Practical articles on sales, inventory and finance management

Practical articles on managing sales, inventory, POS and accounts receivable — from the SBT Consulting & Solutions team.

• What is CRM and why do small and medium businesses need it? — What is CRM, what is a CRM system used for and when should a small business switch? Warning signs, rollout steps, common mistakes and metrics to track.
• Inventory management: moving from Excel to inventory software, step by step — How to manage inventory and move from an Excel stock sheet to inventory software: product list cleanup, opening count, import, stock takes and pitfalls.
• Accounts receivable management: how to deal with customers who pay late — How to control accounts receivable and handle late-paying customers: credit limits, aging analysis, a collection plan, key metrics and common mistakes.
• How to build a sales pipeline: stages, conversion and control — How to build a sales pipeline: choosing stages, exit criteria, stage-to-stage conversion, finding the bottleneck and the mistakes sales teams make most often.
• Choosing POS software: what to check on returns, shifts, stock and VAT — What to check when choosing POS software: checkout speed, shifts and Z reports, returns, stock integration, VAT and fiscal receipts. A practical checklist.
• How to manage a field sales team: routes, visits and orders — How to manage a field sales team: customer segments, route planning, a store visit standard, field orders, credit limits and the KPIs worth tracking for reps.