3 Q’s for Alcohol Suppliers Considering a New Sales Reporting Solution

Most producers of beer, wine and spirits have some form of sales reporting/trade marketing solution in place to help them manage their business. Whether it is a collection of manual processes, a “home-brewed” technology solution or a third-party software tool, there has never been a better time than now to reassess the overall effectiveness of these solutions. Quantum leaps in technology and user comfort with all manner of web-based technology solutions have driven significant advancements in what is available to address the particular business challenges of beverage alcohol producers/suppliers. Here are three questions one should ask to determine if their business is ready to take their results to the next level.

Q: Does your current system deliver critical information to users via a modern and visually appealing interface; presenting the data/information your business needs to achieve both today’s and tomorrow’s goals?

Today’s leading systems effectively convey key performance indicators, and direct users to the necessary details for further analysis and decision making. They do all of this in a graphically stunning environment that is simple to use and supports user customization.

The dashboards themselves contain sophisticated prompting mechanisms for performing complex analytic calculations specific to your business needs. Dashboards can be tailored to support your targeted sales initiatives and strategic priorities. They can also be configured to illustrate distributor reviews and any other relevant data supporting improved sales/marketing activity.

Best-in-class tools like GreatVines make interactive visualizations remarkably easy to create. Integrated with external depletion data sources and other industry-specific applications, the information presented always represents the most current data available.

Q: Is the data model sufficient and is the system easily customizable to fit your evolving business needs?

Today’s cloud-based analytics platforms are designed to continuously innovate and improve on their technical foundation without any costly overhead such as software upgrades and testing. Unlike the legacy systems they replace, today’s solutions deliver polished product designs (like dashboards & other visualization), advanced metric query capabilities, and a well-defined roadmap for continuous improvement. The best of them are simple enough to use that even the most junior analyst can publish effective dashboards offering data models as accessible and moldable as business requirements dictate. It is now possible to report on depletions, shipments, surveys, national account authorizations and other sales activities all in one place.

Q: Has your business moved beyond a rigid, tabular, rows and columns reporting environment?

Standard spreadsheet style reporting simply won’t provide the most impact on your business management capabilities. Strictly a means for recording your activities and data, spreadsheets do nothing to highlight your key performance indicators or direct you to the details needing further analysis and action. This manual approach is definitely not flexible enough to keep up with the specific analysis required to manage targeted sales initiatives and strategic priorities.

Those who may have been using some form of technology solution for the last decade should take a look at what’s possible now with cutting edge solutions like GreatVines. Even seasoned users are blown away; not to mention delighted with the price and customer support offered.

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