Nokia Tej - Speeding up the sales cycle for success

13 Oct '10

5 min read

The biggest asset of any business is speed of response. This is especially so in managing sales orders and during the dispatch and delivery of goods. Traditionally, order management was carried out by filing records on paper, a very time-consuming process.

The salesperson would first take orders from the customer and then back in office, compile reports on all the orders. This activity left little time to concentrate on new customers and was further constrained by the need to make various field trips to take fresh orders.

With the advent of technology, salespersons started sending daily sales reports using e-mail and wi-fi enabled laptop computers. But this method failed in smaller towns where the availability of internet bandwidth was an issue. Since the orders for each day could not be sent to the supplier, he would have to wait for bulk orders and only then start production.

The whole supply chain suffered as a result, with the additional disadvantage of delay in dispatching the goods to the customer. Due to inefficiencies in the process of taking and tracking orders, overall accuracy and productivity of business was hampered.

To save time in the process of tracking orders, Nokia has developed an enterprise application called Nokia Tej. Nokia Tej is a mobile order management service that helps manage orders securely by using mobile phones. Tej is a pay-as-you-go service ensuring that the user only pays for what is used. It is an ideal service for any business owner who wants to improve productivity in sales and consequent profitability.

This application is particularly effective for businesses with complex supply chains, such as apparel, textiles or fast-moving consumer goods. Nokia Tej helps in shortening the sales cycle, thus moving inventory faster, as a result of which surpluses of working capital and increments in repeat business can be generated. As a bonus, the time saved by using Nokia Tej can be spent on building the crucial customer relationships on which businesses depend.

This service is being used in various industry verticals and has proved to be beneficial in saving time and increasing productivity. With Nokia Tej, the salesperson can send orders in real-time to the supplier, giving the supplier enough time to plan his orders.

Imagine a business running in a small town and the salesperson travelling to neighbouring districts to take orders from customers. When the salesperson has an order, he can update it on the application installed on his mobile phone.

As soon as this is done, a message will be received by the supplier about the details of the order. While the salesperson is travelling to his next customer, the supplier could have already dispatched the previous order, thus saving time.

Customer satisfaction is greatly improved, with dispatch details being sent to customers directly through an SMS, thus keeping them updated on order status. Productivity is further enhanced and ultimately the ordering process becomes more efficient and error-free. This also helps in reducing costs incurred earlier due to traditional methods of data entry and report generation, helping increase business profitability.

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