Proven Leading Practices for Logistic Operations
Logistics Best Practices Guide
Learn MoreUse a Standardized Lead Nurturing Strategy to Improve Customer Conversions
Best Practice (Good)
Develop and enforce the use of a structured and standardized lead nurturing strategy. Monitor follow ups by sales representatives and place leads into a non-qualified list for nurturing, should any opportunity become inactive (i.e., situations where the sales representative is unable to contact the potential lead). Accelerate, or decelerate the cycle of contacts, or "touches," according to prospect-specific issues (company merging, closing, etc.).
Typical Practice (Bad)
Follow up with qualified leads and current customers both if they have shown interest in purchasing a product or service, or if they have just purchased a big ticket item. Leads (whether pre-qualified or not) who have not interacted with sales representatives should not be followed up with as they have shown little to no interest in purchasing a product or service.
Benefits:
Leads often take a long time to convert from a qualified lead to a paying customer, whether because of a lack of knowledge, poor sales messages or simply because they are not ready (or are too busy) to purchase a product or service at the moment they are contacted. As such, long-term cultivation of leads not only keeps previously qualified leads in the organization's queue, but it also allows potential customers to interact with the organization when they are ready. Accelerating or decelerating the cycle of contacts, or "touches," furthermore, increases the chance that the Lead Generation & Research function and sales representatives can reach qualified leads and actually produce a constructive interaction.
Require Order Forms to Be Fully Completed Prior to Submission to Improve Data Accuracy
Best Practice (Good)
Require all fields within order submission forms (customer contact information, product or service requested, customer comments, etc.), including online forms, to be filled in by the end user (internal or external) prior to submission to ensure that all necessary information is collected from the beginning. Forms that contain missing information should not be allowed to be submitted. Instead, ensure that a message appears within online forms clearly stating why the form is unable to be submitted as well as which fields are missing information. Physical forms, on the other hand, should be handed back to be fully filled in, with information given on which fields still need to be filled.
Typical Practice (Bad)
Allow the Order Processing function to accept all types of submission forms (physical or online forms) from customer-facing representatives (i.e., sales, call center and customer service representatives) or the customers themselves with only the minimum amount of information needed so as to reduce any related cycle time (data collection and submission, etc.). Should any missing information be deemed necessary, representatives and/or the customers themselves should be contacted to acquire the needed information.
Benefits:
Submission forms (physical or online forms) must contain as much information as possible to ensure that all necessary data is accurate and available for use (especially if it concerns customer data). Furthermore, by ensuring that all necessary information is filled in before submission, the need for rework is eliminated since time will not need to be spent in obtaining the data from customers or the employees who submitted the data. Periodic reviews of the database should be performed to ensure that all data is up-to-date and error free.
Place Saleable Merchandise in Suitable Putaway Zones and Store Un-Saleables According to Vendor Guidelines to Streamline Return Processing Practices
Best Practice (Good)
Place saleable merchandise on pallets by its destination putaway zone as soon as returned products are received in order to streamline return processing. Track un-saleable merchandise with a bar-coded label and use standardized checklists to ensure that all un-saleable products are stored according to vendor guidelines. Store all returns documentation in a centralized location (typically through the organization's Intranet-based resource) to promote easy access to complete audit trails (documentation typically includes return reason, date of initial shipment, date of return, customer name, etc.) which assures legitimacy of the claim (i.e., reason for the return) while improving supplier relations.
Typical Practice (Bad)
Place returned merchandise, saleable or not, in any open space available before returning to higher priority duties in order to reduce return processing cycle times. Saleable merchandise can be restocked at a later time while unsaleable merchandise should be stored in a designated area in the warehouse to await being scrapped.
Benefits:
Typically, most merchandise are returned in saleable condition and thus clear for return to the storage area. As such, saleable products should be placed on pallets by its destination zone to streamline return processing practices, increase integration with the warehouse, and reduce the shortage of space and the potential for damage during undocking procedures. Return processing employees should use standardized checklists, however, to ensure that all returned merchandise that is not saleable and cannot be discarded are stored according to vendor guidelines. While some vendors simply require an inventory report to issue credits, others will send a sales representative to inspect the goods and/or to accept shipment to the vendor. As such, storing all return documentation in a centralized location (typically through the organization's Intranet-based resource) not only promotes easy access to complete audit trails (such documentation typically consists of the return reason, date of initial shipment, date of return, customer name, etc.) which legitimizes the return, but it also improves supplier relationships. Keeping orderly documentation, in essence, reduces the frustration and cycle times typically involved in determining why a return happened and what to do with the returned product(s).
Use ABC Analysis and Other Categorization Systems to Optimize the Use of Warehouse Space
Best Practice (Good)
Use ABC analysis alongside other categorization systems (includes categorizing according to use, department, etc.) to determine which items within the organization's inventory should be considered high or low value. Store all inventory and categorization information in a central asset database to ensure easy access by relevant employees while maintaining precise control over the inventory. Not only do these practices optimize the use of warehouse space, but it also allows order processing, production, packaging and shipping employees to quickly locate inventory items and perform data analysis to further optimize inventory processes.
Typical Practice (Bad)
Categorize the organization's assets according to whether it is movable or fixed (i.e., products that can be sold quickly versus things that can't such as buildings, furniture, equipment, etc.). Use print outs that lists movable asset placements (typically in alphabetical order) and attach them throughout the warehouse to provide relevant employees (typically production, packaging and shipping employees) the ability to quickly locate items to distribute or areas to restock returned items. It is the responsibility of order and return processing employees to keep the lists updated after every stock review and re-order.
Benefits:
The goal of using ABC analysis alongside other categorization systems (includes categorizing according to use, department, etc.) is to optimize the use of warehouse space and to ensure that the most important items are always available for distribution. For instance, ABC analysis splits an organization's inventory into A (the largest revenue and cost contributors), B (items of middle value, volume and frequency of stock reviews and orders) and C (items of lowest value) items in order to describe the value, volume and frequency of stock reviews and re-orders. As a result of such categorizations, less important items should take less space, and more space should be used for the items that are most in demand. Storing all inventory and categorization information in a central asset database, furthermore, allows order processing, production, packaging and shipping employees to easily access and use categorization data to quickly locate inventory items for distribution and perform further data entry and analysis to keep the inventory updated while further optimizing inventory processes.