The Business Edge – Industry-Leading Software for Uncertain Times

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We have been hearing many people saying they want to “wait and see what happens.” While some people are making bold moves, many do not feel comfortable committing to any significant changes. There are times when circling the wagons and doing nothing until the dust settles is your best chance for survival. Sometimes it’s the worst thing to do. The key is to know what your situation is. That is not easy when so many of the things happening are out of your control. A critical piece of the puzzle you should have control over is information directly related to your business. Are you running on a system that has been good enough for many years? Could a new system allow you to make better decisions and do more with less effort?

Focus Your Focus
Do you know what customers, products, categories, and activities are most profitable for your business? How quickly can you view your sales activity in summary and detail? The Business Edge’sTM “Sales Summary Inquiry” has become a very popular tool for people to find out where they are doing well and where they are not. You can select one of fifteen categories to summarize a date range of sales. Additional options allow you to summarize any combination of customers, products, branches, and document functions. This single inquiry gives you 240 possible outcomes. The results are presented quickly in a customizable grid for review.

Is acquiring new customers one of your key performance indicators? How easily can you see how many customers you have on-boarded by month or year? Another popular feature is the “New Customer Sales Inquiry.” The inquiry will summarize your sales by month or year, separating sales to new customers from existing ones. For each category and totals the inquiry includes optional columns for cost, sales, profit, GP %, number of invoices, etc. Double-click on any row to drill down into the detail for each period.

To help you go beyond anything we have thought of, every grid in the system can be sent to Excel with the click of a button. These are just a couple of examples of the hundreds of inquiries that come standard with The Business Edge.™

Customer Expectations
Customer service expectations are higher than ever. People demand real-time answers to all of their questions. People expect their vendors to have better access to information about their open orders and sales history than they do. They are quick to point out, “amazon does it, why can’t you?”

Customer service is the best way for a company to differentiate itself. It is even more important for companies that sell commodities like fasteners and industrial supplies. Immediate access to the information you need is critical to meet your customers’ demands.

The Business Edge™ puts everything in front of you on customizable screens. Every screen lets you select what you want to see with its unique drag-n- drop optional information grids and optional fields. You determine if a field or a column in a grid is not important to you on any given screen. Simply uncheck a box, and it will be hidden until you change your mind and recheck the box. It’s that easy. Every user can make their screens look the way they want, and the system will remember their settings the next time they call it up. No need to call a programmer to request a change; you can do it yourself.

Fastener Supply Chain Network
Do you buy fasteners from master distributors? Computer Insights Inc. has partnered with some of the prominent suppliers in the industry. The current list of connections includes; Brighton-Best International, Kanebridge Corporation, Lindstrom, Stelfast, and XL Screw. The minute you are connected, you will reduce the time it takes to do things and eliminate the chance to make mistakes.

• Access live pricing and availability information directly from the suppliers without leaving The Business Edge.™
• Information available where you need it: Product Inquiry, Order Entry, and Purchase Order Entry screens.
• Instant validation as you enter Purchase Orders: availability, package quantities, and prices.
• Submit Purchase Orders electronically. Ensures accuracy and eliminates double entry. Web discounts apply.
• Confirmations and vendor order numbers are automatically saved with your Purchase Order.
• Download MTR’s and attach them to your lot numbers.
• Allows for effortless drop shipping. Customers are billed based on vendor invoice receipts.
• Vendor part number associations can be imported from spreadsheets or entered individually.
• Look up pricing and availability on parts you don’t have in your system with each of the suppliers’ unique product tree inquiries.

Increasingly Complex Sales Tax Laws
Do you spend a lot of time managing your sales tax authority settings? Do you worry that you might be making mistakes that could cost you thousands of dollars down the road?

Tax laws are complicated and getting worse. The Business Edge™ is an authorized Avalara AvaTax system. If you are struggling with managing your sales tax, the optional Avalara AvaTax features in The Business Edge™ can help. Address validation is done as you enter addresses. Sales orders are automatically assigned the correct sales tax jurisdictions based on where you are shipping from, where you are shipping to, the customer’s entity use, the product’s tax code.

Sales orders are automatically assigned the correct sales tax jurisdictions based on where you are shipping from, where you are shipping to, the customer’s entity use, the product’s tax code.

A single order can be assigned a different “customer’s entity use” value for each line when necessary. If you don’t want to spend time filling out paperwork and paying your sales taxes, you can have Avalara do it for you.

The Best Support
Computer Insights Inc. has an experienced team of customer support specialists. Unlimited training is included with The Business Edge.™ The system is so easy to learn; they get people up to speed fast. They are happy to train your new employees no matter how long you’ve had the system. They will also train existing employees on new features or features they have not learned about before. If you need a refresher or want to take a deeper dive into something, not a problem, that is also included.

Time For Action
The world has been in constant turmoil for most of 2020. If you are still in business, you are smart, lucky, or both. If you are still working with a computer system from the distant past, the time to improve is now. More than ever, you need fast, accurate access to information to help you make decisions quickly. If business improves, you will need to be able to keep up with it. If business dips, you will need to make quick adjustments to remain profitable. If you are uncertain about the future, consider letting The Business Edge™ uncertainty.

This article appeared in Distributor’s Link Magazine, Fall 2020

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