Chapter 03
Opportunities
Eight opportunities, each sized from the evidence and checked against the tools you already have. Values are net of the review and exception work each change introduces.
Value against effort
How we decide
- Do first3
Clear value, proven approach, ready to start.
- Validate first2
Promising. One question to answer before building.
- Defer2
Not now. Revisit when the conditions change.
- Not recommended1
Little gain, or the risk belongs with people.
- Value
- Net hours returned each month, at $42 an hour fully loaded, plus costs avoided. Shown for conservative, expected and upside cases.
- Effort
- Build complexity, systems to connect and how much the work itself has to change.
- Confidence
- How strong the evidence is: measured, sampled or estimated.
All 8 opportunities
O1Emailed POs to draft sales ordersOrder desk · Read incoming POs, match items and prices, and create draft orders in Prophet 21 for the order desk to confirm.Value / yr$67K$91K$111KHours / mo110 h140 h165 hEffortMediumDo first
Today
About 1,500 POs a month arrive in the shared inbox as PDFs, spreadsheets and scanned faxes. Each takes about 12 minutes to match item codes, check price and key into Prophet 21; 11% are keyed at a price that doesn’t match.
Proposed
An intake workflow that reads each PO, maps customer item codes to your SKUs, checks price against the quote or contract, flags short stock and credit holds, and creates a draft sales order in Prophet 21. Clean orders are confirmed in one review; anything unusual is routed with the reason attached.
Where people stay in control
The order desk confirms every order before release. Substitutions, price overrides and credit releases stay with people.
Approach
- Custom build
- Connect systems
Live in week 7Confidence: High
The value, worked through
- 110 h140 h165 h a month × 12 × $42
- $55K$71K$83K
- Price-dispute credits avoided
- $12K$20K$28K
- Annual value
- $67K$91K$111K
Assumptions
- 1,500 emailed POs a month, from a September inbox sample of 1,480.
- 12 minutes per PO, from shadowing two people on 64 orders.
- 35–55% of entry time saved after review; scanned faxes save least.
- About $2,600 a month is credited for price disputes today; 40–90% is avoidable when price is checked before entry.
Data it needs
- Three months of emailed POs
- Customer item-code cross-reference
- Prophet 21 items, contracts and stock
- Open quotes
Risks to manage
- Scanned faxes with poor image quality
- Cross-reference gaps for smaller accounts
- Prophet 21 API access to be confirmed
How we’ll measure it
- Minutes per PO
- Orders confirmed without edits
- Price mismatches on invoice
- Time from PO to confirmation
O2Quote drafts with price, stock, lead time and spec sheetsInside sales · Assemble each quote from one request, with the customer’s price, stock and current spec sheets, ready for a rep to check and send.Value / yr$69K$101K$130KHours / mo105 h135 h160 hEffortMediumDo first
Today
1,150 quote requests a month by email and phone. Reps spend about 24 minutes per quote across price books, Prophet 21, the spec library and supplier emails. Quotes take 1.6 days on average; 41% never reach HubSpot.
Proposed
First, move the Excel price books into Prophet 21 contract pricing so there is one price. Then a quote assistant reads the request, finds the items, applies the customer’s price, checks stock and known lead times, attaches current spec sheets and drafts the quote and the HubSpot record. Non-stock items are flagged with a supplier email ready to send.
Where people stay in control
Reps review and send every quote. Prices below the margin floor still go to the inside sales manager. Compliance claims come only from current spec sheets.
Approach
- Connect systems
- Custom build
Live in week 9Confidence: Medium
The value, worked through
- 105 h135 h160 h a month × 12 × $42
- $53K$68K$81K
- Margin on quotes won by answering same day
- $16K$33K$49K
- Annual value
- $69K$101K$130K
Assumptions
- 1,150 quote requests a month, from inbox and call-log samples.
- 24 minutes per quote, from shadowing two reps on 38 quotes.
- 23–35% of preparation time saved after review; supplier waits are not counted.
- Win rate rises 1–3 points on new-business quotes (about 30% of requests), at a $1,800 average quote and 22% gross margin.
