ERP systems - like OGL Software - can help improve staff morale by reducing the time required for stock taking, warehouse picking and receiving sales orders.
We've noticed over the years that not only does our business software make the CEOs and MDs of businesses that use OGL Software happy (because of the boost to the bottom line), it also has a positive impact on the morale of staff using OGL Software for their day-to-day work.
We've compiled our top 5 examples of how OGL Software can help to boost morale in a stockist business:
We had to put this one at number one. In our experience, there was nothing staff disliked more than the annual stocktake, which businesses often seem to do at Christmas time when everyone else is enjoying a break between the festivities and New Year. No one likes giving up evenings and weekends, especially when there are far jollier things to be doing. We have also come across lots of companies that like to do their stock take over a bank holiday weekend and also definitely not popular!
OGL Software morale booster #1: OGL Software supports a perpetual stocktaking system, which means a couple of hours' stocktaking is done every week, within standard working hours. Therefore at any point in time, the business has a good level of accuracy with regard to its stock valuation. When year-end comes there is no need for the headache of counting every item of stock in one go as all stock has already been counted in recent months, as part of the perpetual system. Staff are delighted because no annual stocktake is needed.
Warehouse pickers have a demanding enough job as it is, striding up and down the aisles, carefully assembling customers' orders, without the frustration of a poorly organised warehouse or stock room. With targets to meet, the last thing they want is to be wasting time searching high and low for a particular widget. And they definitely don't want to be criss-crossing around the warehouse over and over again if they can help it.
OGL Software morale booster #2: prof.ITplus will print picking notes in bin location sequence, automatically providing the quickest order for the goods to be picked. Bar code scanners make it almost impossible for the wrong items to be picked and all warehouse paperwork will include a location of the item so a picker can put their hand on the required item quickly and simply. All of this makes for the best chance of earning target-related bonuses!
Yes, we were shocked too, but sales administrators at one business we visited told us that they dreaded receiving sales orders because of the amount of tedious work involved in putting it on their antiquated system and informing all the departments that needed to know. No wonder figures at the Company were below expectations when some staff were anti-sales! Sales make businesses go round; every member of an organisation should treat them as gold dust and celebrate them. Imagine a salesman that was reluctant to pass a sales order to the admin team because they hated the thought of all the work it generated and not conducive to team morale (not to mention lots of other things!)
OGL Software morale booster #3: OGL Software is brilliant at streamlining manual processes into easy-to-manage quick tasks. In the Sales Order Processing module of OGL Software, orders need to be keyed just once. The order is attached to the customers' CRM (Customer Relationship Management) record so the order is automatically populated with the stored account information and delivery details. Even better, if the customer originally requested a quote from you, that quote can be turned into a sales order with a few simple clicks. Cue happy sales admin staff that welcome sales orders into the system!
Most of us have seen the hit TV series Gavin & Stacey, in which two office workers and one the customer, the other a supplier and fell in love over the telephone from their respective workplaces: Barry in Wales and Essex in England. Now, we're not suggesting that your staff can find romance using prof.ITplus, but what we're suggesting is that the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) module within OGL Software can, and does, allow your staff to develop strong, meaningful relationships with your customers.
OGL Software morale booster #4: Everything your staff could need to know about your customers, to make them feel important and cared about by your company, is available in the CRM. You can even record favourite football teams, spouses' names, childrens' ages and other details about your key contacts to help the conversation, and the sales, flow.
It's a no-brainer that tonnes of customer complaints can drain the morale of even the most dedicated employees. Dealing with problems day-in and day-out, especially avoidable ones that can be easily fixed, can really harm productivity.
OGL Software morale booster #5: There are numerous ways that OGL Software can vastly reduce the number of customer complaints. One great example is that the system can import expected delivery dates from suppliers of the stock you have ordered (which can easily be updated should the supplier change the delivery date). This means your customers can be informed of accurate delivery timescales at the point of order or informed if there is a change to the schedule. You'll receive so many less phone calls from disappointed customers because they can be made aware of stock availability and lead times up front.
So, like the sound of this for your business? There are more ways OGL Software can boost your teams' morale too. Get in touch today and one of our Software Consultants would be happy to explain further.
