Tech Talk & IT Stand Up: Recent Episodes
The B2B e-commerce talk
Michael Vax, the Founder of CommercelsDigital, has made an extensive career in e-commerce and IT landscapes as he has also worked for companies such as Spryker and SAP hybris.
In this key moment of episode 24, Michael talks with Arno about IT projects and especially about e-commerce implementations in the B2B scene. Michael emphasizes the diversity in implementations across different industries and businesses, highlighting the importance of recognizing and appreciating the unique needs of each entity.
Listen or watch on Youtube to discover insights on optimizing B2B success!
More information:
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
B2B E-Commerce Integrated website
Are B2B and B2C e-commerce really that different from each other?
Inspired by episode 30 with the e-commerce expert Jason Greenwood, Arno Ham and Emilie Dubau uncover these two fascinating worlds and strike a balance between similarities and differences, empowering businesses to tailor their e-commerce strategies for unrivalled success.
Through interactive insights, they discuss the depths of customer behaviours in B2C and delve into the sophistication of B2B firmographics, tiering, and data management. Specifically, how B2B companies skillfully manage complex data sets them apart from mainstream e-commerce practices.
Useful links:
Connect with Arno on LinkedIn
Connect with Emilie on LinkedIn
Watch the video summary on YouTube
Join Arno in this captivating episode with a fascinating conversation with Al Mendes, the Senior VP of IT at Martignetti Companies. As the leading distributor of wines and spirits in New England, and the sixth-largest distributor in the United States, Martignetti faces unique challenges in the highly regulated industry.
In this episode, you'll get an insider's look at the complexities involved in introducing an online channel for such a business. Al and his team encountered hurdles related to complex (B2B) pricing and product data, which required careful navigation. Discover how they successfully overcame these obstacles through seamless integration with their Dynamics ERP and the ingenious use of Sana's platform.
Throughout the episode, Arno and Al delve into key insights that you won't want to miss. Learn how to avoid order errors by taking precautionary measures and optimizing product data. Hear the thrilling account of Martignetti's remarkable launch day and the secrets behind its resounding success. Moreover, having an online portfolio has empowered Martignetti's sales team to operate more efficiently, freeing up valuable time and boosting overall sales performance.
In this key moment of episode 23, Justin King, the VP of B2B & Chief Evangelist at Salsify, talks about the importance of ERP in B2B organizations and the role of IT (ERP) departments in managing the systems for seamless experiences. Smooth and seamless experiences aren't crucial only for internal teams but also for B2B customers, especially with topics like online and offline prices.
Listen or watch on Youtube to discover insights on optimizing B2B success!
More information:
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
B2B E-Commerce Integrated website
In this episode, Arno talks with Greg Lewis, the Director of IT at Arizona Fireplaces, about the company's remarkable transition from traditional sales to a digital platform. Greg's love for the state of Arizona, nurtured during his SAP consultation work, led him to join the company to lead its digital transformation.
Selling fireplaces is a complex puzzle, with countless variations and dimensions to consider for customers. By shifting from limited showroom sales to a comprehensive online presence, Arizona Fireplaces improved both internal efficiency and customer experience. Tune in now to discover how this transition saved them from missing an $11,000 sale made by a customer on a Sunday evening!
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
In this key moment of episode 21, the IT Manager Willem Pretorius, describes Montego Pet Nutrition's quest to streamline operations by integrating an ERP system. The company was challenged with outdated systems and cumbersome administration. They ultimately chose Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O, resulting in improved efficiency, real-time visibility, and reduced costs.
Listen or watch on Youtube to uncover the transformative power of ERP integration in this captivating episode!
More information:
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
B2B E-Commerce Integrated website
Join Arno in an illuminating conversation with Frank Quezada, the Managing Director of Dextra, a renowned Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner based in the Dominican Republic. Together, they embark on a journey through the vibrant e-commerce scene of Latin America, uncovering how Dextra is at the forefront of reshaping the landscape to boost profitability and productivity through ERP and e-commerce strategies.
Follow along as we explore the surging demand for e-commerce solutions in Latin America, magnified by the transformative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. We unveil the unique challenges businesses face, particularly in logistics and distribution, emphasizing the necessity of adaptability for maintaining a competitive edge.
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
Connect with Frank Quezada on LinkedIn
Tune in to gain insights into the challenges faced and the lessons learned from MNI Direct's turbulent journey.
