Sales & Price Management

• The Need for Adaptability and Automation in a Dynamic Sales Environment
• An Integrated ERP Approach
• Sales Expansion and Facilitation
• A Powerful Price Management Advantage
• AutoPower vs. Generic ERP Software
• Strategic Business Benefits

The Need for Adaptability and Automation in a Dynamic Sales Environment

Heavy-duty aftermarket businesses operate in one of the industry’s most demanding environments. Fleet operators expect immediate answers regarding product availability, pricing, substitutes, delivery schedules, warranties, and core requirements. At the same time, suppliers face constant pressure from rising costs, online competition, supply chain volatility, shrinking margins, and increasingly sophisticated customer purchasing practices.

Unlike many industries, HD aftermarket distributors manage thousands—or even millions—of inventory items from hundreds of manufacturers. Many products have multiple interchangeable part numbers, varying warranty terms, customer-specific discounts and core deposit requirements. Sales personnel must navigate these complexities quickly while maintaining pricing accuracy and profitability. Common sales management challenges range from tracking customer purchasing history to handling electronic transactions with suppliers and customers.

Many organizations attempt to manage these processes using disconnected software systems, spreadsheets or generic ERP applications that were never designed specifically for heavy-duty aftermarket distribution and service operations. These disconnected systems create pricing inconsistencies, duplicate data entry, inventory inaccuracies, delayed order processing and lost sales opportunities.

An Integrated ERP Approach

Rather than treating sales management as a separate software application, AutoPower integrates every sales function into a comprehensive ERP environment where information flows seamlessly throughout the organization.

When a salesperson creates an order, the system immediately accesses real-time information from every major operational area, from purchasing and inventory management to order processing and customer credit status. Just as important as streamlining this process is effective price management—to maintain a competitive position, meet contract provisions and ensure healthy margins in the face of market fluctuations and supply chain uncertainty.

Sales Expansion and Facilitation

The AutoPower system incorporates some of the most powerful sales tools found anywhere—to broaden sales opportunities; enhance customer satisfaction; and improve transaction speed, accuracy and security.

• SalesPower Mobile Sales — Enables sales representatives to process customer orders anywhere, anytime. Integrated directly into the AutoPower system in real-time using a wireless connection, it works with a tablet device wherever or whenever an internet connection is available.
• Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) — Streamlines how information flows throughout various areas in the organization to lower transaction cost and improve transaction speeds, accuracy, and productivity. It opens opportunities to supply very large companies, generate cost savings and more efficiently manage supply-chain transactions.
• AutoPower Inventory Network (AIN) — Provides access to a redundant virtual inventory from multiple other AutoPower users without incurring the associated inventory cost. It builds in supply chain resilience, part search flexibility and potential new revenues by networking with multiple, like-minded aftermarket distributors across the country.
• eBay Connect — Easily uploads inventory availability, pricing and details to eBay, enabling buyers to submit their purchases directly to the AutoPower system.
• Point-of-Sale Invoicing, Barcode Scanning & Signature Capture — Streamlines transactions to help manage inventory and allows customers to sign electronically for purchased products. The digital signatures are then stored in the AutoPower system as a permanent, legal proof of sale associated with the invoice history records.
• Credit Card Processing — Works directly with order entry and interfaces with point-of-sale (POS) counters with EMV chip and card-swipe ability. Secure PCI-compliant vaults can store customer cards for use on recurring or new business orders.
• Delivery Signature — Downloads orders assigned from the AutoPower system to delivery drivers’ mobile devices for signature proof of delivery. Signatures provided at point of delivery are then attached to the order files for historical reference and proof of parts delivery.

A Powerful Price Management Advantage

To help maximize sales efficiency, AutoPower’s Price Management Module is a fully integrated component of the AutoPower ERP system that enables heavy-duty aftermarket parts distributors, service centers, and remanufacturers to automate and optimize complex pricing decisions. It employs a logical and flexible pricing matrix to handle complex and tailored pricing scenarios for single-site and multi-site locations. The price creation process unites defined pricing rules, assigned rules for specific pricing actions and designated pricing controls to maintain and/or enhance profit margins.

Rather than relying on spreadsheets or manual price updates, the module applies configurable pricing rules across sales orders, quotes, work orders, promotions, contracts, and point-of-sale transactions. By integrating directly with inventory, sales, accounting, EDI, and the AutoPower Inventory Network (AIN), the module helps companies protect margins, respond quickly to changing costs and market conditions, and maintain consistent pricing across multiple branches.

