Using Job Shop Software to Increase Revenue
Every day, we hear job shop manufacturers tell us that software companies force them to change how they work to fit their products. We believe this is wrong: There is no “one size fits all” job shop software.
So how can you know which job shop software is right for you? Do you measure the success of the software by how easy it is to use? How many pain points it’s solving for those that are using it? What about revenue? All of these factors play into the ROI of your investment.
Paperless Parts’ intuitive and easy-to-use platform eliminates the headaches associated with quoting and estimating for job shops. But the ROI doesn’t stop there; let’s dive into 3 simple ways it can be used to help you drive more revenue:
Easily Provide Dynamic Lead Times
Oftentimes, there are dependencies that rest on the delivery of what you’re making and waiting a week actually costs your customers more than, say, paying 15% or 35% more for the part. Paperless Parts allows you to offer dynamic lead times to increase your win rate; when another shop you are competing with offers a faster turnaround time, even when their price might be higher, you are likely to lose the work if the customer is time sensitive.
Giving your customers the option of telling you what they value also allows you to limit the back and forth that takes place when they have to ask if you can make the parts faster.
Offer Discounts
Everybody loves a deal (whether real or perceived), which is why discounting is something we see in our lives every day. Offering discounts helps you generate more revenue by increasing the incentive to buy and leading you to the work you really want.
Showing a 10% “New Customer Discount,” for example, makes a customer feel like you really want their business and you’re willing to go the extra mile to get it. The presence of a deal creates urgency and incentivizes buyers to take action. It also makes you stand out from your competition, improving your win rate.
Paperless Parts makes it easy to offer discounts by creating deductions from the calculated price of a quote item. Discounts are applied to each quantity in each line item, and stand out visibly on the quote. You can even bake in rules to discount based on volume, material, complexity, and more.
Provide Add-On Options
The cost of a part is more than just material and labor rate; additional services, like engineering consulting or tooling fees, can drive up the cost for you to make a part. That’s why it’s important to accurately capture those when building out your quote.
Add-ons can also be a lever to drive upsell, even if a customer hasn’t specifically requested certain value-added services. Breaking these services out in your quote is a way to capture additional revenue, market your shop’s unique capabilities, and help justify why your shop should command premium pricing in the market.
Some popular add-ons that Paperless Parts customers use include:
• First article inspection
• Special packaging
• Certifications
These are also often things that customers communicate on a PO that don’t always get communicated during the RFQ process. Add-ons are a way to make sure that your customers are not using POs as a negotiating tool to tack on services that you should be getting paid for. They’re also a great way to correct bad customer behavior, like when you’re sent poor files that require redesign.
Where to Start?
Implementing ways to drive revenue should be a top priority for all American job shops. As we head into the new year, the economy rests on shaky footing. But contract manufacturers that are focused on growing their business are primed for success.
The three strategies mentioned in this blog are all quick and simple ways to leverage job shop software like Paperless Parts to drive revenue.
—
Learn more about how to drive revenue at your shop today using both “offensive” and “defensive” pricing strategies in our Job Shop Pricing Playbook.
