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Use Datacor ERP & CRM to Ease the Transition to Remote Operations

Written by Caitlin O'Donnell | April 10, 2020

In these unprecedented times, we know our customers are doing their best to maintain their business operations with a largely remote workforce.

As you navigate this new landscape, we imagine there are likely several obstacles you’re hitting in this transition. We’d like to remind you of some features and offerings available to you as a Datacor customer that can help alleviate these pain points so that your business can operate as close to normal as possible.

Issue #1: Restricted access to customer orders, product specifications, and sales inquiries

Management, sales, and customer service all need to be on the same page to fulfill customer expectations all without the ease of being in the office and walking over to confirm inventory or order fulfillment. How do you stay on the same page if you can’t be in the office?

With the tightening of the supply chain, many customers are struggling to get certain products. Customer service and sales are seeing heightened call and email volumes from customers asking to place orders, confirm if a product is in stock, and check on order status or documentation. Are you able to service your customers when not in the office?

Recommendations:

Datacor CRM

For your internal operations, Datacor CRM (formerly eChempax) provides access to the information that you need to service your customers. Designed for the remote user, Datacor CRM is a web-based, mobile-friendly customer relationship management tool that integrates seamlessly with Datacor ERP.

Tools for a Remote Workforce
  • Since Datacor CRM is accessible from any web browser, mobile app, and through the Traveler desktop application. It gives you access to critical information anytime, anywhere.
  • Sales teams should use the sales views to proactively manage their accounts with data analytics to see “who is up/down compared to prior year.”
  • To see sales transactions such as open orders, invoices, and accounts receivable from one central point, use the Summary Page by Customer or the Open Order View.
  • Managers should use electronic call reports, view opportunities and tasks, and review sales agents’ activity by setting up automated reports and notifications.

Customer Portal

The Customer Portal in Datacor CRM gives your customer direct access to their order status and history. The Customer Portal helps you deliver a scalable, personalized customer experience with 24/7 access to customer-specific order data, product information and the ability to accept orders online rather than call, email, or fax.  The Customer Portal is a great tool to minimize disruption between you and your customers.

Benefits to your customer
  • By giving access to the Portal to your customer you will allow them to self-serve – place orders online, pay online via credit card, check order status and review technical and order-related documents online. They can do all this with just a link to your Portal and an ID and Password.
  • The Portal also let’s your customers retrieve their order data if you are unavailable to answer calls.
  • It also let’s your customers see what products you provide. With the disruption in the supply chain and customers looking to buy new lines of products, your customers can easily see your offerings.
  • Your customer’s will be able to do business with you on their time, 24/7.

Issue #2: Processing and accepting payments efficiently and securely while the finance and accounting teams work from home

Issuing and receiving checks are very manual processes. Most companies keep the company checks in the office and have a check and balance procedure to select, print, sign and mail checks. This is difficult to do when you can’t get to the office.

Working remotely also hinders your team’s ability to receive and cash checks. Processing checks requires someone to be in the office to open the mail, sort the checks, apply the payments, and then deposit the checks. Cash flow is a major concern during the best of times; it is even more critical now.  

Recommendations:

Accounts Payable Automation with Datacor ePayments

Pay your vendors without going into the office or printing/signing checks by using Datacor ePayments. This system automates your AP processes so that you can pay vendors directly from Datacor ERP. Simply select the vendors that you want to pay via a single screen and Datacor ePayments will distribute the money.

Join us for a webinar on Thursday, April 23 to see how Datacor ePayments ensures business continuity - click here to register!

Integrated Credit Card Processing

If your employees are all working remotely, who is receiving and cashing checks? Integrated Credit Card Processing allows you to easily and quickly process debit and credit card payments directly from Datacor ERP. This will reduce the number of checks that you will need to handle and avoid forcing your finance team to be in the office. The embedded credit card processing allows you to receive cash and update AR with one click.  

Join us for a webinar on Tuesday, April 21 to learn how to simplify your credit card payments. Click here to register!

Issue #3: Paper-based documentation is inaccessible to remote workforce

Despite our push towards digitization and the elimination of paper, we still have to manage a lot of paper documents. When all employees are working remotely, access to critical source documents such as Customer PO’s, C of A’s, SDS, signed Bills of Lading, Supplier Invoices, etc. is severely limited.

Recommendation:

Document Management

Document Management Utilize the document sharing features available in Datacor ERP to send and receive these documents. Uploading the necessary documentation to Datacor ERP allows your entire team, regardless of physical location, instant access to all critical business documents. The capability to share documents is available via the Datacor ERP, CRM and Customer Portal. Just attach once and everyone with permission has access!  

Tools for a Remote Workforce
  • Attach documents such as signed Bill of Lading, C of A, SDS, Customer PO’s to their respective transaction as they occur.
  • Then whenever that transaction is viewed, it is one click to retrieve the document.
  • Documents are easily stored, backed up and accessible.

Issue #4: Slow server speeds for remote access and inability to perform critical server maintenance

Businesses with on-premise servers require someone onsite to monitor and maintain them at the facility, doing so internally with staff or bringing in an external third party. If everyone is working remotely and your server goes down, what do you do?

Recommendation:

Cloud Services

Let Datacor keep your server up and running by moving to our high-performance managed cloud services. This will eliminate the need for you to monitor and maintain your own server.

Benefits of a Remote Server
  • Server updates applied by Datacor
  • Automated, nightly full server image back up
  • Nothing changes with respect to the screens, user interface or log in
  • No retraining is required, you will simply get a new Icon

More information on these features can be found on our website, in your platform’s online help, or by contacting your sales representative.

Stay well!