Trends Shaping the Future of Electronics Manufacturing

July 7th, 2021 Linda Liu Leave a comment

The electronic manufacturing industry is one of the fastest-growing industries globally and has brought about changes in both businesses and personal life. It is estimated that the industry grew in revenue to about $2.4 trillion in the year 2020.

However, the growth is about to experience a new shift with the introduction of emerging and barrier-breaking trends that will shift the running of businesses, homesteads, and how electronic manufacturing is run. Although some trends and practices have been in the industry for years with emerging modern improvements and growth in the technology world, so has electronic manufacturing. Some of these trends take this industry to a new level.

Take a look at some future trends to watch out for in the electronic manufacturing industry and better understand how these trends manage to take top spots in shaping and directing the growth of the electronic industry.

Trends shaping the future of electronic manufacturing include:

1. Internet of Things

This is the connection of everyday devices through the internet, allowing easy sharing and receiving information through electronic devices. Internet of Things (IoT) has increasingly been embraced in electronic manufacturing with more companies, leveraging the benefits from IoT to increase device efficiency, improve consumer safety and cut costs.

2. Use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

By using virtual reality and augmented reality, manufacturers can design consumer-friendly products. Computer-aided designs have helped designers and manufacturers make accurate and timely changes to the products. Also, the use of VR and AR helps in designing and eliminates error and reduces inspection time as workers are better able to identify errors.

3. Use of 3-D Printing

A report by Smithers estimates an annual growth of 23% in the next decade in 3-D revenue. The report also shows the 3-D printing revenue growth is estimated to grow from $5.8 billion to about $55.8 billion by 2027.

The 3-D printing marketplace has a vast share around Western Europe and North America, where cutting-edge technology developers are pushing for increased mainstream use of 3D printing among technology companies.

Electronic manufacturing companies are capitalizing on their technological abilities and emerging trends. To ensure they remain competitive, it is important to work closely with equally fast emerging trends such as 3-D printing. 3-D printing developments are not only focused on the physical aspects but are also working on the design, the application, and the overall satisfaction of the end-user.

4. Big Data

Corporations worldwide have been exclusively using big data. Much of this was because it was expensive to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, advancements in IoT and other cutting-edge technologies have turned the tables. Now, businesses of all sizes can draw information from multiple sources. This has made big data more valuable than it was.

Consequently, electronic manufacturers are applying the information they receive from big data in various productive ways. For example, they apply it to minimize production costs while raising profit margins and market share. This is guided by the willingness of managers to gain more understanding of their businesses. This helps them to overcome various issues while projecting and preventing future challenges.

5. Use of Industrial Robotics

For years, the automotive industry was the leading driver in the growth of industrial robotics. However, this has changed, and industrial robotics have been used in electronic manufacturing to perform several tasks in recent years.

The widespread use of industrial robots in the electronic industries led to substantial growth in industrial robotics use in 2016, where global sales increased by about 16%. This number is estimated to grow over the years, leading to an increase in the global market.

The use of robots in electronic manufacturing has allowed miniaturization and reshoring. Moving forward in innovations, design, and the business running, manufacturers across the board are looking for ways to increase efficiency. The use of robots has proven an essential tool.

Besides future technological trends, manufacturing companies also need to look at some of the business trends that will influence the success and running of their business. Some of the future business trends to look out for include:

6. Use of ERP Systems

To keep a company competitive, companies need to enforce enterprise resource planning (ERP). Though this trend has been in use for some years, some worthy mention benefits of embracing this trend when looking to expand the electronic manufacturing industry include:

With the use of the internet in all operations, it is now more critical for a business to use real-time information; enterprise resource planning helps companies optimize and automate new information fast and in real-time.

Owing to fast access to real-time information, companies can act fast and make accurate and quick decisions. The enterprise resource planning has been through growth stages that have allowed its efficiency. However, with the growth of the electronic industry, the same is expected with the enterprise resources system with technological advancements working towards increasing reliability and ease in running the business.

7. Shift from B2B to B2B2C

For many years electronic manufacturing companies operated using the business-to-business (B2B) approach. But with more manufacturing companies looking for ways to cut costs. Companies are now turning to the business-to-business-to-consumer approach (B2B2C).

With the use of the B2B2C approach, companies are now working towards eliminating intermediaries, which helps them reach the clients directly; as a result, it increases company profits and, in turn, reduces purchase costs. Additionally, the B2B2C approach enables the manufacturers to collect accurate customer data, improving customer satisfaction.

Why these Trends

While these trends may seem like ordinary technological advancements, they have several things in common that make them unique. In a world full of innovations, new designs, and a desire to be effective, it is essential to have the following attributes in mind.

Working on cost reduction, most of the resources and trends making waves and promising success, reduces costs. Cost reduction will be beneficial to the manufacturing companies and cut the cost to the consumers.

Product efficiency, electronic devices are part of the world and the introduction and use of the internet across the globe. It is essential for manufacturing companies to not only provide functional products but increase efficiency. For instance, with the use of the internet, everything in electronic manufacturing, people can now have smart homes and have actual time footage on their homes or even offices. This is possible due to the electronic manufacturing innovations.

These trends have proven to help manufacturing companies achieve product precision, which improves quality and reduces costs and error.

Waste reduction, amid the technological innovations and significant electronic developments, is essential for companies to also focus on. This is not only a great way to cut company costs but is also an excellent way for these companies to preserve the environment.

