WBSRocks: Business Growth with Enterprise Software and Digital Transformation

Send us a textDo you care for your vendor relationships? Well, your vendor relationships are as important as your customer relationships. If you are dealing with international vendors such as China, Mexico, or India, your relationship with vendors and understanding of their culture could impact your bottom line and growth.In today's episode, we have our guest Francois Jaffres from Noviland, who discusses what manufacturers need to know about working with international suppliers. He also shares his insights into why the transactional approach does not work while collaborating with international suppliers. Finally, he shared what other options companies might have to access international supplier markets without having pre-existing relationships in these countries.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 textHow busy is your shop floor? How occupied is your team? Are your machines always running? Are you happy with your growth and operational efficiency? While you might be content with what you have right now, the question is, why would you not make more money if you could without increased efforts or resources.In today's episode, we have our guest Paul Critchley from New England Lean Consulting, who discusses practical examples of how to apply the 5Ss of LEAN to your organization. He also shares his insights into how the needs for LEAN differ in high-volume organizations such as Automobile from job shops. Finally, he clears some of the misconceptions around LEAN and how applying LEAN principles can grow your organization's faster growth.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 textCOVID has been harsh on everyone. But if you have a COVID incident in your facility, not only will there be significant disruption with your operations, but there may also be additional overhead of reporting for your already overworked HR department. What can facilities do to manage their facilities better while taking care of their employees' health?In today's episode, we have our guest Amanda Schleede, who discusses how manufacturers and retailers can better manage disruptions associated with COVID spread. She also provides insight into reporting requirements related to COVID. Finally, we have had a chance to describe how contact tracing works and how it can help manufacturers understand and analyze trends.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 textWe all understand the power of social media and its influence. But how to build authority and your tribe on social media? What works when it comes to building a large audience around your expertise and interests? Is it the subject-matter expertise, industry awareness, or something else? These are the questions you will have if you wish to have a strong personal brand and thought leadership in your industry.In today's episode, we have our guest Lorena Acosta, who takes us through her journey of amassing millions of followers on LinkedIn. She also discusses the most critical factors that are important for anyone to be successful on social media. Finally, she discusses the mistakes executives make in focusing on subject-matter expertise and knowledge rather than trust and authenticity.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 textSelling complex products involving several buyers is challenging. Each buyer persona is different. Each channel they prefer to hang out with is different. And each piece of content needs to have appropriate messaging that resonates with the customer persona you are targeting. But the most crucial element of mapping your customer journeys would be the ideal customer profile, which most companies struggle to identify.In today's episode, we have our guest Jeff White, who discusses why it is so important to identify the ideal customer profile for your offerings to streamline your growth. He also discusses why mapping customer journeys are critical to providing a seamless customer experience irrespective of whether you acquire customers through physical or digital channels. Finally, we had a chance to discuss the nuances of account-based marketing and channel conflict issues for manufacturers selling through distributors.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 textRemember going to a well-organized library or a store where you didn't need the endless merry-go-round to find the product or book you wanted? That's the power of clean data and organized systems. For manufacturing and distribution companies with the never-ending need for balancing control and agility, the task is easier said than done. You might have further challenges if you don't have systems that minimize the data entry or experience significant churn with your team. In today's episode, we have our guest Susan Walsh, who discusses how to normalize your product, customer, and vendor data to avoid planning and forecasting issues with your inventory. She also shares several stories where she has been personally involved in cleaning companies' financial and operational data and the impact such activities have had on operational efficiency and growth. Finally, she shares the differences between good vs. bad data and how to stop piling up on bad habits of dirty data syndrome.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 textWhy should SMB companies be investing in technology during the downturns such as COVID? What could be some of the low-hanging fruits for executives to consider during the downturn? Why investing in technology is a wise idea during the downturn? These are some of the questions you will have if you are managing a business during COVID.In Today's episode, we have our guest Laurie McCabe, who discusses how technology can help struggling businesses be more efficient during downturns. She also touches on different technology trends and ERP ecosystems,  how they have evolved and what changes you might expect in the future. Finally, she helps SMB business owners understand their technology options.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 textWhile Software-as-a-service has made buying and implementing enterprise software such as ERP easier, evaluating SAAS options is never easy. With so much at stake with growth, understanding the implications of a cloud infrastructure provider is essential. You will still have tons of questions such as security, the location of your data, and vendor lockup issues. Finding the answers to such questions is hard unless you understand the cloud providers at the macro level.In today's episode, we have our guest Bob Evans, who discusses what SMB customers need to know about cloud infrastructure providers. He also discusses the evolution of these vendors and their direction for the next 5-10 years. Finally, we touched on why understanding cloud infrastructure issues are still relevant and essential, even if the SAAS options may seem straightforward.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 metal fabrication industry has several nuances that don't exist in generalized manufacturing. The metal fabrication industry also has unique challenges such as sustainability that increase operational overhead. Finally, the unique manufacturing process and interactions with different stakeholders increase the process complexity.In today's episode, we have our guest Robert Johnson, who discusses how the metal fabrication industry's manufacturing processes differ from generalized manufacturing. He also provides insight into the unique challenges associated with the metal fabrication industry and the production of cold-formed steel. Finally, he shares some thoughts about the value of LinkedIn and how executives from traditional industries such as metal fabrication can take advantage of LinkedIn.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 last three years have changed the way businesses operate, with podcasts and video becoming the most consumed media for information consumption. With 80% of the B2B sales decisions are being influenced by industry influencers and consultants, today's businesses need to be thought leaders in their spaces. But who drives thought leadership in a company? In today's episode, we have our guest Chris Grainger, who discusses how his company EECO, a large electrical distributor, needed to change the way they sold to their customers. He also touches on how they started their journey of thought leadership, highlighting heroes in their community, which has helped them strengthen their position in the market and acquire net new business in a whole new different way.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.