Send us Fan Mail With innovations in technologies, we have put software on every device and endpoint too soon, which has increased the attack surface significantly. Unfortunately, this has also been done without truly understanding the ramifications of these advancements. The hackers or state-sponsored agencies are advancing their capabilities with the same speed, if not more, with these developments. And businesses need to keep up with them, or their intellectual properties could be at risk. Th...
Oct 11, 2021•44 min•Ep. 168
Send us Fan Mail If you are a startup, you will have several options in the QuickBooks portfolio to get your business up and running without requiring deep IT or accounting capabilities. As you grow, you might need to upgrade to several products in the QuickBooks portfolio and try add-ons such as FishBowl. However, while they have deeper capabilities functionally to support your small business, they are not designed to support the scale and transaction volume needed by a company with 8-digit rev...
Oct 09, 2021•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 167
Send us Fan Mail Whether you are pitching an initiative or getting pitched, turning down an idea is extremely uncomfortable for both parties. Although executives may be turning down the idea as they might not see how they might sell it to their boards, colleagues, or teams, they don't want to reject it as it could be a lifetime opportunity for their career. While it might feel counter-intuitive, the executives pay attention to every single idea in an organization. Still, most ideas get turned do...
Oct 08, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 166
Send us Fan Mail Most people think of personalization strategies as the thank you note written on the post-purchase card sent to the consumer or a thank you video from the CEO. But personalization goes deeper when it comes to e-commerce. The personalized experience could include the products that are shown to the non-logged-in user based on their location or IP address. It could also include reminding users about a battery pack if the product box doesn't include a battery set. In today's episode...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 165
Send us Fan Mail Scaling an e-commerce brand is hard. And it's becoming harder with the expansion of marketplaces. While they offer significant opportunities and an easy way to acquire customers, each channel and the marketplace has fairly stringent requirements regarding their quality standards and what they like to see from the vendors. Also, the more you move your products and the longer your products have to travel, your supply chain costs increase significantly. In today's episode, we have ...
Oct 06, 2021•43 min•Ep. 164
Send us Fan Mail The legacy warehouses were extremely rigid and imprecise. They had challenges in locating the precise location in the system. They also didn't map humans in the system. These restrictions limit WMS systems to accommodate real-world scenarios such as seasonality and dynamics recommendation of rearrangement of the warehouse based on demand. The modern breed of WMS systems is far more capable with the help of technologies such as machine learning and ultra-wideband. In today's epis...
Oct 05, 2021•45 min•Ep. 163
Send us Fan Mail A machine is not a microwave where you can throw a piece of steel, push a bunch of buttons, and expect your parts to be done. The inner workings of machines are fundamental to account to be able to program cost-effectively. You need to take several things into account, starting from the fit between materials and machines. You also need to figure out the appropriate setup times to make sure that you can make the part in the budgeted amount. In today's episode, we have our guest, ...
Oct 04, 2021•39 min•Ep. 162
Send us Fan Mail Change management has become the new buzzword. Most ERP implementation practitioners talk about how important change management is and how that can save implementation failures. Also, most ERP implementation failure conversations are around exceeding the original estimations of the budget. But who pays for change management? Who is responsible for change management? Where does change management fit in the organization? How to budget for change management? Is there a finite amoun...
Oct 01, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 161
Send us Fan Mail While building your e-commerce site, you might be tempted to go for the cheapest option. But for your e-commerce initiatives to work, you need to perform a deeper analysis of customer journeys to provide them the experience they expect. This study requires you to go deeper than the five WHYs and to utilize methods such as management by walking around. Also, optimizing customer journeys is an ongoing process, which doesn't end with identification. In today's episode, we invited a...
Sep 30, 2021•57 min•Ep. 160
Send us Fan Mail Most machine shops are afraid of going for certifications such as AS9100 and CMMC due to the process overheads and compliance requirements imposed. They would rather invest that money in buying more machines and adding more people. While these certifications can be perceived as unnecessary, they can open up tons of newer opportunities for you. They can also make you efficient with your operations and provide the necessary controls for creating a sustainable business that will ha...