Bottom Line

More people embracing electronic devices in their homes, places of work, and running businesses. Manufacturing companies have a massive task in ensuring consumer satisfaction by focusing on high-end innovation and working closely with other technology sectors to ensure they are competitive and efficient.

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Linda Liu is the overseas marketing manager for MKTPCB, a leading PCB manufacturer that offers high-quality PCB products and services. Since 2012, she has established “first-of-its-kind” industry-changing and transformational businesses initiatives that increased revenue growth, brand exposure and market expansion for MKTPCB. Linda graduated from Western University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing.

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How Democratized Rebates can Lead to Stronger Market Performance

June 23rd, 2021 Cesare Rotundo Leave a comment

There’s a reason rebates have become a core component of healthy relationships between suppliers and distributors: they’re good for everyone. When companies are developing trading programs and attempting to build efficient market expansion strategies, they have to maximize the incentives to do business with one another. This means ensuring that the right amount of product makes it to the right place at the right time, which helps to increase total sales and expand the market for everyone. In other words, companies should focus on sales chain efficiency.

When there are misalignments between the amount of products or materials distributors anticipate they’ll need and how much they actually need, this can create waste or prevent companies from meeting ever-shifting market demands. Rebates address these problems by bringing projections into alignment with reality – for example, when buyers purchase less than they need, sellers can provide rebates to make up for the lost sales volume. Despite the fact that rebates are the only way to account for changing conditions (such as unpredictable economic shifts), many companies haven’t implemented a rebate management system.

Even when companies take advantage of rebates, they often do so with time-consuming and anachronistic resources like Excel spreadsheets and physical documentation. Meanwhile, many of the companies that do use robust digital rebate solutions are disproportionately large and focused on the most complex scenarios. These are all reasons why the supply chain sector is long overdue for democratized solutions that increase adoption rates – and ultimately sales and market penetration – for companies of all sizes.

Companies can’t afford to overlook digital rebate solutions

Information is the key to effective sales chain management. When suppliers and distributors have visibility into their operations, they’re capable of anticipating problems and addressing them as they arise, quickly adapting to changing market conditions and new delivery requirements, and identifying areas where efficiency can be improved.

The prescriptive analytics software market is expected to reach $1.88 billion by 2022. The supply chain management sector is moving toward data analytics as well, but too many companies are still ignoring digital rebate solutions. According to a recent survey conducted by Enable, more than one-third of supply chain professionals say they still use cumbersome manual processes such as Excel spreadsheets to approve, share, and document rebate agreements. These processes are laborious, vulnerable to human error and tampering, and incapable of managing complex rebate agreements.

The belated process of digitization is finally taking place in the supply chain sector – as Gartner notes, the “vast majority of CSCOs [chief supply chain officers] intend to dramatically speed up their supply chain digital maturity progress over the next five years.” Considering the importance of rebates for minimizing channel inventory, bringing sales chain operations into alignment with market and logistical realities, and maintaining productive relationships between suppliers and distributors, it’s clear that digital rebate management should be an integral part of this transition.

The democratization of rebates can lead to better market performance

Many suppliers and distributors that could benefit from the adoption of digital rebate solutions are put off by the fact that these solutions often seem to be built for large companies (particularly suppliers) that need to manage elaborate rebate arrangements. It’s extremely difficult to negotiate and manage these rebates without digital tools that can process large amounts of information, provide accurate forecasting, and facilitate communication between trading partners. But digital rebate solutions aren’t just for large companies – in fact, they may be even more essential for smaller companies with more limited resources, especially as they try to increase sales market share in competitive industries.

While large companies are capable of devoting significant time and personnel to trading agreement management, many small and medium-sized suppliers and distributors can’t afford to stick with inefficient legacy processes. Rebates digitization increases revenue and decreases costs – top concerns for any company, but existential concerns for companies operating on narrow margins. Digital rebate solutions also help companies with limited budgets develop and implement more complicated agreements.

There are many different types of rebate agreements – some are just volume corrections or bonuses for meeting certain sales targets, but others are based on certain types of transactions, specific locations, incentives for specific product sales, shifting annual turnover rates, and a wide range of other variables. These special agreements help suppliers and distributors make the most of their relationships depending on their own unique circumstances – instead of simply renewing last year’s agreements, trading partners should experiment with new ones or try different combinations of incentives with different subsets of partners.

Rebate democratization in practice

It’s impossible to have rebate democratization without simplification. The mechanics of rebate agreements aren’t simplified by digital tools, but the presentation, negotiation, and management of those agreements can be made far more intelligible with the right platform. For example, when a supplier or distributor is trying to decide whether to accept a deal, they shouldn’t have to wade through piles of superfluous headers, line items, conditions, dimensions, and other proprietary information in their partner’s internal systems and documents.

The process of identifying the parameters of a deal can be a nightmare if the relevant information is stored in a litany of Excel sheets and other documents with inconsistent formatting and the ever-present possibility of inaccurate information (due to the increased risk of human error). Digital rebate solutions don’t just make the negotiation of deals more streamlined and transparent – they also give trading partners the latitude to develop customized agreements that serve both parties well. This allows companies to build effective sales chains that meet ever-fluctuating consumer demand and maximize their available resources.

