The COVID-19 pandemic has led to most businesses and individuals scaling back on plans and adopting a more conservative stance on spending. Now, after almost two months of upheaval, teams are tentatively returning to work, and this indeed might be the right time to revisit plans for improving your business processes and to assess the possibilities in the new economic climate.
This is also the time to analyze what mishaps could have been prevented, and to put into place safeguards against future setbacks. The way we do business and interact on a personal level has now been changed irrevocably, but to move forward we have new plans in place and an attitude of cautious optimism. Your NetSuite account is one such area that can be made more robust in order to better handle the challenges of this new dynamic, and we have a few key tips on that front to help you achieve some of your business goals.
- Ecommerce: With brick-and-mortar stores now shut to ensure public safety, people are turning to ecommerce websites to meet their purchasing needs. Brands are rapidly adapting to changing buyer behaviour, and a robust, flexible e-commerce platform can be a huge asset to your business. If you do not already have an online presence, NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce can get you up and running in a short span of time. For businesses that do have an existing online store, making the customer experience seamless and stress-free is imperative. An optimised checkout flow, targeted promotions and in-depth analytics can help drive traffic and boost sales.
- Marketing: Your marketing efforts may have been put on pause for the duration of this lockdown, but now is the time to resume communications with customers and prospects. Your customers are likely still at home, and any message of positivity would be welcomed by most. NetSuite can help successfully execute your email marketing campaigns and promotions. While it might be challenging to forge new relationships at this time, you can always approach your existing client base with new offerings of value.
- Sales: For the months of March and April, your sales team might have found themselves in the position of lackluster sales and critical decisions being put on the backburner. As companies grappled with the situation, contracts that were ready to be signed and sent out were suddenly abandoned. Picking up on open opportunities, or those that were deemed lost by offering well-timed discounts could win a few deals and provide a much-needed boost to team morale.
- Inventory & Warehouse: With warehouses being amongst the locations shut during the lockdown, businesses will discover a backlog of inventory that needs to be reconciled, and orders that are pending fulfillment. Warehousing employees have much ground to make up, and the first order of business would be counting and reconciling inventory. Inventory count can be a tedious, labor-intensive task, but Tvarana’s Inventory Count SuiteApp can make this process simple and streamlined.
- Accounts Receivables/Collections : Your AR aging report is probably looking disastrous at the moment, with many customers missing in action and late on payments. Your follow-ups on open invoices may not have received a response, and you need all the help you can get to collect the cash you are owed. This cash can be invaluable in kickstarting dormant operations. Tvarana’s Bulk Email Invoices Suiteapp takes the burden off your collections process by automating follow-up emails on open transactions.
We can all acknowledge that this is an immensely difficult time for everyone, but we need to take heart and find the courage to move forward with confidence. Hindsight is 20/20, and we can use this time to reflect on what could have been done better, while we build effective solutions for our future.
