Who Cares About Drinks Sales Data & Why?

 Who Cares About Data In Their Drinks Business? Could An ERP Help Them To Achieve Their Goals?

Sales & Marketing Manager –
‘So, basically, we spent around £3000 last month on advertising, some was online and some was offline. Our reps took a loss of £4000 in the north of England with one of the promotions, but we reckon we’ll get it back over time. I’m not sure how many units we sold, but I’ll get you that number by the end of the week.’

Sales Director –
“What? Where’s the exact return on investment? What products sold the best? Where should we invest our money next quarter?“

The above ‘report’ of sales & marketing activity really isn’t good enough.

Accurate Data is Key!

The best run breweries, distillers, and wholesalers know that accurate data is imperative to enabling them to remain profitable.
– Accurate data allows you to run accurate sales reports, accurate analysis and forecasting
– Accurate data enables you to budget adequately with a desired return on investment in mind
– Accurate data ensures that your warehouse is managed efficiently with the maximum amount of cash freed up for investments and purchases

So, who needs access to accurate data and why is it important?

Sales Director
The Sales Director in your business is usually measured against targets relating to drinks order order volume, value, margin, the amount of new accounts opened and the repeat business that they can garner. Control-IT’s business intelligence software enables a Sales Director to see which reps are performing best in relation to their targets. They can see which products are selling better than others in specific geographical locations. They can view reports that compare the effectiveness of multiple sales channels, such as telesales, field reps, and their online sales portal. Seeing such data helps to ascertain which business sales channels require the appropriate budget to see the best results.

Finance Director
Accounting doesn’t have to be about spreadsheets and numbers. The correct business intelligence tool can certainly spice up your financial director’s life with some colourful charts and dynamic reports! Finance Directors need to know what’s happening to investments made across the business. ‘How much stock are we holding and why?’ ‘How much do we spend on our sales process and what do we get in return?’ ‘How much credit have we made available to certain retailers?’ What’s great about having the correct business intelligence tool is that you can easily find this data and more with a few clicks of a button.

Warehouse Manager
A Warehouse Manager most certainly cares about data. Warehouse Managers need to know what stock to order in the run up to special promotions. They need to plan for seasonal trends and they need to be able to operate a bond based on accurate information. Reporting on a bond is extremely important. Not just in the sense of stock movement, but the reporting needs to be accurate and based on up-to-date information, otherwise there can be legal implications and heavy fines. Some companies still use Excel spreadsheets to report to HMRC, which terrifies me to the core! With Control-IT, you can automate the production of stock reports, bond reports and you can be confident that the data you’re reporting on is correct.

A long-standing client of Gaina Software is the JJ Fox Trading Group. Prior to the implementation of Control-IT, Fox used 7 separate ERP systems to try and manage their data across multiple departments. Post implementation, Fox saw a 60% reduction in the time spent carrying out stock takes, and a 50% reduction in picking errors! All because they had one data system that increased data accuracy, resulting in more accurate reporting and business decision making.

Gaina enabled Fox to ensure that stock was kept at optimal levels, freeing up cash flow and warehouse space.

Jimmy McCormack, Finance Director, said, ‘Fox’s financial transactions, assets, liabilities, expenses, and revenue data is now under the one digital roof. This has allowed for transparency and accurate reporting.’

‘Where do I get access to drinks data like this?’
With Gaina’s Control-IT offering and business intelligence software, all of your drinks business’ data is held in one centralised and transparent system. The beauty of your data being in the one place, means that there’s only one version of the truth. Our business intelligence software allows each department to look at reports that are generated with accurate data and can customise them to match their own requirements.

Decisions made in relation to stock management, forecasting, sales and finances can only be made using accurate data. The transparency afforded by Control-IT leads to collaborative decision making across your drinks business.

If you understand the importance of data accuracy for your drinks business and want to speak to an expert about how you can implement Control-IT, get in touch using the form below.