Best business management platform for all IT & Office supplies VARS and MSPs
Business management software is certainly an important aspect and when it comes to choosing one, lots of factors need to be considered. There are multiple options available in the market, as of now. Prior to choosing from these available options, it is important to be aware of one’s exact requirements. This awareness makes it easy for distinguishing between available options. Here are some of the factors that need to be considered while choosing the best business management platform for all IT & office supplies VARS and MSPs.
1) Affordable
The business management software should be affordable. It should not be too costly as it discourages entry-level market participants. Usually, choosing self-hosted software is costly as it leads to the incurring of additional charges. These additional charges may be in the form of server maintenance, developer fees, and security fees, among others. VARs and MSPs have to be careful in spending money, and hence usually go about for options which are cheap but deliver good value.
Cloud-based platforms offer this option to them. In cloud-based servers, the maintenance fees and other hidden costs are not to be contributed by the user, and is totally the onus of the company providing the software. They are also available on a monthly/quarterly basis; hence do not take a substantial part of the total investment calculation. In addition, cloud-based platforms can be accessed from any device having an internet connection. The usage of cloud-based software also eliminates the need for payment for the maintenance of teams such as tech support teams, thus saving money.
2) Allows you to Create Fully Customizable B2C/B2B/B2G Stores
Business management platforms should be chosen in such a way that they enable the creation of a fully customizable platform, whether it may be B2C, B2B, or B2G Stores. VARs and MSPs are involved in the reselling of a large number of products. Almost all of the companies have different strategies for selling their products to the clients. These differences may cover aspects such as pricing, product description, delivery schedule among others. In addition, due to the dynamic nature of the market, these parameters are bound to change. In addition, customers, if served with customized offerings through customized platforms, may result in the overall customer experience getting enriched. Hence, in order to inculcate these changing dynamics, it is always advisable to go for a business platform that helps you create fully customizable platforms.
3) Aggregated catalog for Easy Procurement
Business platforms need to have aggregated catalog, in order to gain more business traction. It is important that the customers are served with up to date and structured information. Aggregated catalogs perform this function so that the procurement team can compare and research products in order to source the right product at the best price. The aggregated catalog thus effectively eliminates browsing through, multiple websites and calling multiple vendors, thus ultimately resulting in time as well as money savings.
Different verticals of the company such as sales team, the marketing team of the company can also take inputs from the aggregated catalog, to make better-informed decisions about important aspects of the product such as pricing. Detailed technical specifications and rich images and other features add value to the overall aggregated product catalog feature.
4) Comes with built-in software tools
A good business management platform for VARs and MSPs comes with built-in tools such as customer relationship management (CRM) and sales quoting software. If these software solutions come in as built-in, then the hassles that might occur during the overall integration process are removed.
CRM software solutions are crucial for a business getting good traction and can provide an advantage over the other competitors; CRM software solutions have features such as Lead/Prospect Management, Opportunity Management, Activities/Tasks, notes, reporting dashboard, and contacts, etc. Thus, CRM software enables the company to have complete control over the entire lifecycle starting from lead generation and ending with post sale support to the customer. The software also enables better decision making at each and every point of the sales funnel.
Platforms having other software such as sales quoting software as a built-in feature must be preferred over others. The reason for the same is these software solutions allow unlimited quoting and invoice generation. They also come with added tools such as email marketing, product catalog sorting, taxation, multiple currency support, etc. Thus, sales quoting software are instrumental in reducing the overall transaction time of a customer.
5) Offers Rich Content
Rich content is one of the most important prerequisites for online selling. Customers have an interest in looking at product images, comparing them, and viewing specifications before making the final decision of purchase. VARs and MSPs cannot keep up with the ever-changing dynamics of rich content. Hence, they must look out for software that produces and provides a high quality of rich content, custom SKU development among others.
6) Enables you to Sell Custom Products
Software should allow the selling of custom products. Such products might be exclusive to the company and hence may require differentiation in parameters such as product specification, images, price, etc. Such ability to sell custom products not only increases the web traffic but also results in greater ROI for the company.
7) Integrates with 3rd Party Software Applications
In most of the cases, third-party applications, have to be integrated with the business management platforms for purposes such as order management, sales quoting, etc. In such cases, it is advisable to have business management platforms which provide the ability to integrate with other third-party applications.
Choosing the right business platform is quintessential for the success of any VAR or MSP business. So as a VAR or MSP, one has to be careful in choosing such software. If one charts out his exact needs, this process then becomes simple and fruitful.
