AI, AI, everywhere you look! Leverage AI for your business
Everywhere you look there are discussions around AI, it's potential impact on work, life, and the world in general. There is so much discussion around its potential; but what does it actually do now, what can it do for me? We'll take a minute here to explore some of the real-world uses that we are currently doing at EYOND, and outline how those same tools can be leveraged for your business.
AI Chat on MRSware.com
We enabled the AI chat feature on the little chat widget that lives on our website -- you click it, you are prompted to ask a questions, then a live person connects and answers it. However, sometimes that live person is busy, so you get a "we'll get back to you" kind of message. Now, with AI (artificial intelligence) enabled, the chat bot answers immediately with content from the website --
Visitor: "Does MRSware have a free trial?"
AI: Yes, MRSware does offer a free trial. You can log in to their demo application to explore the features and when you're ready you can ask their support team to provide you with a blank database to continue a free trial with your own data.
Sometime the AI doesn't know though; and will tell you so,
Apologies, but I lack data on the matter you brought up 😔. However, I'd be happy to provide information on other topics! 😁
Having an AI respond is an interesting option, and seems to do a nice job of summarizing small bits of information from various pages on the website (and there are a lot of pages between all the training classes and support documentation).
But What about Search? The Search box is still there at the top of the page, and is still useful! While the AI will give you those short chat-snippets, the Search actually shows you the pages matching your query -- think of it like "here is the long-form instructions for that thing you asked about."
Add AI to your own site / how is this applicable to me? If you are interested in chat on your own site -- whether with a live person, or using the AI with pre-defined answers / trained on your site, or a combination of the all of those -- you can quickly and fairly easily add it using a tool like Tidio. Our 7 year anniversary of using Tidio on MRSware.com is coming up the end of this December, and it has been an effective way to interact with prospects quickly, answering questions efficiently. AI was more recently added to the features, and is free to get started -- the free tier is going to be plenty to handle most manufacturers reps' sites; if you are a distributor or manufacturer, you may run out of the included free interactions, depending on how busy your site is.
AI Sales Import
The MRSware Sales Importer has built-in intelligence, with the overall goal to minimize or eliminate any work necessary in the spreadsheets before you import the data. The AI in Sales Import automatically determines if you are importing an Order summary, Invoice shipping report, or a Commission Statement, placing all the relevant data in the correct places.
There is no need to manually create new Customers, or even match up Customer Names, before import. The importer will match to existing entries, create new ones, and allows for grouping entries so that the common practise of each Manufacturer having their own name variation for each Distributor is handled and tracked directly by MRSware.
One of the common things we run into is people spending a lot of time in the spreadsheets before entering them -- removing columns, changing names, adding columns, etc. -- all of which is unnecessary because the importer takes care of that for you.
Here is the challenge I issue to you: Give it a try. The system takes massive files, like those from a well-known master distributor with over 30,000 rows of data in it, crunches it, enter missing customers and item numbers, and captures everything from line item details to End Users. And it does all that for 30k rows in 20 minutes. Have a smaller spreadsheet, or less details? It makes even quicker work of those.
If you are not a current MRSware User and would like to see how the system handles your files, sign-up for a Free Trial and take it for a spin. The time-savings can be quite impressive.
MRSware for Sales and Commission tracking from Order to Commission Payment, Opportunity tracking, Activity reporting, and many integrations with other systems.
Ideas, Enhancements, and Requests
Current MRSware User and have an idea to make the system better? Not a MRSware User and not finding any solution for your company's current data challenges? Open to all, the Ideas site is the place to enter what you need, review what other people are looking for, and rate/rank what you would like to see next.
Reps Around the Web
Supply House Times
Rep Council 2023: The bar has been raised
The 51st annual Association of Independent Manufacturers' Representatives (AIM/R) conference drew a record-setting crowd of more than 500...
ACHR News
2 Rep Firms Expand RectorSeal Duties
HOUSTON — RectorSeal, a manufacturer of HVACR and plumbing tools and accessories, has announced a sales territory expansion for...
Gift & Decorative Accessories
Top 12 Sales Representatives in the Gift Industry Named the Best of 2023
New this year, the REAs will recognize four Sales Reps of the Year, one in each of four regions. See why these reps were named the best.
Foodservice Equipment & Supplies
Reps Update Equipment and Supplies Sales Projections
Sales of foodservice equipment and supplies increased by 2.0% during the third quarter of 2023, per data from the Manufacturers' Agents Association for the...
Saving Maps, Grouping Contacts
This article highlights the use of Categories to organize and filter lists for creating sales territories on maps. Users can filter by various criteria such as city, state, sales rep, and company type, and then save these filters as Categories for easy retrieval. The article emphasizes the flexibility of this system, allowing users to efficiently manage and customize their sales efforts based on specific geographic and customer-density considerations.
ChangeLog: In-App Links updates and fixes; Aggregates and Metrics
This update introduces clickable links in table rows, allowing users to open entries either in the current page's details dialog or in a new tab, enhancing navigation efficiency. Notably, company links in the Customer and Account listings now directly lead to the respective company cards on the Companies Page. Additionally, improvements include the ability to edit and update Company Names, the inclusion of Business Address columns in the New Company dialog for easier import, and the incorporation of various aggregates across pages. Metrics enhancements in the Payments details dialog offer insights such as the average commission rate, commission and anticipated commission totals, average split paid to reps, and timelines from shipping to commission payment. Users are encouraged to provide feedback for further feature customization.
ROI with Activity Tracking
The article emphasizes the importance of assessing return on investment (ROI) in sales efforts by tracking the ratio of earnings to time spent with both manufacturers and customers. It encourages users to utilize MRSweb to record and analyze sales activities, including tracking last activity and twelve-month touches, as a reliable indicator of business success and profitability.
5 Minute Pre-Call Sales Planning
The article stresses the importance of preparation, professionalism, and having a plan during face-to-face customer interactions. It highlights the efficiency of MRSware's Contact Printout and Customer Snapshot reports, allowing users to quickly review customer activities and sales results in just five minutes, aiding in setting objectives for productive meetings.
Free Trial
We always offer a Free Trial of MRSware for those that are interested in kicking the tires to see what this is all about. Sign-up on the web, with MRSweb, to take a look at our Demo installation with sample data ready to review. When you are ready to test with your own data, just let us know and we will enable your own blank installation to get started.