As managers of our enterprises. we entice our customers to select our products & services. Once our customers show interest in the items we are selling, the demand creation process comes closer to ending, and the demand fulfilment comes closer to beginning. Hence, we don’t wait for customers to order when we start the fulfilmentContinue reading “Demand Fulfilment Begins Before the Order, Not After”
Tag Archives: sales
Formulating the Operations Strategy
Every enterprise has a strategy. Not all have an operations strategy. A strategy is not a vision nor is it a mission. A strategy is also not a goal and nor is it an action plan. A vision is a desired future state. Where do we want to be 1 to 5 years from now?Continue reading “Formulating the Operations Strategy”
Dissecting Demand and Its Four (4) Stages
What do we think of when we discuss demand? We tap it, capture it, deliver it, and get people to pay for it, but do we really know what it is? We equal demand with how long a line is at a restaurant, or by the sheer number of customers at a shop. We sayContinue reading “Dissecting Demand and Its Four (4) Stages”
One-Way Conversations Are Never Good
A salesman boasted that his meeting with customers went well. He did all the talking and pushed his customers to agree to whatever he suggested. “Dominating the meeting is important,” the salesman said, “it avoids the meeting turning into a gripe session and at the same time, focuses on getting what we want.” Many executivesContinue reading “One-Way Conversations Are Never Good”
Solving Problems, Cultivating Ideas Together
I worked for Procter & Gamble Philippines in the late 1980’s. I was a production manager who oversaw the food packing lines of the company. As production manager, I was invited at times to join the food brand team meetings led by marketing managers, who were responsible for their respective products’ success. P&G is famousContinue reading “Solving Problems, Cultivating Ideas Together”
How Sales & Supply Chain People Can Work Together
Customer inquiries and quotations have long been seen as traditional jobs of sales professionals. Field sales representatives visit customers and strive to get orders from them. When customers inquire, sales professionals are expected to answer with accurate information. Trouble starts when sales professionals have no adequate answers to give. Sales professionals may know prices, terms,Continue reading “How Sales & Supply Chain People Can Work Together”
Behold The PSI: A Basic Tool for Supply Chain Planning
The PSI or Production-Sales-Inventory is a basic spreadsheet template for supply chain planners. It looks like this: The PSI has three sections: production, sales, and inventories. Production represents the in-flow of an item or what’s going into inventory. A basic example is finished goods input coming from a manufacturing operation’s output. We can also callContinue reading “Behold The PSI: A Basic Tool for Supply Chain Planning”
Why Shifting from the Month-End Surge to Delivery by Demand is Common Sense
“We just have to live with it,” the General Manager replied. The GM was responding to my comment that month-end surges in sales orders were causing inefficiencies in the company’s logistics operations. I was presenting an operations assessment report to a company that distributed name-brand computer printers and accessories. One of the key observations fromContinue reading “Why Shifting from the Month-End Surge to Delivery by Demand is Common Sense”
How Control Charts Can Help Get Things Done Correctly and Consistently
How can enterprises better control their supply chains? How does one know if the supply chain is under control in the first place? A soy sauce manufacturer bragged about its wonderful customer service numbers. The manufacturer showed charts that it was delivering 98% of orders on-time and complete. There was no problem with quality asContinue reading “How Control Charts Can Help Get Things Done Correctly and Consistently”
Ellery's Essays 