WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textLife would be easy if we had to sell only to one ideal customer profile and buyer persona. Most companies sell to multiple ideal customer profiles. That makes the job of a marketer much harder. These profiles could vary based on industries, roles, product groups, etc. But what is so hard about managing multiple customer profiles? Well, each customer profile has its needs in terms of what they like about their buying preferences and the messaging that will resonate with them the most. Each customer profile may have its own journey, even if they might be buying the same product or service offering. If you don't map the journey of each customer profile individually, you might struggle to get results from your eCommerce efforts, even if your overall messaging may be OK.In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss how to manage multiple customer groups. We discussed the differences between the traditional vs. the digital world and how the challenges differ in both settings while the problem of multiple personas exists in both worlds. Finally, we discussed the best practices of segmentation and identifying the user personas for several categories, including logged-in vs. non logged users or buyers vs. users. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textSheet metal industry produces one of the most foundational products that we need as consumers and in our industrial applications. This industry also requires significant efficiency with operations and raw materials due to cost pressures and ultra-low margins. The recent supply challenges and labor shortages are driving the demand for even more efficiency in how they consume energy, process raw materials, run their operations, and manage their supply chain. The traditional lean methods for other industries may not be enough to survive in the sheet metal industry.In today's episode, our guest, Andrea Dallan, shares his insights into the four pillars of efficiency for sheet metal manufacturing companies. He also discusses the unique challenges sheet metal companies face with rising costs of raw materials, ever-increasing energy costs, labor shortages, supply chain challenges, and the unique inventory challenges of this industry. Finally, he describes several manufacturing processes sheet metal companies employ for their products and the unique challenges with each of these processes.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textThe challenge with the technology world is that new technologies keep popping up on a daily basis with significant overlap and with no clarity on where and how they will fit in the architecture and what their scope will be as they interact with other systems and cross-functional processes. There is also typically a misunderstanding of a data and analytics system vs. a system that is designed to automate and integrate operational workflows and allow teams to collaborate on a single thread of data. One such system is ODP that has been making a lot of buzz with its potential to predict operational failure using Industry 4.0 technologies. But where does it fit in the architecture, and why do companies need another piece of software when they already have so many technologies?In today's episode, our guest, Prateek Joshi, shares his insights into the operational data platforms and their role in the enterprise architecture for manufacturing companies. He also discusses the scope and boundaries for many systems such as ERP, MES, historians, and ODP, and how ODP will interact with each of these systems. Finally, he shares several stories of food and beverage companies where they were able to deploy ODP into their existing architecture to detect and predict anomalies across operational data sources and predict operational bottlenecks and failures before it's too late or expensive. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textIn the ERP community, there is always a debate about what an ERP is. Sure, you could say that anything that automates enterprise and cross-functional workflow could qualify as an ERP. This would include solutions such as CRM, HCM, MES, P2P, and the real ERP, as they all automate enterprise workflows to some degree. Also, there is a thin line as the companies that grew as edge apps like Salesforce, Workday, or ServiceNow tries to gain additional capabilities in other functions in an organization. For example, Workday started as the best-of-breed cloud HCM application for enterprises with thousands of employees. At that time, most HCM applications were clunky and didn't provide the employee experience that organizations needed that depended on attracting the best talent from the market. The companies that often struggle the most are the ones that had to attract expensive talents such as professional services, tech, and financial services. So, where does Workday stand as of today, and where do they win the most?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to discuss major stories in the ERP and digital transformation space and an objective and independent review of Workday's capabilities. We covered several grounds, including the strength of their product, misconceptions around the core capabilities of Workday product and target market, and corporate strategy. Finally, we covered their exposure in each micro-verticals, where they win the most, and why.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textWhen it comes to ERP implementations or digital transformation for asset-heavy organizations, asset management is perhaps the most complex area and one of the hardest to implement. The assets could be internal or external for one of your customers. The external assets follow a very different lifecycle with several stakeholders involved with how they are managed, leased, and serviced. The internal assets are equally trickier to manage with the cross-functional collaboration required in maintaining them and making sure that they are serviced proactively before causing operational shutdowns or disruptions. Also, due to their expensive nature, the regulations around fixed assets are always changing in how their value needs to be carried on the financial statements and how they are reported. So what do asset-intensive companies need to know about the cradle-to-grave asset management process?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss cradle-to-grave business processes and best practices. We covered many grounds, including the scope, process boundaries, definition of assets, internal vs. external, and the importance of finance value while referring to the assets and differentiating them with other inventory items. Finally, we discussed leased vs. owned assets and their financial treatment how the priority of finance and ops may differ when it comes to their need for serialization of assets.