In this key moment Jason Lu, the IT Leader at MNI Direct, explains headaches caused by unintegrated systems and the quest for a secure solution. The unsecured moments kept his IT department on edge, often finding out about issues only after customers pointed them out.
Listen to the full episode or watch the episode on Youtube to get full insights into the e-commerce learnings of Jason Lu.
More information:
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
B2B E-Commerce Integrated website
Arno and Emilie team up to unravel the mysteries behind regulations and their impact on B2B companies. In their discussion, they cover everything from privacy rules to product safety, so they definitely got all the juicy details covered. The episode deeps dive into how ERP integration can be your knight in shining armor, simplifying audits, tests, and data management.
Arno and Emilie will take you on a journey to the future, where automation swoops in to save the day. Explore transformative solutions that make complex regulations a piece of cake. Brace yourselves for cutting-edge technology that revolutionizes the way B2B companies navigate the regulatory landscape!
Useful links:
Connect with Arno on LinkedIn
Connect with Emilie on LinkedIn
Watch the video summary on YouTube
Are you an IT leader with a passion and vision for digitizing your B2B company but the rest of the organization is lacking behind? In this episode, accomplished e-commerce professional Derek Schroeder shares practical tips and strategies for driving change in B2B companies.
Besides convincing the C-level and getting the sales team to adapt to e-commerce, Derek emphasizes the importance of proper product data management and reliable support. Why do these matter? Because they are crucial for making e-commerce a success within B2B organizations.
Make sure to listen until the end of the episode to hear Derek's answer to the question from Jason Greenwood (Episode 30).
Listen in to explore:
- How to measure success in B2B e-commerce projects
- What are the best practices for product data management
- How to overcome internal adoption issues for e-commerce
Connect with Arno Ham on LinkedIn
Connect with Derek Schroeder on LinkedIn
Watch the YouTube video summary
When choosing the right e-commerce software, seamless integration into the existing system landscape is very important. To help us better understand the time-saving benefits of integration, we are joined by Marco Stecher, who is the Head of IT at hollu Systemhygiene GmbH. Marco believes that you should not have to replicate the data and logic around complex pricing, stock, orders, and quotes into multiple systems, and there is no need to maintain that data logic across the various systems. More importantly, by making your ERP and Product Information Management systems work as one, they are ultimately less prone to error, which not only results in better relationships with your buyers but greater commercial success too. Tuning in today, you’ll learn more about hollu’s Sana webshop, how successful B2B sales teams can strike the right balance between human interaction and the digital efficiency that customers require, and the sheer volume of additional work that Marco would have to do if it weren’t for standard integration, plus so much more! You won’t want to miss this insightful conversation.
Key Points From This Episode:
• A look at Marco’s background and the services and products that hollu provides.
• Insight into hollu’s IT ecosystem and the structure of their IT team.
• Who hollu’s typical customers are, from hotels to hospitals.
• What makes hollu’s B2B e-commerce landscape so complex.
• Bringing the personalised experience of in-person sales to the digital space.
• The relationship between hollu’s Product Information Management and ERP systems.
• Marco emphasises some of the time-saving benefits of integration.
• Accurate stock levels, instant pricing adjustments, and more!
• Alex shares his favourite features of the hollu B2B e-commerce store.
• Additional work that Marco would have to do without standard integration.
• How integration made the speedy implementation of the hollu webshop possible.
The focus of today’s episode is brand image, and we’re going to be looking at it from the perspective of IT leaders and marketing managers. When IT and marketing teams combine their different skill sets, magic can happen in the B2B webstore space! From questions about the importance of how your website looks, to whether to make your webstore open or closed, to integrating corporate websites and B2B webstores, Arno has all the answers. Tune in today for his thoughts on all things brand-image related, and some real world examples of what can happen when you put these ideas into practice!
Key Points From This Episode:
- Brand image; the focus of today’s episode.
- Exploring whether you should make your ecommerce webstore open or closed.
- The benefits of having a partially open webstore rather than a completely closed one.
- Why focusing on the look and feel of your webstore is very important.
- Factors that you need to take into consideration when designing a webstore.
- The purpose of having a blog on your ecommerce webstore.
- Some of the main advantages of a webstore.
- How IT leaders can empower the marketing managers in their companies.
- The importance of making your webstore user friendly for people who don’t have a lot of technical expertise.
- Arno’s thoughts on combining a marketplace presence with a self-owned webstore.
- Some of the main differences between B2B webstores and marketplaces.
- How IT leaders can contribute to a marketplace presence.
- Arno shares his thoughts on integrating corporate websites and B2B webstores.
- Examples of how to improve customer experience on your webstore.
Special episode! In this special edition of B2B E-Commerce Integrated, Arno hosts a solo session on the latest research that can be found in the second chapter of "IT Leaders Outlook on B2B E-Commerce Report '22/23." This recently released report dives into the additional complexity B2B e-commerce can add to IT's role and what impact that has on the business. The second report, titled "The Wave of Business Impact IT Faces in B2B E-Commerce" is out now. Get your copy here!
67% of you are having a harmed relationship with the business. What has caused this friction? A bad B2B e-commerce solution. Do you want to know how a bad e-commerce solution had negative impact on 1.000 IT leaders? Go to sana-commerce.com and check out our latest report , the wave of impact IT faces in B2B e-commerce.
Get here your free copy.
Jort Kollerie from Orange Cyberdefense joins Arno to talk all things security. As the manager of security architecture and services for a firm that helps companies identify and respond to threats online, Jort has relevant advice for B2B organizations looking to protect their data. He talks about the most prominent threats businesses face today such as ransomware, IoT/OT attacks and supply chain attacks. He discusses protections and solutions IT Leaders can employ to face these challenges in 2023 and beyond.
67% of you are having a harmed relationship with the business. What has caused this friction? A bad B2B e-commerce solution. Do you want to know how a bad e-commerce solution had negative impact on 1.000 IT leaders? Go to sana-commerce.com and check out our latest report , the wave of impact IT faces in B2B e-commerce.
Get here your free copy.
Every IT Leader knows that order errors aren't just a commercial problem, they are a technical problem too. A quarter of all tickets B2B IT Leaders receive are due to order errors. What if you could eliminate 25% of your ticket volume by choosing an e-commerce software that natively integrates into your existing tech stack? Arno and Emilie discuss with IT Leaders how correct, synchronized data is at the heart of perfect order fulfillment and happy customers. Listen to the latest edition of the B2B E-Commerce Tech Talk to get real fixes to one of your business' most urgent hurdles.
Get answers to your burning questions like:
- How much time should an IT Leader devote to fixing order issues for the commercial team?
- How can synchronized data prevent order errors and returns?
- How much budget can integration save the IT department?
Arno has an interesting conversation with Mariette Doosje, a business consultant who helps clients implement e-commerce solutions for B2B. Their conversation dives into the complexity of B2B business cases. Rather than being intimidated by the scale of difficulty, she offers a perspective on how a smart integration-based strategy can solve most of these hurdles before they appear.
67% of you are having a harmed relationship with the business. What has caused this friction? A bad B2B e-commerce solution. Do you want to know how a bad e-commerce solution had negative impact on 1.000 IT leaders? Go to sana-commerce.com and check out our latest report , the wave of impact IT faces in B2B e-commerce.
Get here your free copy.
67% of you are having a harmed relationship with the business. What has caused this friction? A bad B2B e-commerce solution. Do you want to know how a bad e-commerce solution had negative impact on 1.000 IT leaders? Go to sana-commerce.com and check out our latest report , the wave of impact IT faces in B2B e-commerce.
Get here your free copy.
This week, Arno has a conversation with Sean Stapleton from Lehr Auto in Reno, Nevada. They connected over the phone to talk about how integrating their web store with their ERP lifted the burden of having to manually import product data into the B2B web store. Over 30,000 SKUs were automatically synced and given accurate detail pages via real-time updating and native integration.
67% of you are having a harmed relationship with the business. What has caused this friction? A bad B2B e-commerce solution. Do you want to know how a bad e-commerce solution had negative impact on 1.000 IT leaders? Go to sana-commerce.com and check out our latest report , the wave of impact IT faces in B2B e-commerce.
Get here your free copy.
In this episode, Arno and Emilie discuss how IT leaders can facilitate better customer experience (CX) behind the scenes. How can creating smoother processes for your customers help IT eliminate hurdles for themselves, and how can better data organization contribute to CX? This is just the tip of the iceberg that will be covered during this session of the B2B E-Commerce Tech Talk.
YouTube | LinkedIn | Twitter | Sana Commerce resources
Sander Berlinski from Valantic joins Arno to talk about how he helps businesses think strategically about e-commerce and software choices. He breaks down his formula for browsing through a large variety of choices and aligning them with business requirements. He empowers clients to understand the wealth of options and terms to find the right fit for them.
Follow the social channels of Sana Commerce to get updated on the latest B2B e-commerce news, trends and content.
YouTube | LinkedIn | Twitter
In this episode, Arno has a chat with an old friend, Jouke de Vries. Jouke eats, drinks and sleeps better e-commerce as a freelance e-commerce consultant. He talks about how he champions solutions to get internal and external adopters for a B2B web store. He lists the exact ingredients needed for a successful B2B e-commerce project that delivers.
This week, Arno talks with Richard Barrett from Moto Direct. He chats with Arno about how he was able to speed up the implementation of his web store through ERP integration. There was no time wasted on transferring over catalogs and inventory, which enabled a full web store launch in just three months.
Special Episode! Arno takes a look at the latest IT report on B2B e-commerce. He highlights the main takeaways from "The Ripple Effect of Misaligned B2B E-Commerce" and provides solutions on how to not go over-budget when choosing a B2B web store and beyond. Check out the report here: https://www.sana-commerce.com/report/ripple-effect-misaligned-b2b-e-commerce/
In this episode, Arno and Emilie discuss how IT leaders can perform commercial functions simply by choosing the right vendors for their B2B software. They dive deep into how IT can have direct impact on conversions based on how they utilize their B2B e-commerce web store. Gone are the days when IT was just a support team. Now IT can make decisions that affect the entire business model of their organization.
Arno talks with Willem Pretorius from Montego Pet Nutrition about the recent success this tech-forward team has experienced. By integrating their web store with their ERP, the IT manager was able to automate processes such as price changes to save his team time and budget. Budget that could then be put to use through smart, analytics-based marketing for greater ROI.
Mark Lenssen from flooring wholesaler Cotap explains how his organization was able to achieve remarkable revenue growth by prioritizing a smoother CX experience for their more traditional B2B clients, while leading the flooring industry into the digital era with 3D planning tools consumers can access
Your IT best practices and business standard operating procedures may change slowly, but the labor market changes fast. This edition of the Tech Talk is all about capturing legacy knowledge at businesses that are still in the midst of their digital transformation. Listen in to hear how some of the best IT leaders globally are moving away from analog processes with loose worksheets and documents, and are leveraging tools to grow their knowledge base.
In this episode, Arno sits down for a solo chat about the challenges and benefits of moving all business software to SaaS. He talks about how eliminating server liability is one of the most important undertakings an IT Leader can make, how to make choices about B2B software, and how to make the change without taking redundant steps or making errors.
In this episode, Arno talks with Alberto from Hawk research labs. Discover how integrating their e-commerce solution has helped manage B2B complexities through automation, which has allowed for this IT manager to run a one-man show. During this IT Stand Up we will explore how implementing the right solution can offer you the full package for your business. Less maintenance, more time for innovation, all wrapped up in a blanket of support.
In this episode, Ronnie Hollemans of Polvo sits down with Arno to discuss how he leverages Polvo's traditional structure to introduce smarter tech solutions that make his IT department a visionary arm of the company because it contributes so greatly to ROI and other business goals. Hollemans illustrates how IT professionals can become trailblazers by looking beyond just solving tickets.
Arno chats to Mikolaj and Jonathan from Genesis Imports about how their switch to an integrated e-commerce solution helped them focus on their priorities like security and cloud migration with a software that is easy for designers and marketers to use for their roles. Listen to this stand-up to hear how this low-maintenance solution allowed these IT professionals accomplish more... fast.
Business and commercial voices are dominant in the conversations around B2B e-commerce. I want to inspire IT leaders to share their vision of a technology-driven future that will help their organization to become more customer centric, more reliable and evolve constantly.
In this episode, Nathan Ayres from Labelmaster chats with Arno about how integrating his e-commerce solution was one his best decisions. Integration automated several manual processes without any wasted resources. Listen to the chat to find out how Nathan made his job easier.
Think you understand how disruption has changed the game? Think again. Get only the insights that matter – with a particular lens on digital disruption in B2B. We discuss what disruption in 2020 has changed for B2B businesses. What familiar challenges remain in spite of disruption, and how you can maximize your business agility.
Music by DanoSongs