If you want to sell wholesale goods, then you will need to do a number of different things to ensure your business is a success. The good folk at Olympic Eyewear tell us that processing and fulfilling customer orders on time is absolutely vital. They say that this means making sure you have staff that you can trust to get the job done. For example, if a customer places a big order for bulk sunglasses, you need to have the right staff to pick the products, pack them properly, and get them sent to the customer in an acceptable timeframe. As such, hiring the right staff is particularly important.
Hire the Right People
Who you hire will really depend on how big your business is. If you have a big warehouse, you need to make sure that the staff are managed properly. You will also need to have an order processing team. If you are running an online wholesale company, most of your orders will likely be placed by the customer online via a website. However, you will still need a team to oversee these orders as they come in to make sure that they are sent to the warehouse in a timely fashion.
You may also need someone to take care of logistics. Will you be delivering the goods yourself or will you hire a third-party delivery company to take care of this for you? Who you hire depends on your needs as a business. The most important thing is that you hire the right people for the job.
Make Customer Relations a Priority
For any business to be a success, it needs to ensure that its customers are its main priority. You must make it easy for customers to place orders and be sure to communicate with them through every step in the process. This means informing customers that their order has been received, letting them know when it has shipped, and then providing them with tracking information. Any customer queries should be dealt with immediately. Doing this will allow you to develop a relationship with your customers and will help when it comes to building loyalty and trust.
Manage Your Inventory
Something that is especially important when it comes to any wholesale business is the management of inventory. If you do not have a handle on your stock levels, it is almost impossible to be successful. Make sure that you have a good system in place that will allow you to keep stock at a certain level and that will warn staff when specific items are running low.
Your stock system should effectively track incoming and outgoing stock levels. The effectiveness of such a system depends on your staff though. It will be necessary to put someone in charge of your stock management to ensure that what you are seeing is accurate.
Keep an Eye on Cashflow
Giving customers credit is part and parcel of B2B wholesale businesses, but extending credit can affect your cashflow. It is important to keep your cashflow under control and follow up on collecting money due. Accept various methods of payment that might make it easier for customers. If you struggle to get paid from some customers, you may need to employ the services of a collections company or factor invoices to keep your own cash flowing.
Conclusion
Running a successful wholesale business depends on hiring the right staff and focusing on some key areas such as customer relations, stock management, and cashflow. By putting your energy into these main areas, your chances of success will increase.