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textEmail has always been the most predictable channel to drive your customers back to the funnel for eCommerce or digital-savvy companies. Email keeps them engaged and provides opportunities for them to get the best out of their investments and the additional purchases they might be able to make through cross-sell and upsell. Also, with the advancements in Artificial intelligence and recommendation technologies, the new tools are able to recommend exciting workflows that may not have been possible before because of disconnected datasets and siloed systems. Since the newer artificial intelligence technologies can process both structured and unstructured data, the need to have consistency across datasets is not as relevant. So what do eCommerce companies need to know about modern architecture and tools and creating email strategies based on that?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss email marketing strategies for E-commerce. We discussed the difference between transactional vs. promotional email and the use cases for ecommerce email marketing strategies that companies might not be utilizing just yet. Finally, we covered how the identity of visitors can be tracked across channels and systems to capture email events and triggers through their entire lifecycle, as well as the newer technologies and trends that can be utilized to tap into more sophisticated use cases for email marketing. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textWhat comes to mind when you think of loyalty erosion? Do you currently have a formal loyalty plan, measurement, or metrics in place? Well, most SMB companies don't even understand how to take advantage of customer-experience-driven innovations. The customer experience is certainly an untapped area for most organizations and where bigger companies have a true edge. But how do you start on the journey of customer experience and how to ensure that your customer experience initiatives don't end up being just an idea on a napkin.In today's episode, our guest, Paula Courtney, shares how companies can take advantage of the customer-centricity framework to improve their financial performance. She also details how to start on the journey of customer experience and enable controls to ensure that the framework gets executed and has measurable results. Finally, he describes the organizational structure for customer experience function and where it fits depending upon the stage of the company. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textFinance always takes the back seat in organizations over sales and operational priorities. But without setting clear financial goals and plans to execute them, it's like shooting in the dark. Sure, you may have gotten lucky to grow at the desired pace. But how confident would you be to sustain that growth? Not much, right? This is where the connected systems and financial KPIs can provide the framework for growth with confidence.In today's episode, our guest, Jim Downes, shares his insights into the importance of tracking meaningful financial KPIs to improve profitability and growth for CPG companies. He also discusses the unique challenges associated with matrix inventory and how the planning for such inventory is slightly more involved than most other businesses. Finally, he describes the importance of having a plan and why connected systems are important for continuous tracking and improvement. For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textERP industry is divided mainly into two flavors. One is primarily focused on product-centric industries such as manufacturing, distribution, and retail. The other focuses on service-centric industries such as not-for-profit, architecture and engineering firms, construction, public sector, education, etc. But if you are in the construction or govt contracting space, your needs are likely to be unique. First, you have the compliance needs for unions with their requirements for submissions, which will require substantial reporting functionality for it to work. Then you have in-process compliance requirements, including DCAA, etc. The vanilla ERP, such as SAP, Sage, Acumatica, etc., may require several add-ons to support this critical piece of functionality. Even the ERP designed for professional services such as Workday, Unit4, or FinancialForce may struggle to support the critical functionality needed for these verticals. So what are your options if you are in this space?In today's episode, we invited a panel of industry experts for a live discussion on LinkedIn to discuss major stories in the ERP and digital transformation space and an objective and independent review of Deltek's capabilities. We covered several grounds, including their positioning in specific micro-verticals, product psychology, and corporate strategy. Finally, we covered several micro-vertical stories and why they chose to implement Deltek over other ERP software.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.

Send us a textRecord-to-report business processes typically take the back seat with ERP implementation projects as O2C, and P2P get the most limelight due to the customer-facing nature of these processes. Also, the decision made to streamline O2C and P2P processes and improve the cycle time for these transactions will have implications on the record-to-report processes. As you grow, your finance department is likely to grow as well. And if you can not streamline, your SG&A will likely to grow faster than your revenue. So what do you need to do to streamline your record-to-report processes?In today's episode, we invited a panel of cross-functional experts for a live interview on LinkedIn who brings significant expertise to discuss record-to-report business processes and best practices. We covered many grounds, including the scope and branches that extend from record-to-report processes, the roles, and the organizational structure of the finance department. Finally, we discussed the communication and collaboration of different systems as part of the architecture for the finance department and the best practices for process design across these systems.For more information on growth strategies for SMBs using ERP and digital transformation, visit our community at wbs.rocks or elevatiq.com. To ensure that you never miss an episode of the WBS podcast, subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform.