Best Practices

Implementing best practices throughout your business ensures price execution consistency and minimizes price leaks. Here are a few examples of high level best practices for consideration:

Freight
Correctly invoicing and collecting freight is one of the most common and overlooked price leaks. Contributing factors include, unclear or under communicated freight policies, incorrect interpretation of procedures and finally, gaps or discrepancies in manual processes. A successful freight strategy includes clear and communicated policies and procedures as well as freight recovery goals and metrics to measure and track performance.

Returns
Product returns are a common contributor to price leaks. Although a significant portion of returns are typically due to product quality concerns, product returns also result from customer error. It is important to create a clear and consistent process for how to categorize and validate all product returns and to effectively manage customer returns resulting from customer error. This process typically consists of a clear return policy, fees associated with customer error returns and regular review and assessment of the impact to the business.

Rebates
Customer rebates also result in price leaks. Rebate agreements are typically complex and customized to each customer. The degree of customization often requires significant interpretation and room for negotiation in measurement and calculation of payments. There are a handful of best practices that can aid the design and execution of customer rebate agreements.