Data it needs
- Excel price books and Prophet 21 contracts
- Prophet 21 items, stock and purchase orders
- SharePoint spec library
- Six months of quote emails and HubSpot deals
Risks to manage
- Price book consolidation takes longer than planned
- Outdated spec sheets, fixed by a library cleanup first
- Reps keep using personal templates
How we’ll measure it
- Minutes per quote
- Time to quote
- Quotes logged in HubSpot
- Quote win rate
O3Ship and backorder updates sent before customers askCustomer service · Tell customers about shipments and backorders before they call.Value / yr$30K$40K$48KHours / mo60 h80 h95 hEffortLowDo first
Today
About 1,900 status and lead-time questions a month, 62% by phone, at about 7 minutes each. Backorders are communicated only when the customer asks; 24% of callers call again within a week.
Proposed
Send ship confirmations with LTL tracking and backorder notices with a revised date, generated daily from Prophet 21 and carrier data. Show the same status in Brightline Online, and give reps one screen with the order, shipment and supplier PO for the calls that remain.
Where people stay in control
Reps call key accounts about backorders on critical items themselves. Revised dates go out only when purchasing has confirmed them.
Approach
- Configure existing
- Connect systems
Live in week 5Confidence: High
The value, worked through
- 60 h80 h95 h a month × 12 × $42
- $30K$40K$48K
- Annual value
- $30K$40K$48K
Assumptions
- 1,900 status and lead-time contacts a month, from RingCentral logs and an inbox sample.
- 7 minutes average handle time, including lookups.
- 25–40% of contacts avoided by updates sent first; remaining calls 1–2 minutes shorter.
- Notice review and supplier date checks take about 10% of the time saved.
Data it needs
- Prophet 21 orders, shipments and backorders
- Supplier PO due dates
- LTL carrier tracking
- RingCentral call logs
Risks to manage
- Two LTL carriers have no tracking API
- Wrong revised dates if supplier POs aren’t updated
- Too many emails for daily-delivery accounts
How we’ll measure it
- Status calls per week
- Repeat contact within 7 days
- Backorders notified before the customer asks
- Hold time at peak
O4Substitution suggestions for short-stock linesOrder desk · Suggest an approved substitute when an ordered item is short, with the customer’s history and price.Value / yr$9.1K$13K$17KHours / mo18 h26 h34 hEffortMediumValidate
Why validate first. Approved substitutes aren’t written down anywhere. Suggestions are only as good as the rules behind them.
To validate: Purchasing and the order desk define substitutes for the top 200 short-stock items and test them against last quarter’s 780 substitutions.
Today
About 260 lines a month need a substitute. The order desk picks one from memory or asks purchasing, then calls the customer; each takes about 20 minutes and 2–24 hours to settle.
Proposed
An approved-substitute table by item family, used during PO intake (O1) to suggest a substitute and draft the approval request to the customer.
Where people stay in control
The customer approves every substitute. Purchasing signs off size, food-contact and compostability equivalence.
Approach
- Process change
- Custom build
4 weeks after rulesConfidence: Medium
The value, worked through
- 18 h26 h34 h a month × 12 × $42
- $9.1K$13K$17K
- Annual value
- $9.1K$13K$17K
Assumptions
- 260 short-stock lines a month at about 20 minutes each.
- 20–40% of that time saved once rules exist.
Data it needs
- Substitution history from Prophet 21 order notes
- Item families and specs
- Customer approval history
Risks to manage
- Substitutes that look equal but fail a customer’s spec
How we’ll measure it
- Minutes per substitution
- Substitutes accepted first time
- Orders shipped complete
O5Credit check before order entryCustomer service · Check credit status when a PO arrives, not after it’s keyed, and tell the customer the same day.Value / yr$5K$7.1K$9.1KHours / mo10 h14 h18 hEffortLowValidate
Why validate first. AR and the order desk apply the hold rules differently. Automating the check before the rules are agreed would automate the inconsistency.
To validate: The credit manager and inside sales manager agree hold, release and override rules, including who can approve a release.
Today
About 95 orders a month go on credit hold during entry. The order desk emails AR, waits 4–24 hours, then calls the customer; most deliveries slip a day.