The system enables 12 pricing strategies:

• Customer price matrix — Assigns customer-specific price levels by product line, category, or subcategory with configurable discounts or markups.
• Contract pricing — Establishes negotiated pricing for specific customers during defined contract periods.
• Quantity volume pricing — Automatically applies tiered pricing based on purchase quantity to encourage larger orders.
• Promotional pricing — Schedules temporary promotional pricing that activates and expires automatically.
• Velocity pricing — Prices inventory according to sales velocity, allowing slower-moving items to be discounted while scarce products command premium pricing.
• Gross margin protection — Enforces minimum gross margin thresholds at the company, product line, or individual part level to prevent unprofitable price overrides.
• Cost-plus pricing — Automatically calculates selling prices using predefined markup percentages over current acquisition costs.
• Market-based pricing — Adjusts prices to remain competitive with changing market conditions while preserving profitability.
• Matrix-based pricing — Applies rule-driven pricing across combinations of products, customer classes, and pricing tiers for consistent execution.
• Product price updates — Automates price revisions across selected products based on changing costs or business rules.
• Price field percentage and matrix updates — Performs mass updates to pricing fields using percentage changes or predefined pricing matrices, eliminating manual maintenance.
• Work order pricing — Applies specialized pricing rules for labor, parts, and service work orders to ensure accurate service billing and consistent profitability.

Together, these automated pricing methods provide heavy-duty aftermarket companies with the flexibility to respond to inflation, supply chain volatility, customer-specific agreements, competitive pressures, and changing inventory conditions while improving pricing accuracy, protecting margins, and maximizing profitability.

See the pricing matrix in action: request a free demonstration or call 800-229-2881.

AutoPower vs. Generic ERP Software

Strategic Business Benefits

AutoPower’s integrated sales and price management capabilities help transform the sales organization from a transaction-processing function into a strategic driver of growth and profitability. Users gain faster access to information, greater pricing consistency, improved inventory visibility and more effective customer service because every department works from the same real-time data.

Users see increased sales revenue through improved product availability, higher gross margins through intelligent pricing strategies, and fewer lost sales. Orders process faster with fewer pricing errors, and sales teams respond to customer inquiries more quickly — improving customer satisfaction and strengthening support for fleet and national account customers. Pricing stays consistent across all locations with far less manual administrative effort, while better cross-selling opportunities, improved inventory utilization, enhanced profitability analysis, and clearer executive visibility into sales performance add up to stronger competitive positioning.

Most importantly, AutoPower enables heavy-duty aftermarket companies to compete on service, speed, availability, and pricing simultaneously. Because Sales Management is fully integrated with inventory, purchasing, accounting, warehouse operations, core management, analytics, EDI, and the AutoPower Inventory Network, every sales decision is supported by accurate, real-time operational data.

Frequently Asked Questions

What sales tools are included in AutoPower’s ERP system?
AutoPower includes SalesPower mobile sales for tablets, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), the AutoPower Inventory Network (AIN), eBay Connect, point-of-sale invoicing with barcode scanning and electronic signature capture, integrated credit card processing, and delivery signature capture — all operating in real time within one ERP platform.

What pricing strategies does AutoPower’s Price Management Module support?
The module supports 12 automated strategies, including customer price matrices, contract pricing, quantity/volume pricing, promotional pricing, velocity pricing, gross margin protection, cost-plus pricing, market-based pricing, matrix-based pricing, mass product price updates, and specialized work order pricing.

How does AutoPower protect gross margins?
Gross margin protection enforces minimum margin thresholds at the company, product line, or individual part level, preventing unprofitable price overrides while still allowing configurable discounts and customer-specific pricing.

Can AutoPower handle customer-specific and contract pricing?
Yes. Customer price matrices assign customer-specific price levels by product line, category, or subcategory, and contract pricing establishes negotiated prices for specific customers during defined contract periods — applied automatically across orders, quotes, promotions, and point-of-sale transactions.

Does AutoPower support mobile and e-commerce sales?
Yes. SalesPower lets sales representatives process orders from a tablet anywhere with an internet connection, in real time. eBay Connect uploads inventory, pricing, and details to eBay, with purchases flowing directly into the AutoPower system, and EDI streamlines electronic transactions with large customers and suppliers.

Is AutoPower’s credit card processing secure?
Yes. Credit card processing works directly with order entry and point-of-sale counters with EMV chip and card-swipe capability. Secure PCI-compliant vaults can store customer cards for recurring or new orders.

Discover the complete AutoPower Solution

• Accounting
• Inventory Management
• Warehouse Management
• Sales & Price Management
• Service & Reman

CONTACT INFORMATION

AutoPower Corporation
400 Technology Park
Lake Mary, FL 32746

PH 800-229-2881

info@autopower.com