Rebates are among the most valuable instruments suppliers and distributors have to increase the efficiency of their sales chains and build stronger long-term relationships with one another. This is why companies of all sizes and in many industries should make rebate management a top priority – particularly now that it has been democratized like never before.

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Cesare Rotundo is the VP of Product at Enable, a cloud-based SaaS solution for B2B rebate management.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

Adapting Your Sales in a Six Feet Apart World

February 12th, 2021 Tara Pawlak Leave a comment

We talk about it all the time – “when things go back to normal.” But will they? Will sales ever be the same?

2020 forever changed us. Sales processes were turned upside down. In-person meetings – probably not happening for quite some time. Remote presentations – now the norm. Sales engagement software – a must. These changes are not temporary. If you aren’t yet, how do you adapt to the next normal?

Digital first

The pandemic accelerated the rate of change and digital transformation much faster than any of us anticipated. Now, B2B buyers and sellers doing business digitally is the norm. According to Mckinsey, more than three-quarters of buyers and sellers say they now prefer digital self-service and remote human engagement over face-to-face interactions. The path forward is clear: Digital is here to stay.

We might physically have to remain six feet apart, but digitally nothing is slowing down. In a digital selling environment, the speed of sale is increasing in importance. Gone are the days of sending a PDF attached to an email or getting on a plane and waiting days for the next step in the sales process. In our time of immediate gratification, inefficient, time-consuming sales processes will no longer be acceptable.

Digital first also transforms the traditional sales hire. Tech-savviness is now part of the job description. A high-level of familiarity with popular CRMs, sales enablement solutions, and contract automation are now a must-have. As we continue digitally, the technical requirements for sales hires will increase.

Humanize the digital experience

Today, buyers have more access to information and knowledge than ever before. They’ve read online reviews, seeked advice from peers, and compared features of multiple products before they even speak to you. If you want to remain competitive, you have to go beyond the basics. You must provide value that a buyer can only receive from an expert. By putting your prospect-first, you will stand out from the crowd.

In addition to putting your prospect-first, it’s important to keep the personal touch throughout the digital sales process. Without personal touches, trust issues can arise, and closing the deal becomes harder. You need digital tools to create engagement and human touch with prospects. Adding a personal video when presenting proposals and sending out agreements is an emerging way to humanize the digital experience. Live chat has also emerged as a top channel to create engagement and trust with prospects.

Empathy is key to the digital experience. The need for empathy for your prospects and yourself continues in the next normal. We wake up ready to slay each day, but inevitably something will humanize the day. You want to answer your prospect’s questions and provide a solution that will help them thrive, yet it won’t dominate every conversation. Connect human to human when dogs bark at the mailman or children need help with a virtual school. We’re all in the next normal together.

Technology is a co-worker

Digital first not only transforms the traditional sales hire, it transforms co-workers. With reliance on digital selling, so does the need for sales software solutions that helps sales reps humanize the digital experience and close more deals. It starts with a team of technology co-workers automating the sales process from proposal to eSignature. Combine that with the tools to connect with prospects through video, live-chat and real-time data tracking, your sales team will stand out from the crowd. Now, more than ever, it’s important to have a solid team of technology co-workers.

When it comes down to it, sales will never be the same. Legacy processes can’t keep pace with today’s buyers. Being digital first, humanizing the digital experience and building a team of technology co-workers will have you on your way to succeeding in the next normal.

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Tara Pawlak is the Head of Marketing for Get Accept, the all-in-one sales platform where you design, send, track and market your proposal to get more deals digitally signed.

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How the Gig Economy Benefits Employees & Businesses

January 22nd, 2021 Rumzz Bajwa Leave a comment

Gig workers now represent more than 36% of the United States workforce, which is equivalent to 59 million Americans, according to the results of Upwork’s latest “Freelance Forward: 2020”, the most comprehensive study involving the U.S. independent workforce.

The number of freelancers, self-employed professionals, independent contractors, and gig workers is continuously increasing, and by 2028, this number is expected to exceed 90 million. With these stats, there’s no denying that the gig economy is shaping the future of work.

But how exactly does the gig economy benefit employees and businesses?

1. Save Money

Availing the services of gig workers allows businesses to save money. Employee benefits such as insurance paid vacation leaves, and retirement plans can amount to thousands of dollars each year. In fact, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employee benefits make up 32% of an employee’s compensation. By hiring gig workers, you could cut these costs by more than a half and reinvest the money saved in your business.

Companies that work with freelancers can also save money on infrastructure expenses. You don’t have to maintain office space, computers, and other office supplies. Companies that fully embrace remote work can eliminate the need for offices.

2. Find the Right Person for the Job

Aside from keeping the costs down, the gig economy gives you the freedom to hire the right person for the job. Employers will be able to apply individualized skills to different areas of your business. You can hire a gig worker to develop your website, one to work on your SEO, or one to manage your social media accounts.

In this way, you’re not trying to make one or two of your employees adapt to tasks that aren’t their strengths. The gig economy allows you to use different people who can play to their expertise. This allows businesses to operate like a large company without the overhead costs.

3. Your Employees Can Do More High-Value Work

By outsourcing other tasks to self-employed professionals, your employees can focus on doing more high-value work. Employees can offload low-value tasks – like expense accounting, booking travel arrangements, and basic tasks, making time for the work that matters. Your employees can focus on what they do best, while the appointment-setting, background research, and other tasks that can be delegated are done by freelancers.

