A leading software provider joined forces with Oxford Brookes Business School to set out how SME supply chain firms can use their customer data for growth.
ProspectSoft, whose customers include wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers, worked with researchers at the business school as part of a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) to uncover the growth challenges facing firms in the sector – and how they can be overcome. It was supported by a grant from Innovate UK.
Their findings have informed ProspectSoft’s Growth Engine, a business intelligence dashboard that highlights opportunities to not only win new customers but retain existing ones and grow their accounts.
Explaining more, Andrew Ardron, founder of ProspectSoft, said:
“The research confirmed what we suspected – that small-scale supply chain businesses are really good at what they do but they don’t have the in-house expertise in data analysis which is critical to effective decision making in today’s world.
“Many focus on expensive sales and marketing tactics to win new customers, when already-available data from their CRM (customer relationship management) could highlight opportunities to improve the profitability and lifetime value of their existing ones.
“Our new dashboard presents this data so decision-makers understand and act on it, without needing extensive data analysis skills and knowledge. It has been driven by robust real-world evidence about how the software is used now, and the wider challenges firms face.”
The research team from Oxford Brookes Business School, part of Oxford Brookes University, comprised Methuselah Singh (KTP Associate), Paul Jackson (Principal Lecturer in Information Systems, Analytics and Operations), Diana Limburg (MBA Director), Ahmad Abd Rabuh (Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics).
They formed a knowledge base, with expertise spanning AI, machine learning, information systems, data analytics, marketing and business analytics. Their findings were based on in-depth interviews with decision-makers in the supply chain sector, and data from ProspectSoft including CRM use, as well as surveys and third-party academic papers.
Mr Singh said:
“SMEs have limited resources, and employees usually have to wear different hats. Senior managers, including founders and MDs, regularly lose valuable time on routine tasks which diverts them away from growth strategies.
“We concluded that decision-makers need support to transition to data-driven strategic thinking. Data from users in supply chain businesses suggests they aren’t fully using all the features of their software – usually because staff aren’t aware of them, they lack IT skills and confidence, or they leave and take the knowledge with them. Solving this would smooth the transition.”
He added that software ‘super users’ are key to sharing new features, training staff and helping businesses make the best use of the data.
Oxford-based ProspectSoft is a CRM provider. It has been part of The Access Group since an acquisition in 2022 – which has given its customers access to the group’s wider range of supply chain and business software.
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