Ai2's experience is focused on serving the wholesale distribution industry, especially those distributors with a salesforce that works directly with customers.  Inside the office, a distributor has a wealth of information about the customers, their specialized pricing, the products they purchase, and the rest of the product catalog.  But when the sales rep steps out onto the street, that information is no longer available.  The sales rep is left with either static information that ages by the minute, or is forced to call customer service over, and over, and over.  Ai2's order entry tools make that information available anywhere the sales rep goes.  And that information is dynamic, and can be updated as often as needed.  Information is power; and the ability to access this information right there, with the customer, will enable your sales representatives to increase sales and improve the customer relationship and buying experience.

This is the Information Age, but many wholesale distributors rely on their sales representatives to fill in order forms and fax or call the order information in to customer service.  This multiple step process wastes valuable time and opens the door to miscommunication and errors.  Order entry errors result in returns, credits, and customer dissatisfaction. 

In the 1980's and 1990's, many distributors tuned to the technology of the times, the hand held data collection device.  This was a great solution twenty years ago, but it has many short comings in today's business environment.  While a sales representative can enter an order on this device, the sales rep and distributor face a variety of problems using this outdated approach including:

• Communication errors resulting in invalid item numbers and lost sales opportunities
• Lack of availability of telephones that work with acoustic coupler modems
• Required review of orders by customer service for accuracy
• Lack of important business information at the point of order
  • Item descriptions
  • What's on special, discontinued, or out of stock
  • Customer purchase history
  • Customer Accounts Receivable information
  • Order confirmations
  • Product returns
  • Cash collections

Wholesale distributors must concentrate on improving sales while cutting operational costs.  While many wholesalers have adopted and benefited from technology solutions inside the "four walls" of the organization, they have neglected the importance of automating the sales force.  Automating your sales team will have an immediate and positive effect on your company's bottom line.  Organizations that utilize solutions from Ai2 will achieve the following benefits:

• Improve sales representative productivity and help save each rep a minimum of one hour a day
• Increase sales by insuring that the sales rep order items that are in stock and available to ship
• Increase line item penetration by adding items to an order that are on special or promotion

POW® is a salesforce automation solution that gives your sales representatives the information and tools needed at the point of sale.  Running on a mobile PC, it allows sales reps to work with a customer to generate an order and improve the effectiveness of a sales call.  POW™ will improve the productivity of your sales team and empower your sales force to increase line item penetration insure profitability on every order.  Learn More>>

OrderWriter® is a remote order entry software solution aimed at improving the sales and order entry process.  Utilizing laptops, pen tablet, or desktop PCs, OrderWriter® provides the most current information on customers, products, history, inventory, and pricing.  Using OrderWriter®, sales representatives can organize their day, take orders, check inventory, calculate prices and profit margins, check for substitute items, send and receive E-mail, and accept payments.  Sales Reps can use specialized tools to track a customer's inventory and order to par, build menus and generage suggestd orders, and compare their prices to a competitor's.  OrderWriter® empowers your sales force to generate more revenue opportunities and increase customer satisfaction. Learn More>>

POET® is the next generation of sales order entry solutions.  It combines the flexibility and power of OrderWriter® with the latest Windows features to make an easy to use, easy to customize sales experience.  Learn More>>