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Tip #1506 – Using the dynaMACS Manufacturer X-Reference File “Source Code ” to Classify Groups

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The Source Code field in the Manufacturer X-Reference file provides dynaMACS users with a powerful reporting tool.  As an example, all customers that buy that “line” through a buying group could be identified using the “Source Code”.  This tip will explain how to accomplish this.

Updating the Manufacturer/Customer Cross-Reference with a Source Code.

  1. From the Manufacturer Viewer screen, highlight the manufacturer.  In this example we have selected the manufacturer Lee Jacob Mfg.
  2. Select the X-Reference tab.
  3. Highlight the Customer.  In this case the customer is Adel’s Dist/Cinci.  If the X-Reference for a particular customer is not set up, you can do so by selecting the Add button.
  4. Select the Edit button.Mfg Viewer
  5. From the Manufacturer/Customer Cross-Reference Maintenance screen select the Binocular button to the right of the Source field.
  6. From the Customer Viewer screen select the Customer.  In the following example we will use the ABC Buying Group.  Double click on this customer.Customer Viewer
  7. You will be back in the Manufacturer/Customer Cross-Reference Maintenance screen and the Source Code field will be populated with the selected Source Code.
  8. Select the Save button and then select the Exit button.Mfg-Cust X-ref

Filtering on an X-Ref Source Code to Include in the Sales IQ Screen

  1. From the Sales IQ screen select the manufacturer.
  2. Select the Customers tab.
  3. Select the Filter button.Sale IQ
  4. In the X-Reference section at the bottom of the screen make sure “Starts With” is selected and enter the Source code for source “ABCB00” in both fields to the right.  This is the Source that was used for this example.
  5. Select “Include This Range”.
  6. Select the Apply button.Filters
  7. The Filters screen will close bringing you back to the Sales IQ screen which will refresh displaying the filtered data.  As you can see in the example below, only the customers for the manufacturer Lee Jacob Mfg that are in the buying group will be displayed in the list. Sale IQ 2

Case Study: Big East Sales Team

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 “dynaMACS is designed specifically for sales agencies, so it has all the features I need to manage my business more effectively. There’s nothing like it in the industry.”

Ron Remer, Partner
Big East Sales Team

BigEast_LogoClient Challenge

When Ron Remer founded IdeaRep (which now does business as Big East Sales Team, with Dan Pigott of DP Marketing) it was back in the 1990s: the start of the computer age. At the time, this forward-looking agency realized the computer’s potential for managing a business, but could find no software that was designed for multi-line reps. “When making a sales call, I had to manually compile some sort of numbers to review with the customer,” Remer explains. “It took too much time and didn’t look very professional.” Then, he was introduced to dynaMACS’ predecessor: MACS software. Suddenly, the agency had a clear picture of what their suppliers and distributors were doing – where sales were up and where they were down. When dynaMACS, an easy-to-use Windows based version, was introduced a few years later, the agency was on-board immediately.

Big_East_StatisticsdynaMACS Solution

“dynaMACS is not only easy-to-use, with access to any data I want in a few mouse clicks, but it’s also designed specifically for sales agencies, so it has all the features I need to manage my business more effectively,” Remer says.

Remer can run reports in a variety of ways: by supplier, distributor or sales territory. For example, he can look at any individual supplier and who their best customers are. He can sort by state, by zip code and much more. Then, he can see numbers for any individual distributor. He even brings those reports to sales meetings. “The reports really impress my customers. It’s a competitive advantage for me,” he says. “And sometimes, those reports serve as an eye opener for distributors. They may think they’re giving me lots of business, but their individual report may show the opposite. The facts are undeniable, and I’m able to turn that into a growth opportunity.”

Remer is so impressed with the software, that he’s become a proponent. “I recommend dynaMACS to my peers all the time. There’s nothing like it in the industry.”

Tip #1505 – Using dynaMACS Manufacturer X-Reference File Type Code

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The following tip explains how to categorize certain manufacturer’s customers so that you can include them or exclude them from the Sales IQ screen by using the Filter option.

Adding a Type Code and Updating the Manufacturer/Customer Cross-Reference Maintenance

  1. From the Manufacturer Viewer screen, highlight the manufacturer.  In this example we have selected the manufacturer Lee Jacob Mfg.
  2. Select the X-Reference tab.
  3. Highlight the Customer.  In this case the customer is Adel’s Dist/Cinci.
  4. Select the Edit button.Mfg Viewer
  5. From the Manufacturer/Customer Cross-Reference Maintenance screen select the Binocular button to the right of the Type field.
  6. From the Query X-Ref Type box select the Folders button.
  7. From the X-Reference Type box enter the code you wish to use for this type code and <Tab>. In the following example we used “K” for “Key Account”.
  8. Enter the Description for the X-Ref Type.
  9. Select the Save button to add the new X-Ref Type and then the Exit button.    You will be returned to the Query X-Ref Type box. X-Ref 1
  10. From the Query X-Ref Type box, highlight and double click the newly added X-Ref Type.Query X Ref TypeNote
  11. You will be back in the Manufacturer/Customer Cross-Reference Maintenance screen and the   Type Code field will be populated with the newly added Type Code.
  12. Select the Save button and then select the Exit button.X-Ref 2

Filtering on an X-Ref Code to Include in the Sales IQ Screen

  1. From the Sales IQ screen select the manufacturer.
  2. Select the Customers tab.
  3. Select the Filter button.Sales IQ
  4. In the X-Reference section at the bottom of the screen make sure “Starts With” is selected and enter the Type code for “Key Account” in both fields to the right.
  5. Select “Include This Range”.
  6. Select the Apply button.Filters
  7. The Filters screen will close bringing you back to the Sales IQ screen which will refresh displaying the filtered data.  As you can see in the example below, only the customers for the manufacturer Lee Jacob Mfg that have an X-Reference Type of “Key Account” are displayed in the list.Sales IQ 2

Case Study: Singer Carpet Corp.