Sep 29, 2021•46 min•Ep. 159
Send us Fan Mail While several tax packages out there, such as Avalara and Vertex, can automatically monitor each state's tax rates and apply to each of your transactions, these packages rely on your data and accounting to determine your tax obligations. If you are not accounting for your product costs appropriately, you might be leaving millions of dollars on the table. You could save this money through tax recovery if you conducted a refund review. In today's episode, we have our guest, Jason ...
Sep 28, 2021•42 min•Ep. 158
Send us Fan Mail If you have been thinking about penetrating the automotive market, your customers will ask you to comply with the PPAP processes. You need to comply with several requirements irrespective of your tiers, such as communicating any process or line changes in your facility. You will also have additional testing requirements at the transaction level, such as corrosion testing, etc. If you don't understand these standards, you have a risk of losing your customer or wasting money on no...
Sep 27, 2021•37 min•Ep. 157
Send us Fan Mail First-time ERP buyers and salespeople without any implementation experience consider implementations as plug-and-play. But while you might be using someone else's product, you first need to understand the product at a deeper level and this learning might take the same amount of time as creating your ERP from scratch. So although off-the-shelf products reduce the implementation risks and success, they still require substantial time to go through the necessary phases of software d...
Sep 24, 2021•1 hr•Ep. 156
Send us Fan Mail A deep understanding of your ideal customer profile is the foundation of your sales, marketing, and e-commerce success. Unfortunately, most companies struggle to create their marketing positioning around their ICP as they are often serving multiple industries and buyers. This issue is even more critical for your digital and e-commerce journey as the success of your market would be dependent upon how well you map your buyer journeys aligned to your ICPs. In today's episode, we in...
Sep 23, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 155
Send us Fan Mail Robotic applications have come a long way. They can automate a lot of mundane processes in your warehouse and facility. But to get the ROI from robotic investments, you need to assess the factors that make robotic applications efficient. Just like human operators, robots are not suitable for all environments. Even minor changes in the environment can impact their efficiency goals. With any technology, the more standardized and streamlined your processes are, the higher your chan...
Sep 22, 2021•45 min•Ep. 154
Send us Fan Mail ERP sales teams are some of the most confident people, while the ERP implementation team would come across as the most nervous. If you ever sat in an ERP demo, the sales team would provide assurance on every single doubt you might have, and the implementation team is rarely involved in the sales process. After signing the contract, you might never see the pre-sales or salesperson, and in the implementation, the lead might not agree with the verbal commitment during the sales pha...
Sep 21, 2021•36 min•Ep. 153
Send us Fan Mail Sales compensation is a multi-edged sword. There are many variables, and each variable could significantly impact your top line and bottom line if the consequences are not thought through. If the base salary is too low and if it doesn't meet the basic needs of salespeople, they might be looking for additional sources of revenue for themselves and might not be committed. If you paid too much in base, they might not be motivated to work hard and go out of their way to close deals....
Sep 20, 2021•44 min•Ep. 152
Send us Fan Mail Irrespective of whether you are integrating two hardware components or software products, the challenges are similar. You need to understand the current state of the integrated components, but the future state is equally important, especially if the future state may not be in your control. For example, if you aim to integrate an e-commerce platform with an ERP, the only piece you will own will be the integration code. The product life cycle of e-commerce or ERP products is out o...
Sep 17, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 151
Send us Fan Mail Marketers tend to offer sitewide discounts to their entire audience without considering where visitors are in the buyer's journey. Sure, that might drum up more sales, but it can hurt your bottom line in the long run. They also use discounts to attract the top of a funnel audience. Sure that's effective in the retail world? But does that work in every single situation? So what can you do to segment your customers better and understand if they truly care for discounts? In today's...
Sep 16, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 150
Send us Fan Mail When it comes to automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), there are several choices available. You have regular ASRS systems that will require changes to your facility and processes as they are designed to be more of the conveyor belts. Mobile ASRS, on the other hand, don't have to travel in a fixed path. Instead, they can travel to a predetermined location or work center inside a facility. Mobile ASRS systems are also very flexible in accommodating real-time demand and c...
