is designed to improve your overall sales workflow experience and make your enterprise as efficient as possible. Connecting SAP data with your front-end systems will improve productivity, boost morale, and increase customer satisfaction, among many other benefits.

By optimizing your sales processes, you will give your team the time and resources they need to dedicate to more critical tasks. enosix is focused on continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible. We bring you next-generation integration technology that delivers on the promise of the intelligent enterprise.

Learn more about how enosix can enhance the productivity of your whole organization. Connect with Enosix at 844-436-6749 or request a demonstration of our integration solutions today.

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