Proposed
Use Prophet 21 credit status at intake to flag holds before entry, route them to AR with the account summary, and send the customer a payment-status note from an approved template.
Where people stay in control
AR decides every release. Account managers call strategic accounts themselves.
Approach
- Process change
- Configure existing
2 weeks after rulesConfidence: Medium
The value, worked through
- 10 h14 h18 h a month × 12 × $42
- $5K$7.1K$9.1K
- Annual value
- $5K$7.1K$9.1K
Assumptions
- 95 holds a month at about 25 minutes of order desk and service time each.
- 25–45% of that time saved once rules are agreed.
Data it needs
- Prophet 21 credit limits and aging
- Hold and release history
Risks to manage
- Notices that strain relationships with good accounts
How we’ll measure it
- Holds found before entry
- Hours on hold
- Same-day releases
O6Move more accounts to self-service orderingCustomer service · Shift repeat orders from email and phone to Brightline Online.Value / yr$7.6K$18K$28KHours / mo15 h35 h55 hEffortMediumDefer
Why defer. Adoption is an account-management effort, and the portal isn’t worth pushing until it shows status. Revisit after O3, with outside sales leading.
Today
22% of accounts order through the portal. It shows stock but not lead times or order status, so portal customers still call.
Proposed
Add order status and lead times to the portal, then run an account-by-account adoption push with outside sales.
Where people stay in control
Account managers choose which accounts to move and keep phone ordering for those who want it.
Approach
- Process change
- Configure existing
—Confidence: Low
The value, worked through
- 15 h35 h55 h a month × 12 × $42
- $7.6K$18K$28K
- Annual value
- $7.6K$18K$28K
Assumptions
- Each 10 points of portal share removes about 200 emailed or phoned orders a month.
Data it needs
- Portal usage by account
- Order channel by account
Risks to manage
- Customers who prefer to call
- Portal vendor roadmap
How we’ll measure it
- Share of orders through the portal
O7Supplier acknowledgment and lead-time feedPurchasing · Receive order acknowledgments and ship notices from suppliers by EDI, so lead times are known without email.Value / yr$7.6K$13K$18KHours / mo15 h25 h35 hEffortHighDefer
Why defer. Only 3 of your top 12 suppliers can send EDI today, and Prophet 21 EDI setup needs a partner. Revisit when your two largest suppliers finish their EDI rollout next year.
Today
Inside sales emails suppliers for lead times on about 110 non-stock requests a month. Answers take 1–3 days.
Proposed
EDI acknowledgment and ship-notice feeds from major suppliers into Prophet 21 purchase orders.
Where people stay in control
Purchasing manages supplier relationships and exceptions.
Approach
- Connect systems
—Confidence: Low
The value, worked through
- 15 h25 h35 h a month × 12 × $42
- $7.6K$13K$18K
- Annual value
- $7.6K$13K$18K
Assumptions
- Value grows with supplier coverage; low until the largest suppliers can send.
Data it needs
- Supplier list and EDI capabilities
- Prophet 21 purchase orders
Risks to manage
- Partial supplier coverage
- EDI setup and mapping cost
How we’ll measure it
- Lead-time requests answered without email
O8AI voice agent on the customer service lineCustomer service · Answer inbound calls with an AI voice agent instead of a rep.Value / yr$15K$20K$25KHours / mo30 h40 h50 hEffortMediumDon’t do
Why not recommended. Calls are where reorders and add-on sales happen, and a missed delivery is urgent for a restaurant. O3 removes the calls worth removing; the rest belong with people.
Today
About 1,180 status calls a month. Most callers are kitchen managers and buyers who know the reps by name.
Proposed
A voice agent connected to Prophet 21 that answers status calls and takes simple reorders.
Where people stay in control
—
Approach
- Buy a product
—Confidence: High
The value, worked through
- 30 h40 h50 h a month × 12 × $42
- $15K$20K$25K
- Annual value
- $15K$20K$25K
Assumptions
- Hours shown for comparison only; overlaps with O3.
Data it needs
- RingCentral call logs
Risks to manage
- Lost reorders and goodwill
- Errors on urgent delivery problems
How we’ll measure it
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