Marketing Management, Millenium Edition - epiheirimatikotita.gr

formation is developed through internal company records, marketing intelligence activities,marketing research, and marketing decision support analysis.IN T E R N A L R E C O R D S S Y S T E MMarketing managers rely on internal reports on orders, sales, prices, costs, inventorylevels, receivables, payables, and so on. By analyzing this information, they can spotimportant opportunities and problems.THE ORDER-TO-PAYMENT CYCLEThe heart of the internal records system is the order-to-payment cycle. Sales representatives,dealers, and customers dispatch orders to the firm. The sales department preparesinvoices and transmits copies to various departments. Out-of-stock items areback ordered. Shipped items are accompanied by shipping and billing documents thatare sent to various departments.Today’s companies need to perform these steps quickly and accurately. Customersfavor those firms that can promise timely delivery. Customers and sales representativesfax or e-mail their orders. Computerized warehouses fulfill these orders quickly.The billing department sends out invoices as quickly as possible. An increasing numberof companies are using electronic data interchange (EDI) or intranets to improve thespeed, accuracy, and efficiency of the order-to-payment cycle. Retail giant Wal-Marttracks the stock levels of its products and its computers send automatic replenishmentorders to its vendors. 4SALES INFORMATION SYSTEMSMarketing managers need up-to-the-minute reports on current sales. Armed with laptopcomputers, sales reps can access information about prospects and customers andprovide immediate feedback and sales reports. An ad for SalesCTRL, a sales force automationsoftware package, boasts, “Your salesperson in St. Louis knows what CustomerService in Chicago told their customer in Atlanta this morning. Sales managerscan monitor everything in their territories and get current sales forecasts anytime.”Sales force automation (SFA) software has come a long way. Earlier versions mainlyhelped managers track sales and marketing results or acted as glorified datebooks. Recenteditions have put even more knowledge at marketers’ fingertips, often throughinternal “push” or Web technology, so they can give prospective customers more informationand keep more detailed notes. Here are three companies that are using computertechnology to design fast and comprehensive sales reporting systems:■ Ascom Timeplex, Inc. Before heading out on a call, sales reps at this telecommunicationsequipment company use their laptop computers to dial into thecompany’s worldwide data network. They can retrieve the latest price lists,engineering and configuration notes, status reports on previous orders, ande-mail from anywhere in the company. And when deals are struck, the laptopcomputers record each order, double-check the order for errors, and sendit electronically to Timeplex headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. 5■ Alliance Health Care Formerly called Baxter, Alliance supplies hospital purchasingdepartments with computers so that the hospitals can electronicallytransmit orders directly to Alliance. The timely arrival of orders enables Allianceto cut inventories, improve customer service, and obtain better termsfrom suppliers for higher volumes. Alliance has achieved a great advantageover competitors, and its market share has soared.■ Montgomery Security In 1996, San Francisco–based Montgomery Securitywas in a bind. To remain competitive in the financial sector, this NationsBanks subsidiary had to find a way for more than 400 finance, research, andGathering Informationand MeasuringMarket Demand 101