Many companies think they have a good sales process

Theory and practice

But then they discover that orders are still managed with Excel files, scattered emails and manually entered information.

And the problem is not only operational but strategic, because every unstructured procedure increases the risk of errors, delays, inconsistent data, inefficiency and loss of control over the process.

We have already discussed the importance of mapping company procedures in order to improve processes and build a more efficient organisation.

Today we look at another practical case: the sales workflow.

One of our client companies collected its agents’ orders using a standardised Excel form, containing predefined items, selling prices, fields for quantities and discount percentages, customer details and payment terms.

The agents filled in the form and sent it to the company: a seemingly simple but extremely fragile system, because every manual step is a potential source of error: wrongly applied discounts, out-of-date prices, incomplete data and delays in entering orders.

And when order volumes grow, these weaknesses explode.

We therefore implemented a computerised procedure, via a remotely accessible application, enabling agents to enter orders directly into the company system.

The result? Orders flow automatically into the management software, with real-time synchronisation, a drastic reduction in manual errors, greater operational speed and immediate control over sales information.

But the real turning point was not digitalisation itself: it was the standardisation of the process.

We in fact recommended that ALL orders, including those not handled by the agents, should go through the management software.

With precise rules, of course: prices drawn from predefined price lists and editable only by the Sales Manager, so as to ensure data consistency and integrity, as well as payment terms retrieved directly from the customer master data.

To reduce the risk of errors or possible fraud, we also suggested that delivery notes be issued by the warehouse keeper and not by the sales office, because when those who sell also oversee shipping, controls are weakened.

Finally, we worked on warehouse management, introducing the FIFO (First In First Out) method, implementing physical locations consistent with those in the system and using barcodes to improve traceability and stock control.

The point is simple: business growth does not come from sales alone but from the ability to build reliable, controllable processes.

Does your business have truly integrated procedures… or does it keep working with “temporary” tools?