Other reporting features, such as the cash outs and generating various statements, are a lot simpler now that we work with Solid Innovation. These are all aids to our sales reps out in the field.
Solid Innovation: Tell us about the reports.
Dave: It takes maybe a couple of hours a week to do all of the reports we need. Plus, each report is quick to generate and free from human errors. It used to take ten hours to run a report on all ten routes on all the SKUs of one supplier. Now we can do that report in a few seconds. The reports have allowed us to do something we wouldn’t have done before and it’s a savings that I just couldn’t put a dollar value on, but it’s a substantial savings -- and that time saving is just going to increase.
Solid Innovation: What kinds of reports do you run?
Dave: We are able to run reports that tell us how our business is doing. For example, the Stop Analysis Report lets us know how much of each product is selling on each route. It brings into light the 80 percent of our sales guys who are doing really well with a SKU and the 20 percent who aren’t. We get specifics about what we are doing, how well our products are doing, how our reps are doing on certain routes and in certain areas with products. The reports help us to choose the direction of our business.
Solid Innovation: Do you do reports for your corporate customers?
Dave: Yes, they are the most beneficial because they strengthen our relationship with our corporate customers. Corporates want to know the movement of the SKUs we carry. Our reporting gives them feedback on the direction they should take. Do they continue with this SKU or with this line? Do they expand in another line? Or do they cut back on that line? Do they change it? Sometimes they look at expanding the SKUs that generate dollars within that category, which leads to more profit for us. If we can’t generate the reports they want, our ability to do business with them is hindered. The most important factors for corporates are movement and profit, and the reports help them answer those questions
