How Sales Quote Software Helps Small Businesses Compete
By Danny Wong
Small business sales leaders must find ways to sell like the big players in the industry if they hope to achieve long-term growth, and sales technology is a key component of that goal. Sales quote software often gets overlooked in favor of other sales technology solutions, but this platform helps you develop client relationships and streamline the mechanics of your quoting process. According to a report published by Accenture, 83% of sales professionals are now using a configure, price, quote (CPQ) solution for their operations, and no company can afford to fall behind the pack.
Use templates to deliver faster quotes.
Speed is often the determining factor in a sales situation. This is especially true if a prospect is waiting for quotes for a similar order from two or more potential vendors and the prospect is not price sensitive. They may choose to go with the first company that gets them a quote within their budget and meets the full scope of their needs.
Sales quote software puts you on the fast track to be the company that gets quotes to your client first in every sales situation. The best sales quote solutions feature a variety of templates you can employ to reduce lag time in the creation process, and ultimately get your quotes into your prospects’ hands faster.
Most of these templates are designed for optimal readability so the buyer can quickly review the quote and determine their next moves. With a cursory scan they can see the impact of the goods and services your company will provide and make an assessment as to the overall value of the purchase.
Easily create customized configurations.
For many companies, the most difficult and time-consuming aspect of creating quotes is managing different configurations for each sale. Modern B2B buyers are making more complex purchases. That means salespeople have to create custom quotes for each customer and sometimes multiple customizations for the same customer.
Manually managing these personalized configurations is a logistical nightmare. More categories and options mean there’s a greater likelihood of a mistake being made. Sales reps have to spend more time filling in all of the various components of the quote. They also require a hub of organizational knowledge that must be well-maintained and constantly updated.
Sales quote software gives salespeople unprecedented control over the process of personalizing quote configurations for clients and turns those headaches into relics of the past. Innovative software programs can pull data directly from CRM and ERP platforms to ensure that you always have access to the latest product info. Adjustments to prices and amounts, automatic discounts, and a variety of special situations are all easy to manage thanks to customization tools built directly into the platform. With your sales quote solution, you not only have access to everything you need to quickly build customized quotes, but you are also free to deliver a more personalized level of service to your clients.
Present accurate quotes and limit bottlenecks.
Inaccuracies in quotes are frequently the bane of a salesperson’s existence. What seemed like a sure deal that was ready to be closed can get put on hold just because of a seemingly minor issue. From the client’s perspective, however, there are no minor issues; they expect all of the details to be monitored in exchange for their interest.
One of the biggest advantages sales quote software offers is the ability to treat all of your quotes with the care they deserve. Since every customer you serve represents an important relationship for the organization, every quote you present is a vital part of nurturing and developing these relationships.
The ability to create accurate quotes the first time is crucial for two reasons. First, when quotes get sent back due to inaccuracies, it can cause crushing bottlenecks in the sales unit. Reps have likely planned that, once the quote goes out, they can spend time on other functions, such as prospecting or building quotes for other clients. Having to redo intricate work can lead to delays with other customers that ripple throughout the organization.
Additionally, when your prospects receive a correct quote from the outset, it signals to them that you value the relationship and have done your due diligence to make sure everything is right for both parties. Typos and mistakes in quotes may not always be deal killers, but demonstrating attention to detail from the get-go is a time-tested way to build value-added relationships.
Automate processes and drive more value.
Automation is one of the core functions of the best quoting software. The principle behind sales quote automation — as it is with any type of sales function automation — is that there are certain things that can be executed more efficiently by a system, and there are some tasks that only a human salesperson can effectively accomplish. Therefore, it’s important that you employ a software solution for the jobs that can be automated, and free your salespeople to spend more time on everything else.
Time that sales reps have to spend doing monotonous tasks, like entering contract execution parameters or manually building pricing packages, is time they can’t spend doing things a software program can’t handle, such as learning more about their customers, enhancing their product education, or creating presentations that clearly and specifically link the product to the buyer’s pain points. In this way, automation through sales quote software doubles your value by allowing you to complete automated tasks more efficiently, as well as giving you the gift of extra time for other important matters.
Eliminate guesswork within contract negotiations.
These software solutions have revolutionized the quote creation process. Their benefits extend beyond the presentation of the quote itself: Any worthwhile quoting software for small business sales units will take you all the way through the contract execution phase, all the while making the process easier and more intuitive.
When it comes time to create and execute contracts, the quoting software will automatically populate important fields with the most up-to-date data available from all of the connected systems. When documents are ready to be signed and sent up the chain for approvals, the software takes care of documenting signatures internally and sending the contract to the appropriate parties as soon as it is ready.
Few situations are more painful for a sales department than nurturing a lead all the way to the contract negotiation phase only to lose them because of an oversight or a mistake. This is why you need the best technological tools available to reduce the chance of an error and to shorten the timeline.
Maximize deal size and cultivate repeat buyers.
Ultimately, all of the benefits provided by sales quote software help you get the most out of every deal and build strong relationships with buyers that turn into long-term revenue streams. When you use quoting software, you’ll be able to get your prospects the details they need accurately and quickly and keep the tangible value of the transaction at the forefront of the discussions. There are so many different elements that go into the quote process; trying to juggle them all manually leaves a lot of room for error.
Sales quote software is also becoming a mainstay in the B2B ecommerce world as companies look for tools to help them with dynamic product pricing. Gartner now estimates that 40% of B2B ecommerce businesses employ some type of configure, price, quote software solution, and the need for these tools will only grow as more customers navigate the quote process digitally. Even if your company is not currently engaged in B2B ecommerce, you likely will be in the near future, and learning to incorporate valuable tools such as sales quote solutions will help put you at the forefront of your industry.