You can hire a virtual assistant from Upwork or set up a virtual assistant subscription. As a result, your employees can concentrate on more pressing tasks, improving your company’s level of efficiency and effectiveness.

4. Easily Hire Seasonal Workers

Seasonal businesses often need seasonal workers to fill in and help around during busy seasons. Business owners often turn to temp agencies, but these agencies charge fees that can quickly add up. On average, temp agencies charge a fee equal to 12% to 50% of the temp worker’s hourly rate.

The gig economy allows businesses to eliminate the middlemen and work with freelancers and independent contractors directly. Freelancers know what they’re getting into, and there’s little to no expectation that the job will end up full-time. Gig workers and freelancers prefer the flexibility of moving from one gig to the next.

5. Greater Expectations

Consumers nowadays have greater expectations. They know what they want and when they want it. This trend is what fuels the gig economy. Business owners find a way to leverage consumer expectations by hiring gig workers. This strategy is more common during peak seasons when consumer demands drastically increase.

Businesses anticipate high-quality work from freelancers as they’re more current on industry knowledge, skills, and other tools. They need to keep up with the trends to consistently draw new clients. Consumers expect more from brands, brands strive to exceed customer expectations by hiring freelancers, and freelancers constantly improve to get more business. All parties – freelancer, business, and consumers – consistently meet greater expectations.

Where to Find Gig Workers

Now that you know how the gig economy benefits employees and businesses, the next step is to find gig workers. You can begin your search in the following places:

-Freelancing websites: Upwork, CloudPeeps, 99Designs, and Fiverr, to mention a few.

-Colleges

-Your network

-Freelance communities on social media

The Future is Heading Towards Gig Economy

Technology continues to revolutionize the way people do business, and judging by the drastic increase of gig workers over the past years, the gig economy is the future of business. Employees now want flexibility, a proper work-life balance, and the freedom to choose the project they want to work on.

By acknowledging what gig workers bring to the table, you’ll be able to take advantage of the opportunities the gig economy offers. Gig workers can now choose from high-paying and full-filling projects, while businesses and employers can select the best candidate for specific tasks.

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Digital Marketing for B2B Companies in 2021—What Changes?

January 22nd, 2021 SlideHunter Leave a comment

The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving, especially for B2B businesses. Tactics that worked a few years ago have been phased out.

As we move into 2021, we can expect more exciting marketing trends that’ll dominate for years to come. Here are some of them:

Growing LinkedIn Use

No other social media platform can rival LinkedIn when it comes to B2B marketing. And here are a few reasons why:

-Senior Level workers account for almost 61 million users, and a whopping 40 million are decision-makers in their firms, according to this study.

-LinkedIn helps B2B brands generate over 80% of their leads — a shocking 7 times more than other channels.

-65% of B2B businesses have gained a customer through the LinkedIn platform.

There’s no doubt that LinkedIn is a B2B goldmine. C-level executives spend their social media time there. They’re looking for valuable posts to read.

Unlike with Facebook or Twitter, you already have an active audience that’s hungry for your content. By doubling-down on your efforts, you can get your business in front of the right people at the right time.

The platform is friendly to even novice marketers. If you don’t know how to attract customers through the app, you can choose paid marketing strategies. They’ll help you narrow down your outreach to the most ideal audience — influencers, b2b clients, and other buyers.

From the evidence above, LinkedIn marketing will continue to be the staple strategy in B2B circles. Unsurprisingly, an estimated 92% of marketers include the medium in their campaigns today. We expect this figure to grow in 2021.

Chatbots

Outgrow estimates that, by 2021, 80% of brands will adopt some form of chatbot systems. These systems will help businesses avoid shelling out big bucks on customer service. The effective inbound lead generation they offer is expected to generate more profit for these brands.

Unsurprisingly, chatbots have taken over online marketing, becoming a major part of web designs. They give answers to consumers quickly. Your customers no longer have to wait for hours to get an answer and get tempted to start searching for other alternative options.

By offering instant answers, these AI tools make your brand appear more professional. This way, you can attract more potential clients and retain the available ones.

Another benefit of integrating bots into your website is that they give you valuable consumer insights by collecting data on your visitor’s preferences. You can then use the data collected to revise your marketing tactics.

Your customers don’t have to spend minutes filling out long forms, either. So it’s a win-win for both of you.

Other perks you may get from bots include:

-Helps in recruitment — Potential hirees can communicate with the bots instead of submitting forms.

-Creating content — Some bots can help reduce your workload by publishing content on your behalf.

-Customer support — When your real agents aren’t available, the AI can take over conversations with visitors.

Higher Demand for Content Marketers

In a recent ContentWriters survey, 61% of marketers claimed that they’re publishing blog posts several times a week. To top it off, 89% of these respondents said they received higher-quality leads from content marketing compared to other strategies.

These studies show that content marketing as a lead-attracting tactic isn’t slowing down anytime soon. And using this strategy effectively has become much more difficult as the years have gone by.

The days of publishing 350-word posts and ranking in Google’s first pages are, unfortunately, fading into the past. Creating content is a much more complex discipline these days. It involves researching your marketing thoroughly, understanding your audience well, and carrying out comprehensive campaigns.

That’s why experienced content marketers will have a higher demand in 2021. Hiring interns to churn out articles can’t work any longer, so B2B businesses will be forced to get specialists.