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 “dynaMACS makes my life easier. I always know
how the business is performing year-over-year.”

Mark Singer, President
Singer Carpet Corporation

Singer_Carpet_LogoClient Challenge

When Singer Carpet Corp. was founded in the late ‘70s, the concept of sales agency software was foreign to most sales agencies. They made due with paper records and rudimentary reports. Singer knew there must be a better way.

Singer_Carpet_StatisticsdynaMACS Solution

When Mark Singer, President of Singer Carpet, learned of a software solution built specifically for manufacturers’ sales agencies, he knew he wanted in and became an early adopter.

Today as a user of dynaMACS, he has a tool for analyzing agency sales, tracking commissions and paying reps. Whereas in the past the only data available was stacks of paper commission statements, today the agency has easily accessible, organized information that can be sorted and filtered for detailed information. With valuable insight into how the agency is performing, Singer says he is able to see the business in ways that without sophisticated software simply weren’t possible.

“dynaMACS makes my life easier. I always know how the business is performing year-over-year,” Singer explains.

To know exactly how the business is doing compared to previous years, Singer can select data for any point in time and view sales history for up to five years. He can view sales by customer – or with a few mouse clicks, track commissions by customer, manufacturer or sales rep. If he has a question on anything, he clicks to get more details. “dynaMACS gives me the information I need for my business, so I know where I stand company-wise and customer-wise.”

Singer sometimes brings reports with him when he visits customers, so he can share real numbers that enable him to have strategic and productive discussions with customers.

Tip # 1504 – Using dynaMACS GlobalView to see your top relationships

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Overview

GlobalView is a new analytical concept developed by dynaMACS and is unique to dynaMACS Software.  Users now have the ability to view all Customer/Manufacturer relationships on a single screen.  Prior to this unique feature, users had to drill down from either Customers or Manufacturers to see these records.  Now users can easily and quickly slice and dice these Customer/Manufacturer relationship records on a single screen enabling them to analyze where they are up or down.

Features of the GlobalView Screen

When selecting the GlobalView tab dynaMACS will automatically display the “Top” 20% of the customer/manufacturer records based on the user default sort column.

SIQ Home

Selector Section

The Selector Section is used to determine what records to display in the GlobalView list.  The selector options are described below.

Selector Section 1

Top = This is the default option when first displaying the GlobalView tab and by default the top 20% of all records will be displayed.  This number may be overridden.  For example, if you want the top 10 customer/manufacturer relationships to be displayed, enter “10” in the field next to the Selector field.

All = As the name implies, all records will be displayed when this option is selected.

New = When selecting New you have the option to see new This Month or new This YTD.

Selector Section 2

AutoRefresh  is on when the auto button appears purple in color.  Sorting on a column will reload the records based on the selection criteria for that column.  AutoRefresh is off when the auto button appears grey in color.  Sorting on a column will sort the existing records on the values in that column.

Refresh button will reload based on the selection criteria for the sorted column.

Note

Relationship Names

The performance data is stored in dynaMACS by Manufacturer/Customer/Sales Rep.  In GlobalView, the names for these entities are displayed on each row of the list.

Performance Values

The performance values shown in GlobalView are consistent with the other views in Sales IQ.

Totals (Record Count)

Totals = This number represents the total number of records in the database.  If a filter is used, this number will reflect the number of records in the filtered database.

Selected = Based on the selection criteria used at the top of the list, this will show the number of selected records.  To the left of the record count is the percent value for the selected records as a percent of the total records.

All Others = Based on the selection criteria used at the top of the list, this will show the number of records “not selected”.  To the left of the record count is the percent value for the not selected records as a percent of the total records.

Totals (Performance Values)

Totals = The performance values totals shown in GlobalView are consistent with the other view in Sales IQ.

Selected = These totals represent the performance value totals based on the selection criteria used at the top of the list.

All Others=These totals represent the performance value totals based on the selection criteria used at the top of the list for records “not selected”.

Case Study: Sharp Incentives

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“You don’t have to be a software developer to understand how it works. dynaMACS does the work and I get the information I need quickly, without hassles.”

Tasha Sharp, President
Sharp Incentives

Sharp_Incentives_LogoClient Challenge

Sharp Incentives’ previous sales agency software was difficult to use and required great effort to understand how to navigate to the data the agency was looking for. Sharp Incentives President Tasha Sharp says, “It wasn’t intuitive. I had to spend time figuring out how to get to the information I needed, which was time-consuming.” Sharp wanted easy, fast and accurate software.

Sharp_Incentives_StatisticsdynaMACS Solution

When she saw dynaMACS’ user friendly interface and the ease with which she could quickly see customer, manufacturer and rep data, Sharp happily made the switch.

“You don’t have to be a software developer to understand how it works. dynaMACS does the work and I get the information I need quickly, without hassles.”

With dynaMACS, Sharp Incentives gains valuable insight into the business. “It’s robust,” she says. “You can instantly view data the way you want it.” Sharp is reaping the benefits of having complete sales and commission information at her disposal. “I’ve learned so much about my business.

Sometimes, what dynaMACS uncovers is surprising. “You might think a particular customer is your most lucrative based on sales. But actually, their commission rate is lower than another customer who buys less but at a higher average commission rate, and they turn out to be your best customer. It’s an eye-opener.” Sharp gets reports on agency commissions, broken down by sales rep, manufacturer and customer commissions..

To make accessing data even easier, Sharp uses dynaMACS on the cloud. Information is always the most recent available and it is accessible anytime, from anywhere on any device: tablet, smartphone or laptop. She’s not tied to the office when she needs information.