Before you start: clarify your goal
Most companies that decide to set up a B2B system jump straight to choosing software. But the first step is to be clear about which problem the system will solve. Are orders getting lost on the phone, going through at the wrong price, or is collection risk out of control? The clearer the goal, the smoother the setup.
Before you start, answer these questions:
- Who will use it? Only dealers, or corporate customers and field reps as well?
- Which tasks will move to the portal? Orders, account statements, payments, promotions, return requests…
- How will you measure success? For example, the share of orders coming through the portal, the number of orders taken by phone or the order error rate.
Setting up a B2B system in 7 steps
1. Discovery and scope
Your current order flow, the ERP or accounting software you use, your dealer structure and your pricing rules are reviewed. By the end of this phase, what will be set up, where each piece of data will come from and what will be delivered are all put in writing.
2. Data preparation
Product records (code, description, unit, image), dealer and account lists, price lists and warehouse information are reviewed. A B2B system is only as accurate as the data that goes into it; incomplete or inconsistent product records mean dealers can't find what they're looking for.
3. Setting up price, discount and credit rules
You define which price list each dealer uses, discounts by dealer group or brand, credit limits and who approves an order when a limit is exceeded. If these rules live on paper or in Excel today, this is the first time they're gathered in one place.
4. ERP integration
You define and set up how product, stock, price and account data flows from the ERP to the portal, and how orders flow from the portal back to the ERP. Which data moves in which direction, and how often, is clarified, and the integration is tested with real scenarios before go-live.
5. Configuring the portal
The look and feel is matched to your brand identity, and order approval workflows, email or WhatsApp notifications, online payments and shipping integrations are configured.
6. Trial with pilot dealers
The system first opens to a handful of dealers. These dealers place their real orders through the portal, so search, pricing, stock and the order flow are tested in the field. Gaps are fixed based on their feedback.
7. Rollout to all dealers
Dealers receive their login details and a short how-to guide, and a contact person is assigned to answer questions during the first few weeks. The first orders are closely monitored.
How long does setup take?
Four things determine the timeline most: the scope of the ERP integration, how ready your data is, the need for custom development and the number of dealers. In most projects, what takes longest isn't the software itself but getting product and price data in order.
That's why a firm timeline should only be given after the discovery phase. A promise of “we'll set it up in two weeks” made without seeing the scope usually leaves out the data and integration work.
Common mistakes
- Starting with messy data: If the portal opens before product records are cleaned up, dealers can't find what they need and go back to the phone.
- Leaving ERP integration until last: When stock and prices are kept manually in two places, inconsistencies soon creep in.
- Opening to all dealers on the same day: Skip the pilot phase and small errors spread across your entire dealer network.
- Leaving the sales team out: If reps see the portal as a competitor, they won't steer dealers toward it. Counting portal orders toward each rep's performance breaks down this resistance.
- Shutting off phone orders overnight: A change without a transition period puts pressure on dealers.
- Not planning support: Dealers who can't get answers in the first few weeks abandon the system.
How do you get dealers used to the system?
- Explain what dealers gain: 24/7 ordering, live stock, their own prices and their balance whenever they want it.
- Place the first order together: When a sales rep creates the first portal order together with the dealer, the learning curve gets shorter.
- Run portal-only promotions: Small perks that apply only to orders placed through the portal speed up the switch.
- Redirect phone orders to the portal: Keep taking the order, but show the dealer how to place the next one through the portal.
After go-live
The work doesn't end when setup is done. Regularly track the share of orders coming through the portal, the number of active dealers, the products dealers search for most but can't find, and order errors. This data reveals both gaps in your catalog and what your dealers need, and the system is improved over time based on it.
You can read about the features a B2B system should have in our What is B2B article, and how it works with your existing ERP on our B2B & ERP integration page.
Let's set up your B2B system together
When setting up BayiData, we handle data preparation, the ERP connection and dealer onboarding together with you.