Knowledge is power. If you have access to the right information at the right time, you’ll have a much easier time keeping your customers happy, and building their confidence in your brand.
Missing Shipment
For example, in the blog post “Case of the Missing Shipment” a manufacturer shipped a product to a customer, but then received a phone call from that customer saying they hadn’t received it yet. The manufacturer checked their inventory tracking records and saw that someone had signed for the product at the customer’s warehouse. A few days later the customer called back and said they had found the product, which had been misplaced by one of their employees.
Even though the customer wasn’t happy with the manufacturer’s answer at first, it gave them enough confidence to look for the source of the problem on their end and solve it. That’s the power of inventory tracking software. It empowers manufacturers and other businesses to pinpoint supply chain problems and come up with solutions. If this manufacturer hadn’t been able to confirm the shipment had arrived at the right address, they would’ve had a harder time finding the missing product.
Missing Stories
So it won’t seem like I’m just republishing Mr. Panfalone’s blog post, I’ll add a related experience I had a few years ago. I was publishing a weekly email newsletter full of articles I wrote and that were submitted to me by others. One day I received an email from someone who contributed to the newsletter wanting to know why I never published his work. He sounded upset, so I quickly tried to get to the bottom of the problem.
Luckily, I had kept detailed records of each newsletter I sent out, including which stories were published and what order they were placed in. I discovered that I had published everything he had sent me, and I replied with specific information on when and where I had published them. That pacified him and we were able to continue on happily as before.
Problem Solved
In both of these cases, having access to the right information defused tense situations that could have damaged relationships with customers. It turned out there was no problem on the supplier’s end in both stories, but that won’t always be the case. By using inventory tracking software, you can make sure products are picked, packed, shipped and that they reach their destination on time. If anything goes wrong at one of these steps, you can quickly find the error and do your best to fix it.
QuickBooks Manufacturing Blog 