Let’s Bring Agility to the Chemical Industry Ordering Process

 I strongly believe that it is a requirement and a key need that must be addressed.

   After having written quite a few LinkedIn articles, I am always amazed by the topics that garner the most interest. Being from the lubricant industry, I tend to focus on topics relevant to tribology: OEM Specifications, fluid cleanliness or product integrity are all key topics, worthy of articles; likewise writing about feedstocks for the chemical industry, the significance of continuous processes or sustainability can make the top list of future articles. Yet, something of a totally higher priority came up. The ‘Big Idea’ kind of thing, which can greatly simplify how the chemical industry as a whole or the lubricants industry operates and services the customer.

   Let me start from far…….in the USA we recently had the Thanksgiving Holiday during which I was in Ukraine, hoping to enjoy quality time with my family and escape the American Black Friday madness… but was I proven wrong… The madness appears to be global now and retailers fight for that extra sale event all over the world during these days. Many of you may know that in the USA, ~80% of the entire year’s inventory is sold just during these few holiday weeks; this year on Black Friday, US shoppers alone pushed online sales by using their mobile devices to a record breaking $3.05 Billion (FT, Nov 27th, 2016). While most of us had the day off or some even a few days - many people worked extreme hours…So why are people willing to indulge in the madness? Here is why - the whole retail industry is geared towards empowering the customer and enabling choices to be easily and widely available.  YET…??

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....THE ORDERS AND PAYMENT ARE BUT A CLICK AWAY IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY.

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   So you may now wonder - why is Yulia talking about this if she is from the lubricant industry! Well the retail industry is geared toward profits and so are we, but the difference between the two industries is tremendous from my perspective - and perhaps it might be as obvious to you as it is to me – It is the customer experience and the simplicity of the ordering process where we split ways.

   How many times do you hear: "oh but we are not retail, we are different"… But are we really? ...(Actually, to this point Albert Einstein once said: "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”)      

   In the lubricant industry, we create all the exclusive formulations, we pair them with technical advantages, we collaborate with OEMs, we fight for customers, we watch the competition, furthermore we invest in markets analyses and the best people and so on…BUT we ALL fail to make it simple at the point where it truly matters – the customer order.

   All of us, especially the generation Y, can easily relate to how many times we have issues with that simple procedure and it absolutely doesn’t matter what company we work for- OEMs, lubricant producers, small or big, family owned or public…Why can it not be as easy as all the online options offered by retailers?

   In today’s competitive market, creating sustainable competitive advantage is key and there are many ways to get there.  Yes, the cleanliness of the fluid, OEM requirements, sustainability and continuous processes are ways to gain such advantage, are extremely important and indeed I will write about these, although another time.

   But today, let me ask you this - why should customers care for the great fluid with all the most up-to-date/required approvals if they can’t order it or – as it is mostly the case - it takes them forever to place the order, leave alone track it?

   With so many intelligent followers, I wanted to publish this small post to bring the attention of the entire industry to the biggest challenge we all have, and if it were changed, could radically transform the customer experience: the ordering process of our products.

It is a transactional start of revenue generation after all in most business models and industries. 

   So let us get what the retailers got right: Let us strive to bring e-Agility? to our ordering processes!

   Last Point: In case you didn’t notice the article is very short and yet I hope that it makes the point – so should the ordering processes be made short and simple?

Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in. Bill Bradley

                                                              Reference

Photo Source https://www.iispeed.com/

                                                          DISCLAIMER

Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer. Information presented is publicly available.

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Thank you for reading my post! Here, at LinkedIn, I regularly write about sales excellence, performance psychology and lubricants. If you would like to read my regular posts -please click 'Follow' and/or send me a LinkedIn invite.

Some other posts that I have written:

PERFORMANCE PSYCHOLOGY

If I Knew What You Know: 5 Q & A on Knowledge Transfer

What Makes A True Leader: One Deep Perspective

Dream Big: It Is Not Over Until You Win

Driving Successful Post-Merger Integration (PMI)

LUBRICANTS

Selling Grease: Top 4 Applications for Polyurea Greases

The Best Kept Secret For Sales Success When Selling Lubricants Globally

Grease Color Challenge Solved: 2 Factors You Need to Know

Fluids - The Lifeblood That Keeps Transmissions De-Stressed

SALES EXCELLENCE

Big Hero Sales Blitz (Three Key Principles of Instant Sales Increase)

Art of Global Sales: The Cultural Practices

Long Cycle Sales Explained

Sincere Regards,

Yulia, M.B.A

Doctoral Student

#sales #agility #chemicals