Guest posting is a key part of content marketing. As this method is still a popular move for many websites, keep in mind that you’d have to create a dedicated team for this strategy. You’ll need people to reach out to other sites and talented writers for the content itself. There are also quality blogger outreach service companies that can help you reach out to sites and create great content.

The Key to Unlocking Hidden Treasures in your CRM

January 20th, 2021 Sara Cronsioe Leave a comment

Customer relationship management systems (CRMs) are great for collecting and organizing data. But, what are we doing with all this data? Promoting new services to existing customers, improve customer loyalty, repurpose old leads that could be interested in new products or services?

A CRM system can store a big amount of customer data and by using this data you can form deep insights into how your prospects and customers interact with your business. This will help you to build a better customer experience, increase customer engagement and loyalty.

Let the data guide you

Use your sales dashboard to check progress towards your sales quota, monthly trends, and overall value of your sales pipeline. Without a good CRM, you simply won’t be able to manage your sales pipeline properly. Gain a full view of your entire sales pipeline and never get lost about how your team is tracking toward quota, and you’ll have all the data you need to coach your team to success.

Updated and correct data

CRM is most effective when the data is updated and fresh. If the customer’s address, company name, or preferred method of contact has changed, your staff should update the information immediately, so your sales and marketing teams are always equipped with the right information.

Find potential money between the cracks using filters

Filter data in your CRM to find prospects that you haven’t spoken to in a certain time, maybe they said no due to bad timing or the price. Maybe their attitude has changed? Play with different ways to filter data and soon your salespeople will have a gold mine to pick from. The next step is to automate this process so that these lists are created and served to the salespeople automatically.

Set up automated email sequences and collect more leads

Since many sales teams are more data-driven than ever, take the advantage to automate your workflows to eliminate time-consuming and repetitive functions. When new leads are added to a CRM (newsletter subscriptions or website visits), you can program your CRM to send follow-up emails, offer promotions, invites to webinars and events to keep your business at the forefront of their attention. This saves you a lot of time, spent on writing emails while also making sure that you are engaging your prospects throughout the whole sales process.

Unlock hidden insights from your customers’ purchase history

With a CRM you can boost your sales performance by analyzing your existing customers’ purchasing history. It’s easier to sell to existing customers than acquiring new ones. One of the keys to upselling is that you offer products that add value and improve your customer’s life.

Data-driven approach

If your company uses a CRM tool, you already own all the information needed, the challenge is to find a clear and organized way to access this knowledge by unlocking the value stored deep in your CRM data.

It is important to have as much data as possible about customers, products, and revenues in your CRM, but this information will never be useful or bring value to your business if you don’t define which type of data, metrics, and KPIs you need to follow-up on a regular basis. Once your data is organized, it will be easier for your sales teams to adopt a data-driven approach.

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Sara Cronsioe is an Inbound Marketing Specialist at GetAccept, the go-to platform where B2B sellers can interact with buyers in a personal and engaging way, making business easier and faster.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Software, Special Reports

3 Effective Ways to Increase Sales Productivity

January 7th, 2021 Jason Junge Leave a comment

The term ‘sales productivity’ refers to the phenomenon of maximizing the company`s sales result while minimizing the resources expended. Here, the term ‘resources’ includes anything involved in the process of sales generation such as cost, efforts, time, number of employees and technology.

The speed at which a company reaches its monthly and yearly profit goals is all that matters to survive in the commercial market. Whereas, for the overall growth of a company, it is mandatory to create an equilibrium between ROI, competency, technology advancement and sales productivity.

In short, you cannot expand your business and become a viable name in the commercial sector without increasing sales productivity. Here are a few effective and practical tips to increase the sales productivity of your company.

Calculate the Productivity of Every Individual in Your Team

A company can measure the sales productivity of individuals by the evaluation of the rate at which a respective salesperson surges the revenue graph of the company. In simple words, how efficient a salesperson is in finding out ways to increase the earning of a company through the process of sales.

In a team, few participants play a significant role in increasing sales whereas other salespersons either work to achieve the mentioned goal or rely on the cumulative progress of the team. This employs a negative impact on the key players by bringing their enthusiasm down with their work attitude. That’s why the individual graph of sales productivity of every salesperson is vital for management. It helps them to appreciate the key players for their performance and boost the motivation of the rest of the team.

Design a Sales Process That Suits Your Company’s Work Environment

According to research by Vantage Point Performance, almost 66 percent of B2B sales teams around the world don’t have a pre-defined sales process. The absence of a sales process affects the productivity cycle because every salesperson starts following his/her way to process a lead.

In contrast, when every lead moves through the same steps, surveillance becomes easy for management and every salesperson what exactly he/she has to do in a particular situation. According to a professional sales manager at a multinational company, “Proficiency goes up to 31% when a sales team has a defined sales process.”

Primary stages of the sales process include prospecting, qualifying, presenting, handling an objection, closing, and nurturing stages. You can precisely mention the amount of time a person should utilize over each step.

Buy Effectual and Suitable Customer Help Desk Software

Technology advancement always supports the way of working and help every employee to improve their proficiency. Customer Help Desk Software can support sales agents to attend clients through the cloud system. They also help in generating customized quotes for every client and allow the sales agent to keep a record of every critical detail. On the other hand, this software minimizes the time required to process a lead and also helps companies to establish a positive impact through quick responses for every query of their clients.

