How to raise the organization of the printing house to a higher level?

We all agree that finding the answer to the question in the title is not easy, but we can confirm with certainty that the answer lies in the digitalization of business. Business digitalization implies using software tools that integrate information from all departments within the company into a single system. With these tools, it is possible to automate, speed up, control, and improve almost all processes within the company. The implementation process lasts, on average, from a minimum of three months to two years, depending on the company’s size. It is important to note that the success of introducing such a system largely depends on the organization and awareness of the director, as well as other employees. This would mean that if the key people within the company are familiar with the entire digitalization process and are determined to implement such a solution, then we can claim that the chances for successful digitalization of the business are very high.

There is no success without the involvement of all employees

In the first few months, the most significant commitment lies with the employees themselves. They have to follow all the instructions and change their work habits, which is one of the biggest problems, and in most cases, they work simultaneously in both the old and the new system.

Of course, the employees must adapt to the system's rules, but finding a system that can be primarily adapted to the company's current work is also necessary. The best way to introduce a new system is for each department in the company (sales, procurement, warehouse, production, accounting, etc.) to determine the responsible person and the deadline by which a particular segment of the system must be implemented. The responsible person undergoes detailed training and then supervises their department, monitors employees’ work, and warns them of mistakes promptly.

Namely, in order for the system to be implemented as quickly and painlessly as possible, the employees must work on it daily. When encountering a problem, they should report to the manager and solve the problem, and not bypass it in the old way. The system provider and the company director receive regular reports from all departments, according to which further steps are planned and carried out. As for employee motivation itself, company management has different ways. We cannot suggest which is better, but the most common is the principle of rewards or sanctions.

The problem of inquiries and orders

Considering that every business starts with inquiries and orders, we will begin with that. How to adequately receive, delegate and monitor the progress of each inquiry and order? Inquiries mainly come from four sources: personal, telephone, e-mail inquiries, and web form inquiries. Without a quality system, it is impossible to monitor inquiries adequately. Why? Different employees receive and process inquiries, and records are kept in diaries or Excel tables. There is no precise distribution of inquiries in such a way as to know from which sources and through whom the inquiry came.

Accordingly, the current status of inquiries is not known either. It is unknown how many were turned into orders, how many were unsuccessful, and for what reasons. It sometimes takes several months to turn a lead into a customer, but without the right tools, such a potential client is quickly forgotten, along with daily obligations. Given that every business starts with an inquiry or order, it is essential to have that segment of the company under complete control and not to allow the clients to be forgotten or not contacted.

Solution: a centralized list of all inquiries.

As we have already stated, inquiries come from four sources and to different employees. Inquiries that come via e-mail can be directly forwarded to the system. Inquiries that come via the web form automatically end up on the list, and personal and telephone inquiries are entered manually via a simple form. Finally, they all end up on the central list from where they are further processed. In practice, it turned out to be the most efficient for one or two employees to process the inquiries.

They are in charge of the daily review of the centralized list, according to which they review all inquiries and, depending on their content, assign tasks to other employees. The list is, of course, updated with a modification in status and actions taken toward the client. So, for example, if an offer has been made for the client, the inquiry is set to SUCCESSFUL, and the offer status is further monitored, which can be successful or rejected. In the case of a rejected offer, the system requires that the reason for the rejection be marked in order to be used for further analysis.

In the image, you can see all incoming inquiries in one place, regardless of which source or sales representative they came from. The most important information is visible in the table view, which shows, for example, from whom the inquiry came, through which source, the current status, and which employee took over the inquiry for further processing. In the Toscana ERP&CRM system, almost everything is defined by statuses, from inquiries, offers, work orders, goods orders, and even invoices. You can quickly and easily access the necessary information by changing your status. For example, if you only want to see the inquiries that you have to process, you select the status called "Pending" and get a filtered list according to the selected status. This way, the possibility of forgetting about the client is avoided because as long as the inquiry status does not change, it is visible on the list “to be processed.” In order to close it, specific action must be taken toward the client. Once an inquiry is opened, it can be administered quickly and easily. Directly from the inquiry, creating an offer, a work order, or entering a CRM activity performed according to the client is possible. CRM activity includes any method of communication with the client - meeting, phone call, correspondence by e-mail, etc.

This solution ensures an overview and control of all inquiries in one place, regardless of the source. Until the final information is received from the client, the inquiry remains active so that a possible request for feedback from the client cannot be omitted.