The Company

SIG is the leading UK distributor of installation, interior, exterior and construction materials. With approximately 200 locations catering to both B2B and B2C clientele, a substantial network of suppliers and thousands of customers, SIG maintains a significant presence in the market.  

Paul Needham serves as the UK Director of Information Systems and Data and has been in the construction industry for over 25 years. In his capacity, he focuses on comprehending the wealth of data available and strategizing its use to enhance productivity, efficiency, and most importantly, profitability.

Supplier and Customer Rebates

SIG manages both supplier and customer rebates, facilitating both payout and collection processes. Supplier rebates are a longstanding practice in the construction materials industry, serving various purposes such as fostering volume and relationships among suppliers and customers. They can also be employed to strategically boost the introduction of new products to market or increase market share for commodity products.

Needham tells us, “At SIG, we leverage a diverse range of rebate options, collaboratively utilizing them to maximize benefits for both our customers and SIG. These can include complex volume-based incentives as well as straightforward percentage-based rebates.”

Mutually Beneficial Rebate Programs

Needham explains, “Rebates can serve as a means of enhancing retention but at SIG, our focus often lies in partnering with our customers and suppliers, leveraging our extensive network of branches across the country, whether in distribution or merchanting.  

Rebate agreements play a crucial role in facilitating ongoing dialogue and collaboration with SIG’s suppliers. The agreements provide a framework through which SIG can continually assess and adjust arrangements to ensure they remain mutually advantageous. This enables SIG to foster strong, sustainable relationships with suppliers while also delivering value to customers.  

Needham says, “At SIG, it's imperative that we establish robust partnerships with the right suppliers. Collaboratively, we work out arrangements that ensure mutual benefit. It's not about extracting as much as possible from a supplier while leaving them struggling. Rather, it's about fostering a win-win situation where both parties thrive.”

The Challenge

Internal Silos

Within SIG, there are a number of autonomous operating divisions with their own manual or legacy rebate systems.  

Needham says, “Previously, there were silos within our organization, with each division operating independently and often using different methods to manage rebate agreements.  

He continues, “Our initial focus was on consolidating these disparate systems and standardizing formats. We wanted to use Enable to centralize agreements, ensure visibility of workflows, and establish clear accountability for deal approvals.”  

Improved Accountability  

Needham explains, “As various functions within SIG were independently creating customer rebate agreements there was an opportunity, by using Enable, to improve communication and visibility across the group. The old process relied heavily on email exchanges to communicate exceptions and seek approvals hindering comprehensive tracking and management of customer rebates.”

Lengthy Accrual Process

The manual nature of amendments and exceptions increased the complexity of the accrual model and the growing reliance on key people highlighted the need for change. The volume of changes also made it problematic to analyze performance effectively.  

Needham tells us, “From my perspective, ensuring the profitability of our customers was paramount. We needed accurate data to assess the end-to-end profitability of our suppliers, customers, and branches. Inaccurate rebate data could misrepresent profitability, either inflating or deflating perceived performance. Therefore, our focus on rebate accuracy was not just about financial integrity; it was about making informed decisions that ultimately benefited all stakeholders involved.”

The Software

Expanding Our Use

For over six years, SIG’s partnership with Enable has primarily centered on control and governance. Though SIG started off managing supplier rebates with Enable, they quickly realized that they needed the same governance and control for their customer rebates. Plus, they wanted a robust system to calculate customer accruals and earnings quickly.  

Needham explains, “Drawing from our experiences with managing supplier rebates, we recognized the potential to extend similar practices to customer rebate management. About three years later, we successfully implemented these practices for customer rebates as well, incorporating them into the finance teams' processes for generating rebate earnings. What initially began as a response to supplier needs evolved into a comprehensive rebate management solution catering to both supplier and customer rebate management.”

Robust Governance Practices

Needham explains, “At SIG, our primary focus was on transparency, governance & efficiency across all rebate administration stakeholders, and through our efforts in these areas, we've seen notable improvements in accuracy and understanding of how our rebate agreements shape profitability. The implementation of robust governance practices has resulted in fewer discrepancies and queries over time, indicating that we are firmly in control of our relationships with both suppliers and customers.”

Single Source of Truth

Enable serves as SIG’s single source of truth, providing much-needed governance and accountability from both supplier and customer perspectives. The initiative to implement Enable across the organization, involving not just finance personnel but also category management, commercial analysts, and customer account managers, has been instrumental in driving consistency for SIG.

