Are you sick of product information holding back your business?
Many companies use Excel spreadsheets to manage their product information and keep it up-to-date within their organisation, over time these spreadsheets start to get out of control with multiple tabs and new product categories being added to them. At Libris we have helped many companies that historically managed many different product information spreadsheets crossing over many types of product families, worryingly all stored on different computers within their company not backed up or locked down. Most of the time these spreadsheets are created and run separate from their central ERP system, this is normally because a solution can’t be found that can do everything they want. Another common issue we see time and time again is companies being held back because their systems can’t grow with them.
Multiple product information spreadsheets are so last year
Spreadsheets can do the job up to a point but once a company starts to scale up products or increase their sales output, pressure starts to build. An increase in the number of proposals and quotations can sometimes cause bottlenecks within the business and hold back growth, one of the reasons for this problem is having multiple product information spreadsheets stored in different locations, in turn this creates key people in the business with all the local product information knowledge. Having just one or two people in the business with all this local knowledge can be dangerous, a solution is needed to allow this fountain of product knowledge to flow throughout the whole company.
Product information: Don’t let the tail wag the dog in your business
As a company’s product offering grows so do their sales enquiries, having just a few people in the company who know where everything is stored and how to get key product information is dangerous, this will stop growth and can sometimes destroy a company. If these key people are off sick or leave the company it can take months and cost thousands to get back on track. Not addressing this issue is like sitting on a ticking time bomb that you know one day will cause major damage. In some cases a single member of staff can be more powerful than the board of directors, a classic tail wagging the dog scenario.
This is how you share product information knowledge
The solution to this problem is PIM (Product Information Management) and it’s very user friendly, you can start by uploading multiple spreadsheets into a central online database that can then be organised and structured to fit the company’s requirements. The PIM is effectively still a spreadsheet but with so much more power and customisation straight out-of-the-box. It will help organise product family information, create formats to cut down the number of SKUs, add custom tags to products and more importantly you can search for any piece of product information. Everyone in your business would be able find product information fast from any location, making everyone local knowledge experts.
What product information can be stored in a PIM?
The PIM can hold almost any product information that you want to associate with it, including multiple images, reference materials, urls, anything that is vital and useful for both internal and external use. Adding custom tags can help people quickly find what they are looking for and help to upsell between product types. A big key function is the ability to add and manage multiple languages in one location, having the flexibility to translate centrally per product dramatically speeds up production times. The PIM gives companies the flexibility to grow and develop their core product information along with the tools to distribute that content.
Product information: Imagine the savings automation could bring to your business
A PIM system will transform a business internally and externally, with unlimited options to push any of the product information you choose to your website will give clients everything they need to make a decision. With a high level of detail and search-ability clients will make better informed decisions saving you time and money. If you produce and print product catalogues, price lists, brochures and data sheets, these can all be set up and produced automatically using one of many PIM connectors. You can also feed your product information straight into Amazon, woocommerce or channeladvisor, with over 30 different connectors including custom API and APPS connector that allows you to connect your data with applications that require off-line mode, PIM has everything covered helping you grow your business.
Contact us today to find out how our PIM system can transform your business.
Tel 01279 732436 or email us at [email protected] www.librissystems.com