Sep 15, 2021•46 min•Ep. 149
Send us Fan Mail Strategic placement of complementary products and personalized recommendations can help increase revenue from each transaction and the lifetime value of each customer. But strategic placement is art and science and requires you to understand customer behavior at a deeper level. If you go overboard with your suggestions, the customers may bounce from your site. And if you underserve them, you might miss out on the opportunities to be able to upsell and cross-sell. In today's epis...
Sep 14, 2021•38 min•Ep. 148
Send us Fan Mail As a procurement leader, if you are too focused on seeking discounts, sometimes you might lose sight that the cost of spend could be higher than the discount you might be seeking. Also, as the number of SKUs increases in your organization, the SG&A costs rise at an increasing rate than your top line because of increased marginal overhead with each SKU. The cost of spend is a key metric that manufacturers and distributors need to measure and control. Or you might hit the grow...
Sep 13, 2021•46 min•Ep. 147
Send us Fan Mail Cybersecurity issues are becoming more and more common. As the adversaries and state-funded agencies get sophisticated in their capabilities, most businesses will need to rethink their cybersecurity strategy. It will be even more critical for regulated companies such as aerospace and defense and medical devices. Also, as we advance with our capabilities with industry4.0, OT security will be even more critical. What can executives do to educate themselves and prepare for enterpri...
Sep 10, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 146
Send us Fan Mail For e-commerce sites, the conversion rate is perhaps the most critical metric. Many sites focus on getting tons of traffic, but what is the point in having that traffic if they don't convert. When it comes to improving conversion rate, various factors drive the conversion rate, including page speed, expectations of your users, and flow or navigation. In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant experti...
Sep 09, 2021•58 min•Ep. 145
Send us Fan Mail The most critical factor in winning or losing a deal is always timing. And the faster you convert your customer, the faster you answer all of their questions, and the faster you ship it to them, you can outrun your competition. To do so, you need to think about the speed to your customers and suppliers. This speed requires cross-functional alignment and everyone operating on one system and with process harmony. In today's episode, we have our guest, Rich Sade, who describes his ...
Sep 08, 2021•39 min•Ep. 144
Send us Fan Mail Balancing your day job and executing a transformation project in parallel could be frustrating. Your team might look up to you to make the most crucial decisions when you might not fully understand the implications of those decisions. To avoid this uncomfortable situation, you might want to outsource your role as a sponsor to a third party. But this approach typically fires back as they may create their version of your vision. Additionally, they might not fully understand your b...
Sep 07, 2021•44 min•Ep. 143
Send us Fan Mail As a plant manager or an executive responsible for the P&L of a manufacturing plant, you will need to make several decisions to improve your internal capacity. They could be adding more bodies, equipment or adding a new location. Unfortunately, if you don't have data to substantiate them, it may feel as if you are investing money in improving your capacity but not realizing tangible benefits. In today's episode, we have our guest, Dave Westrom, who describes the importance o...
Sep 06, 2021•40 min•Ep. 142
Send us Fan Mail If you are a growing siloed organization, you will have puddles of data sitting inside every department. You could also have hundreds of unused reports on top of your ERP system that you might not even be aware of. If you want to avoid growing pains because of data, you need centralized ownership and strategy with clearly identified systems for their roles and responsibilities. In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn wh...
Sep 03, 2021•57 min•Ep. 141
Send us Fan Mail Mastering SEO is no longer optional for ecommerce companies and manufacturers. If you are starting on your SEO journey, you will need to make decisions between SEO and PPC strategies. You will also need to understand the nuances of keyword strategies to identify the right targets that will help you meet your goals. Finally, you need to understand how to compare various channels such as PPC and SEO. In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live int...
Sep 02, 2021•59 min•Ep. 140
Send us Fan Mail If you are ready to expand your e-commerce footprint, you have several choices. For example, suppose you have been selling to the most popular channels, such as Amazon in North America. In that case, you might want to explore other channels such as Walmart, Alibaba, or Etsy. Or you might want to explore some of the international markets such as the UK, India, or Brazil. But the decision is not as simple as that as you need to compare the channels in each country, understand regu...
Sep 01, 2021•41 min•Ep. 139