Needham says, “Now, everyone involved in rebate agreements is directed to Enable, ensuring that all agreements are centralized. The rare mistake still occurs but these issues are more visible, quickly identifying training opportunities and allowing us to iteratively improve. With one unified system, the process of identifying and rectifying queries has become more efficient over time. Enable has addressed this challenge by consolidating all rebate-related information into a single platform, eliminating the need for multiple disparate systems.”  

Comprehensive Agreement Records

Enable has effectively addressed the need for governance by providing a comprehensive record of oversight, signoffs, and audit trails of their agreements. The platform ensures transparency regarding who did what, who signed off on certain agreements and who had visibility into various aspects of the process. Their goal is to achieve consistency and efficiency across both customer and supplier domains, enhancing SIG’s overall operational effectiveness.

Needham tells us, “Implementing a rebate management platform within SIG enabled us to maintain consistency across the entire organization for our supplier agreements. This uniform approach provided us with comprehensive visibility and control over deals across the board.”

Ensuring Accountability

Over the past six years, there's been a significant shift in accountability within Needham’s team. Previously, the responsibility for producing rebate numbers rested with analysts, but now it has been rightfully moved to the owners of the rebate agreements. This means category managers and customer relationship owners are now directly accountable for the accuracy of the deals they configure.  

He says, “Thanks to Enable, they now have full visibility of these deals over time, not just at the point of realization when money needs to be claimed or paid out. This shift has been crucial in ensuring accountability lies in the right hands and has significantly improved our rebate processes.”

Informed Decision-making

As part of Needham’s role, he needed to focus on ensuring rebate accuracy and improving the analysis provided to various departments across the business. This entails delving into the details and utilizing the Enable platform to obtain granular-level information for everyone’s reporting needs.  

He tells us, “By enhancing the accuracy of our analysis, we can make better-informed decisions for the business. Having the capability to see the data lineage allows us to address any discrepancies and ensure that corrected numbers flow through our systems accurately. This approach not only enhances trust but also contributes to overall accuracy, which is vital for my role in supporting informed decision-making across the organization.”

Crucial Time Saved

Needham says, “The main ROI for SIG has been in the form of time savings. By streamlining rebate administration processes, enhancing analysis capabilities, and eliminating legacy systems, we've significantly reduced the time and effort required for rebate management tasks. This has not only freed up resources but also enhanced efficiency across various departments, including IT application development.”

Collaborator

Needham says, “From a collaboration perspective, customers derive significant benefits from Enable. They appreciate the ability to access real-time information about their expected earnings, tier placements and other relevant details. Previously, we manually produced such information upon request, but now it's readily available to customers on demand. As we continue to refine our processes, we're gradually expanding access to more customers, allowing them to access the information they need conveniently. This demonstrates our commitment to fostering collaboration and partnership with our customers, enhancing transparency and efficiency in our business dealings.”

Inventory Rebate Accounting

The decision to pursue inventory rebate accounting for SIG stemmed from a desire for consistency across the accounting process. While SIG could, using Enable, accurately calculate earnings from suppliers and distribute payments to their branches for items sold, there remained the manual calculations for rebates held in stock at these branches.  

Needham says, “Collaborating with Enable to develop the Inventory Rebate Accounting functionality has been instrumental in closing this gap, enabling us to establish a nearly complete auditable process around supplier rebates. This enhancement not only enhances our financial transparency but also ensures that we maximize the value of our rebate agreements with suppliers.”

Entering into a Collaborative Partnership

Needham explains, “The project team at Enable actively engaged with us and your customer service has been exceptional, incorporating our ideas into your system design and helping us address our specific challenges. It truly felt like a partnership that drove the project's success. This collaborative and proactive approach fosters a strong partnership dynamic, which I highly value and would recommend to others. Overall, your ethos of collaborative partnership greatly enhances the customer experience and sets you apart in your field.”

Enable’s Product is Continually Evolving

Needham says, “I was impressed by your team's extensive expertise in the realm of rebates and their continuous pursuit of product enhancement. Your commitment to improving your offerings and exploring new avenues is evident. Your system is highly effective in performing calculations accurately and it’s rich in features, your ongoing efforts to enhance it further are welcomed.”