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Jason Junge is the CEO of PointerTop, a company dedicated to creating innovative products that enable agent-based businesses to sell, train, and support their products and services directly online. PointerTop offers CrozTop, a platform that enables direct agent-to-customer cross-interactive communications over a company’s website. For more information, visit pointertop.com.

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The Global Silica Sands Market to Standoff the Pandemic

December 6th, 2020 IndexBox Leave a comment

IndexBox invites everyone interested in the relevant data and the actual trends regarding the global silica sand market to join our webinar: ‘Global Silica Sand Market – Statistics, Trends, and Outlook’. Here is a summary of the webinar’s key findings.

The Global Silica Sand Market Posted Solid Gains Until being Hit by the Pandemic

For the third consecutive year, the global silica sand market recorded growth in sales value, which increased by 7.7% to $52.4B in 2019 (IndexBox estimates). The market value increased at an average annual rate of +2.0% over the period from 2007 to 2019.

The countries with the highest volumes of silica sand consumption in 2019 were China (123M tonnes), the U.S. (105M tonnes) and Brazil (20M tonnes), with a combined 51% share of global consumption. Turkey, the Netherlands, India, Italy, France, the Czech Republic, Malaysia, Poland and Germany lagged somewhat behind, together comprising a further 20%. In value terms, the U.S. ($7.6B) led the market, alone. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Brazil ($2.1B). It was followed by Italy.

The main applications of quartz sand are the glass industry, cement production, steel castings manufacturing, production of building materials, production of welding materials, porcelain production, water treatment systems, as an abrasive material for sandblasting, etc. Due to the fact that the scope of quartz sand use is very extensive, the general state of the economy, which is expressed in the growth of GDP, as well as the state of key consuming industries, including construction, constitute the fundamental factors behind the market growth.

It is the construction sector that shapes the consumption of many products and materials, which include quartz sand (dry building mixtures, floorings, cement, mortars, etc.). In addition, the demand in the glass industry, water treatment, and, to a certain extent, metallurgy is also associated with the construction sector.

Until 2020, the global economy has been developing steadily for five years, although at a slower pace than in the previous decade. According to the World Bank outlook from January 2020, the global economy was expected to pick up the growth momentum and increase by from +2.5% to +2.7% per year in the medium term. The main driver of growth in the global economy was the growing demand from developing countries, mainly China and the countries of Southeast Asia. In these countries the economic growth rates are the highest in the world, which is accompanied by active urbanization and growth of the population’s income; all this together leads to an expansion of the volume of both industry and construction. In the United States and the EU, economic growth was also high, which was due to both the strong employment and the availability of credit funding.

In early 2020, however, the global economy entered a period of the crisis caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to battle the spread of the virus, most countries in the world implemented quarantine measures that put on halt production and transport activity.

The combination of those factors disrupted economic growth heavily throughout the world. According to World Bank forecasts, despite the gradual relaxing of restrictive measures and unprecedented government support in countries that faced the pandemic in early 2020, the annual decline of global GDP could amount to -5.2%, which is the deepest global recession being seen over the past eight decades.

In Asian countries, especially China, which faced the pandemic earlier than others, the epidemic situation improved earlier, with the quarantine measures largely relaxed, and the economy is gradually recovering from the forced outage. Thus, in China, by the end of 2020, an increase of 1% is expected (while a year earlier it was 6.1%), and in general in Southeast Asia in 2020, an increase of 0.5% is expected. In the medium term, it is assumed that the economy will gradually recover over several years as the restrictions are finally lifted.

The U.S., meanwhile, is struggling with a drastic short-term recession, with the expected contraction of GDP of approx. -6.1% in 2020, as the hit of the pandemic, was harder than expected, and unemployment soared due to the shutdown and social isolation. In Japan, the decline is also expected to be deep, with -6.1% in 2020, which also hampers any growth of the construction sector.

According to the European Commission, the EU economy is forecasted to plummet by -8.3% in 2020 on the backdrop of the pandemic, hampered by the lockdown, a drop in consumer spending and decreased investment. Russia is also struggling with a sensitive short-term recession, with the expected contraction of GDP of approx. -6.0% in 2020. Current short-term indicators show that the plunge in the first half of 2020 was really deep, but a gradual recovery starts in the third quarter of 2020.

This unpreceded drop in the global economy should certainly affect the silica sand market which is to a very high extent bound to the construction sector.

The COVID Pandemic Challenged the Market, Hampering the Growth and Disrupting Supply Chains

The construction sector has proven extremely vulnerable to the pandemic. Thus, the above economic prerequisites will have the most negative impact on the production of building materials, and, therefore, on the consumption of silica sand. The negative challenge for the market is that due to quarantine measures, construction projects were paused, and the drop in incomes of the population makes mortgage loans less affordable. Moreover, reduced capital investments may lead to the postponement of plans for the building new and the renewal of the existing dwellings, infrastructural and industrial facilities.

In addition, the disruption of established international supply chains between silica sand producers and consumers due to asynchronous quarantine measures and restricted transport activity. Silica sands exports expanded modestly to $1.2B (IndexBox estimates) in 2019, with the U.S. ($375M), Australia ($205M) and Belgium ($96M) featuring among the top exporters, together accounting for 54% of global exports. The total export value increased at an average annual rate of +3.1% over the period from 2007 to 2019. In 2020, expectations regarding the dynamic of global trade are cautious, as it may stagnate along with global consumption.

