This guide focuses on existing trade accounts. Invoice collection and outbound prospecting have different workflows. Defining that boundary helps you evaluate software against the work your team actually needs to do.
Write one sales scenario before comparing vendors
Consider a fictional professional care distributor. Its ERP contains order history, its representatives manage important relationships and its buyers can access a catalog. Smaller accounts mostly receive general product announcements.
The distributor wants to identify likely replenishment needs and offer an editable selection. That scenario is specific enough to test. Define eligible accounts, required data, the person responsible for exceptions and the commercial outcome before requesting demonstrations.
Ask each vendor to show the same process. Otherwise, a broad order management platform and a narrow messaging tool may appear comparable even though their responsibilities differ substantially.
Ask why each account receives a recommendation
A fixed number of days since the last order is a simple rule, but it can mix seasonal buyers with frequent replenishment accounts. Ask how the software handles each purchasing pattern and what it does when history is insufficient.
Look for an explanation your salesperson can understand. A signal such as “this account is approaching its usual reorder interval” is different from claiming that the buyer is out of stock. Without shared inventory data, the latter is an assumption.
Include an account that should be excluded from the workflow. For example, a customer with an unresolved delivery issue may need service recovery before another sales message.
Inspect what happens after the buyer clicks
The buying journey matters as much as the message. Does the link open a general storefront, a relevant selection or a proposed basket? Can the buyer change quantities and see the applicable account terms?
Then follow the submitted order into the operational process. Establish which system receives it, who checks exceptions and how the buyer receives confirmation. A sales workflow is incomplete if it creates a manual handoff nobody owns.
Use a practical demonstration scorecard
| Situation | Question | Evidence to request |
|---|---|---|
| Likely reorder | Why contact this account now? | Purchase history and a readable explanation |
| Open service issue | Should outreach continue? | Exclusion or a suitable escalation |
| Recent new order | What stops the reminder? | Updated data and coordinated activity |
| Buyer requests advice | Who takes over? | Named ownership and conversation context |
| Buyer opens the link | Is the offer usable? | Relevant products, terms and editable quantities |
The scorecard is a selection tool. It is not a claim that every vendor supports every case out of the box.
Apply the scorecard to RAKOR
| Public offer | What to see in the demonstration | What your project must define |
|---|---|---|
| Reorder opportunities, product and quantity suggestions | One account, its signal and selection | Available data and commercial rules |
| Personalized email and WhatsApp, with complex opportunities passed to sales | A message, a reply and human ownership | Channel choice, review steps and responsibilities |
| Your brand’s own account-specific B2B portal | Account prices, editable basket and order submission | Order processing, payment and any existing-portal coexistence |
| Signals, actions and results in a command center | Account timeline and related measures | Event updates and attribution rules |
RAKOR’s buying proposition is therefore identifiable: activate an existing network and give it a branded ordering journey. The end-to-end guide follows the same account through those steps. Do not assume a field order-taking app or a complete replacement CRM is included when those are the main requirements of your project.
Evaluate the work required to operate the system
Ask who maintains product rules, reviews recommendations and handles replies. Automation can remove repetitive preparation while still requiring supervision. Your operating plan should show that work clearly.
Compare costs on a common scope: software, integration, onboarding, messaging and ongoing administration. Check volume assumptions and responsibility for broken data feeds. The lowest headline price may describe a different project rather than a better commercial outcome.
Agree on a pilot that can support a decision
Select a manageable account segment and a period long enough to observe its normal buying cycle. Define the outcome consistently, such as confirmed orders or net paid sales. Where possible, retain a comparable group under the usual process.
Measure contribution after variable costs and the effort required from the team. Clicks and message opens help explain behavior; they do not establish that the workflow created an order.
RAKOR presents a connected journey from ERP and CRM history to reorder opportunities, personalized outreach and an account-specific portal. Evaluate it by asking how that journey would work with your actual systems, data and commercial rules. Integration scope should be agreed as part of the project.
Sources and further reading
Compare your requirements with the RAKOR journey
Discuss your accounts, catalog and existing tools through this concrete use case.
Book a demonstration