Good customer service is all about the experience. If a customer can access your products conveniently and easily, you’ll likely win repeat business.
For the wine and liquor industry, that means finding ways to get products to customers the way they want to receive them. Whether it’s curbside pickup, front-door delivery, or cashier-free checkout, remaining competitive means embracing the future.
But how do you shift your business model to one that serves customers? Automation can be a big help. Here are some tips to get you started.
Know the Regulations
Unlike other industries, wine and liquor sellers have to navigate the challenging world of government regulations. Before you make any major changes to the ways you serve your customer base, check with your local beverage commission to make sure the changes are allowed. You may not be able to provide curbside pickup or delivery in your area, for instance. And cashier-free checkout may not be an option due to the requirement that you physically see an ID for alcoholic beverage purchases.
Start Small
The best first step you can take toward automation is to let technology take over those mundane daily tasks that take up so much time. Instead of spending hours reconciling your books or processing payroll, robotic process automation (RPA) can manage those tasks for you. You’ll free your team up to focus on other areas of building and growing your business. Morale will improve as employees no longer have to spend their days on time-intensive, unsatisfying processes.
Speed Things Up
The next place to look is your accounts payable processes. For stores, this means setting up your Point of Sale so that each transaction is handled quickly, cutting down on lines and keeping traffic moving. But for wineries and distributors, this means making sure invoices are sent and marked paid quickly. RPA will ensure you have a solid contact database and that everything is accurately marked to avoid double billing.
Standardizing Processes
When you’re in a tightly-regulated industry like wine and liquor, it’s important to have accountability for everything you do. RPA can help you standardize your daily processes so that you can easily explain to a regulator or auditor how things work. In addition to setting up systems so that they’re automated, RPA can also help you track activities so that you can easily identify any issues. When processes are standardized, you also reduce the risk of errors, which helps you protect your business while also avoiding a bad customer service experience.
Prepare for the Shift
Whatever the future brings, it’s all about data. If you have a solid database, when you do move your operations to a more automated plane, you’ll have the foundation already in place. RPA can also help you collect information on customers and vendors, as well as track the transactions coming across your server.
Centreviews creates customized automation solutions for businesses across a wide range of customer-facing industries, including wine and liquor. To schedule a demo to see how Centreviews can help your business, contact Centreviews today.