On the other hand, lower oil prices as a result of reduced demand and oversupply amid the pandemic are making oil and gas more affordable. Consequently, the cost of construction materials incorporating silica is to decrease, which should partially mitigate the negative effect of the drop in spending and investments. Increasing urbanization, as well as the expansion of the suburbs of large metropolitan areas (especially in developed countries), are driving an increase in demand for construction products for individual housing and water treatment, which is also to support the demand for silica sand.

In the medium term, should the pandemic outbreak end in the second half of 2020, the economy is to start recovering in 2021 and then return to the market trend of the gradual growth, driven by the fundamentals existed before 2020 and boosted by support measures imposed by the government. After the ease of the quarantine shutdown, a recovery in the global economy began by the end of the 2nd quarter of 2020. State support measures for the economy will help support investment in both the developed and developing world. However, those projections are very vulnerable to the possible second wave of the COVID worldwide.

Accordingly, the possible action to handle with the new market reality is all around first, the health of employees and everyone, and second – the improvement of business efficiency.

Direct b2b-sales remain one of the key sales channels for silica sand, and there the COVID-related lockdown did not lead to major shifts in this segment. However, online communication becomes increasingly important even in the b2b sales channels. Therefore, enhancing the use of online communications and document workflow is vital for any company in today’s environment.

As for business efficiency, improving financial stability, reducing debt, improving cost-effectiveness, adjusting employment, and payroll feature among key measures to keep a company’s market position during the extremely uncertain period.

Source: IndexBox AI Platform

Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily, Warehousing

The Art of Successful Multi-Channeling in Retail Sector

August 7th, 2020 TradeGala Leave a comment

Headlines seem to be nothing but doom and gloom for the retail industry. Footfall on the UK high street was down 40% in July. Thousands of staff have been laid off by companies many would have considered unbreakable. Major high street names are closing stores by the score, and many others have started administration procedures. And yet, in the worst retail crisis of a generation, there are those that see an opportunity for the future – and that opportunity is e-commerce. While it can be tempting to adopt a “wait until this is all over” attitude (particularly when it comes to investing in new projects when budgets are already tight) the businesses that are leading the field in these difficult times are those that are making the most of this time to rethink and reboot their online portfolio.

It’s clear that in the current climate it’s vital for any retailer to have their own online store, but with more than half of B2C e-commerce transactions taking place on marketplaces, any successful e-tail strategy will need to involve multi-channeling. But it’s not as simple as listing on as many marketplaces and possible and just expecting buyers to start appearing – in order to gain the most benefits, retailers need to dedicate as much time and effort to multi-channeling as they do with their own e-commerce store. This may seem like too much hard work, but when you look at the benefits of marketplaces you may want to re-evaluate your priorities.

No matter how high your website appears on Google rankings, if you don’t offer your products on marketplaces you may be missing out on potential customers. Based on a recent 2019 survey, up to 49% of users start their search for products on Amazon compared with just 22% on Google. Many of these go on to make their purchase straight away – even if they’ve never come across a brand before, the level off trust provided by the marketplace itself gives consumers the confidence to try brands that they may otherwise not have considered. Other users search for products on Amazon before researching brands off the platform and may often decide to purchase from the brand page directly, so this sense Amazon can also work as an extra marketing channel to raise awareness of your brand.

But despite its apparent monopoly over the e-commerce sector, it’s important to remember that Amazon may not be for everyone. Particularly in the fashion industry, many retailers believe selling on Amazon may cheapen their product image due to the fact that so many Amazon retailers are from the low cost, super-fast fashion sector. Which brings us to one of the most important parts of your e-commerce strategy – choosing the right marketplaces for you.

When sales are struggling it can be tempting to sign up to as many platforms as possible, to go for the most well-known sites or the largest potential audiences. However, this tactic will only result in spreading your portfolio too thin and it’s all too easy to neglect under-performing sites. More effective use of your time and effort is to first analyze which marketplaces are best for your brand. Think of them as a department store – your products might be a great fit for John Lewis, but you wouldn’t necessarily want them displayed in a Walmart. And vice versa – Walmart brands are unlikely to enjoy much success by stocking in John Lewis stores. There are also a number of niche marketplaces that might be a perfect fit for your brand and allow you to access your ideal audience without the excess competition of the major players. Research each platform, look at what type of brands use them, consider online reviews and check customer testimonials. Investigate their terms – are they compatible with your own? Do they offer advertising options and detailed analytics? Finally, if looking at the attractive expansion possibilities of the international market, bear in mind local legislation.

While it may be tempting to access the huge potential of the Chinese e-commerce scene (worth an estimated $1.94 trillion USD), export laws and duties are much more complicated (and regional rather than national in some cases), so unless you have a native Chinese speaking e-commerce expert on your team you may want to leave this on the back burner.

Once you’ve chosen your selected marketplaces it’s time to optimize your listings. Bear in mind that it shouldn’t be a case of simply copying and pasting the same product descriptions for every site – this can have a negative effect on your SEO and you’ll be competing against your own online store. While it’s time-consuming, it’s highly recommended to create SEO optimized product descriptions for each marketplace you use. Look at your top competitors – what keywords are they using? How are they pitching their product? Where can your products stand out from theirs? It’s not a case of simply listing as many keywords as you can, try to create an attractive product description that will entice potential customers, but also provide enough detailed information so that there are no unexpected surprises (this should also help you reduce the rate of returns).

