Identifying Quick Close Supply Chain Opportunities

Uncovering supply chain planning opportunities in your accounts can drive significant wins—for your customers, Salesforce, and your personal success. The best part? You don’t need to be a supply chain expert. By focusing on a few steps, listening for key signals and working with the ketteQ team, you can easily identify these opportunities. ‍

Step 1: Understand the Basics of Supply Chain Planning

Supply chain planning ensures the right products are available at the right time, in the right quantities, and in the right places. Core processes include:  

• Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP): Aligning sales forecasts with production and inventory strategies.

• Demand Planning: Predicting customer demand to optimize inventory and production.

• Inventory Planning: Managing stock levels to prevent shortages or overages.

• Scenario Planning: Preparing for “what if” scenarios to manage uncertainty.  

These processes are essential for companies to meet customer demand, control costs, and stay competitive.  

Step 2: Know Who to Talk To

As a Salesforce AE, your relationships with key executives can open doors to supply chain opportunities:

• CIOs: Oversee technology investments and champion solutions that align with IT strategy.  

• Sales Leaders: Focus on product availability and customer demand.

• Sales Operations Leaders: Align sales forecasts with operational capabilities.  

These leaders may not explicitly mention supply chain issues but often face challenges rooted in planning inefficiencies.  

Step 3: Listen for Keywords

When speaking with your executive champions, listen for signals like:

• Processes: S&OP, S&OE, demand, inventory, and scenario planning.

• Challenges: Forecasting issues, aligning sales and production, improving inventory visibility, reducing stockouts or overages, and planning for disruptions.  

Hearing these terms and others suggests a need for supply chain solutions like ketteQ.  

Step 4: Ask Targeted Questions

Uncover deeper needs with simple, effective questions:

• “How are you aligning sales forecasts with production plans?”

• “What tools are you using for demand planning today?”

• “How do you handle inventory challenges like stockouts or overages?”

• “What happens when there’s a disruption—can you adjust plans quickly?”  

These questions reveal pain points while positioning you as a knowledgeable partner.  

Step 5: Introduce ketteQ

Once you spot a potential need, introduce ketteQ by highlighting:

• Built on Salesforce: Seamless integration for a unified view across sales and operations.

• Rapid Implementation: Achieve results in under six months, delivering quick financial and operational impact.

• Proven Success: Share results from leaders like Coca-Cola, Carrier, NCR Voyix, and mid-market innovators like Bonide.

• Ease of Process: ketteQ handles everything from demos to proposals, minimizing effort.  

Your First Win

Spotting supply chain planning opportunities doesn’t require deep expertise. You can lead meaningful conversations that drive wins by listening for the right keywords you can lead meaningful conversations that drive wins.

Supply chain planning is a growing priority, and with ketteQ, you have a proven partner to help customers overcome challenges and drive growth. Start listening, start asking, and start winning.  

Speak with a ketteQ team member today.