How quote software helps you close more business more rapidly
Sales quotes shouldn’t be tricky: a sales person has connected with a decision maker, a business need has been identified, and your software/products/services/people have been deemed a possible fit for meeting this need. This is the moment when someone on either side of this conversation typically says, “Now, about price…”
Stop. Right. There. A sales quote is never something that simply communicates price. An effective sales proposal communicates value.
Whether you’re selling software or seashells, a quote ensures the prospect feels they’re not making a spend, but an investment. The quote makes the case—clearly and confidently—that this is not the end of the sales process, but is in fact the start of the business partnership.
It’s also a lot of work. At this point, you’re customizing your pitch at the most granular levels, drafting SOWs, checking, double-checking, triple-checking quote details, sending, replying, checking-in (over and over and over again), and spending the better part of each day just keeping the ball rolling.
But the fact is, at this most critical juncture in the sales process, quote software can do the heavy lifting for you. And it doesn’t mean sacrificing that personal touch that is so often fundamental in transforming a one-time prospect into a life-long partner.
Let’s break out the three key benefits of using quote software: time, consistency, ROI.
Saving time using quote software
In most cases, it takes your average salesperson a minimum of a couple of hours just to build a quote, let alone send it, track it, etc. And if your sales team is drafting, proofing, sending, and tracking their quotes themselves, they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing—selling. The right quote software ensures your sales team spends less time in Outlook and Word (or Facebook and Instagram), and more time selling.
More consistency means more business
The first quote and SOW you send a business is rarely the last. Which means it’s critical every consecutive proposal—no matter who sends it—mirrors and builds upon what was effective in earlier proposals. The beauty of the automation equation is that while it lets your sales team spend more time selling, quoting software also ensures both more consistent proposals and processes.
And consistency is not just about presenting a more unified front to clients. Being consistent across all proposals means you can more easily track quotes and the overall sales process, and thereby better measure individual performance—i.e., as everyone’s using the same software and systems, success can be more easily attributed to individual effort.
Getting ROI from your quote software
A no brainer: time = money. Which is one reason why iQuoteXpress developed an online calculator that can show you—based on your business metrics: your team size, how many proposals you send, and more—how quickly and completely sales quote software delivers ROI. Try it here ›
And while the calculator bases its estimates primarily on time saved, the real ROI comes from the how that time can then be used: calling more customers, doing more demos, driving more business.
“You can’t beat the person who never gives up.”
Babe Ruth once said, “You can’t beat the person who never gives up.” We go that one further: when a sales quote software is part of your selling process—a system that automates and optimizes every proposal sent, pinging the rep and the customer as needed to keep the quote moving forward—you have a system that never gives up.
Put a company doing quotes manually in the ring against a company that has automated with quoting software, and the latter will pull ahead every time (because software and the systems it powers—as anyone who has seen The Terminator can tell you—never gives up).