Where possible, you may want to dedicate some of your marketing budgets to platform-specific advertising to make sure your products are seen first, particularly when you’re new and there is a lot of competition to deal with. Many of the larger marketplaces offer assistance in setting up campaigns to make sure that your advertising budget is well-targeted, so you may even see more success than with traditional SEM.

So you’ve set up your listings, created advertising campaigns and you’re waiting for orders to start flooding in. But that’s not the end of the story. Maintenance of your channels needs to be a top priority, and the ability to react quickly to trends is the key to success. You’re unlikely to create the perfect listing straight away, but by looking at trends and reviewing your search analytics you can make small amendments to increase visibility, bring more consumers to your products, and convert more sales.

Rather than attempting to improve all of your products at once, it may be worth testing an update on one or two products and checking it’s a success before moving onto the rest. You don’t want to waste time and energy updating your whole portfolio only to find that your update actually has a negative result! As with all marketing, it’s important to be open to trial and error and to stay abreast of changes in the market and how they may affect you.

With so much preparatory work involved, it may sometimes seem like an impossible task to keep your marketplace portfolio under control. But one of the benefits of working with marketplaces is that there are a number of time-saving services that they offer which can reduce your in-house logistics and offset the time you invest in your listings. Many of the major marketplaces offer warehousing and fulfillment options, while even low-cost marketplaces like eBay provide centralized shipping solutions that can take the hassle out of pricing, particularly for international orders. With logistics being one of the most time-consuming and costly parts of the e-commerce process, having access to some of the most advanced shipment and logistics solutions available can quickly improve your customer experience and protect your investment.

With an ever-growing proliferation of e-tail stores online, the centralized accessibility provided by marketplaces is gaining ever more traction and is estimated to grow to up to 65% of the e-commerce market by 2022. And with the simple set up and low investment required to start out, they provide an invaluable service to retailers of all types looking to expand their reach. The current crisis has adversely affected sales throughout the industry as never before, but perhaps we can use this lull to our advantage and give our retail businesses the opportunity to reach a wider audience than ever before?

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TradeGala – the B2B online marketplace has taken the user-friendly marketplace platform and reimagined it for the wholesale industry. Brands and retailers can now connect online with the same ease as ordering a weekly shop. TradeGala – the future of the wholesale fashion industry.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, International Trade

Fashion Retailers & Brands will need to Adapt As the Industry Emerges from the Pandemic

June 3rd, 2020 TradeGala Leave a comment

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown the entire industry into crisis. Beyond its tragic human cost, the disruption inflicted on businesses has been unprecedented. Footfall has disappeared from the high street as people practice social distancing, while demand for non-essential products such as fashion has dwindled.

With international flights grounded and much of Europe and the United States on lockdown, boutiques are concerned about how they will shift this season’s summer dresses and beachwear. Likewise, small independent fashion brands are apprehensive about retail sell-through and how their stockist partners will be able to pay their invoices.

For many businesses, innovation will be key to getting through this extremely challenging time. The government has laid out plans to help businesses with schemes such as loans and grants. However, this type of aid will only stretch so far.

Some boutiques are taking drastic measures to reach their customers. Several closed their bricks-and-mortar stores early on, deciding to concentrate on their online offering to ride out the storm. Meanwhile, those retailers without an online presence have been thinking outside of the box. Some have locked their doors for one-to-one appointments while others are conducting telephone consultations on FaceTime and personal shopping sessions via WhatsApp.

But selling to customers is just one part of retailing. Buying for the store and its shoppers is just as critical for sustaining a profitable business. Trade shows, buying trips and fashion shows are a fundamental part of the chain – and we have already seen many cancellations since the outbreak began to take hold. Will the pandemic be over when brands re-open their order books for SS21?

Forward ordering is another concern for many small independent retailers right now. With sales of SS20 season stock now under threat, many are worried about AW20 orders written just weeks ago arriving in July and August. If they decide to cancel now, what happens if sales begin to pick up and they’re left with empty rails? Likewise, if they don’t cancel, will they end up with surplus stock that they can’t pay for?

For many, using budgets to buy in-season offers a straightforward solution. Because when the panic subsides and sales begin to pick up – which they inevitably will – ensuring that stores have the right stock in place for shoppers will once again be paramount.

B2B fashion marketplaces such as TradeGala will become increasingly important for retailers. Effectively removing the need to travel or visit trade shows and showrooms, buyers can browse multiple brands online and place orders directly. The brands on the site offer in-season delivery, meaning retailers can order what they need as and when they need it. Plus, it’s easy to check live stock at a glance so buyers can see exactly what’s available with just a few clicks – minimizing any concern surrounding supply chains.

For brands, TradeGala is offering free registration during this crisis period to offer time to prepare for when the market revives. The marketplace is also building its international following of buyers, allowing labels to reach buyers in markets that are less affected by the crisis to help minimize the drop in sales.

The coronavirus pandemic has changed the world and the retail sector needs to adapt in order to survive. There is a challenging time ahead, but retailers and brands are working together in new and effective ways. More than ever before, it’s time to support each other. And if there’s one thing this industry is good at it’s triumphing over adversity.