Tired of sales representatives making promises to customers that end up raising your logistics costs? A British logistics consulting firm is offering in-house seminars that are designed to make salespeople more aware of the financial impact of their promises to customers. The firm Davies & Robson says that its new, two-day course is designed to help companies improve their bottom line by teaching sales staff how to avoid adding cost and complexity to the supply chain.

"A problem for many companies is that, in recent years, they have tried to use fast delivery times and no minimum order size to try and gain a competitive advantage," said Brian Templar, chairman of Davies and Robson. "In too many cases, this has increased distribution costs without either increased sales or increased margins."

The course offers tips on what actions the sales force can take to keep customers happy without increasing distribution costs. "In the face of falling sales and increased price competition, companies are now having to consider how they can reduce supply chain costs," said Templar. "Sales people have an important role to play in changing the delivery requirement so as to have a minimum impact on the customer but to the considerable benefit of the supplier."