“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
Remember the first time you tried to make a sale and didn’t, and how you then quit and said, “Well, I guess I’ll never sell anything again,” and went to work in a salt mine? Of course not: @@sales is about failing way more than it’s about winning.@@
That said… you have to throw your best at every sale: your best pitch, your best people, your best products, your best tech — and that last part means using the best quoting software you can get your hands on.
And while every salesperson knows that just getting to the stage where you’re sending a proposal to a prospects is in almost every way a win, it’s also in that stage where so many sales stall.
Here are a few roadblocks on the way to a sales win that can be easily overcome using a CPQ solution like iQuoteXpress.
You’re not speaking their language
Not even the best quoting software can do the talking for you. But it can templatize the talk. For example: you’re a software vendor serving multiple markets, and a prospect comes your way who works in modular housing.
Have you sold in this space before? If so, then your CPQ system has a proposal or two that has been customized, delivered, and analyzed for efficacy and impact.
If you haven’t sold in this space before, then don’t just copy/paste your last winning proposal. Instead, look at the pieces of that winning quote that can — no, MUST — be modified to meet the needs of this specific market.
Biggest mistake many reps make in sending proposals is sending the one that worked for them last time without thinking. What they really need to do is ensure the quote works for the customer — that it speaks their language.
You’re invisible… or you’re TOO visible
Remember that time before you went to work in the salt mine when you sent that proposal and the prospect didn’t sign it because you thought your job was done after you pressed “send?”
Of course not, again. Any rep worth his/her salt knows that if you’re not following up — and following up correctly — you may rest assured that in nine-out-of-ten cases the prospect won’t sign a quote without a nudge or two.
But prospects are tricky! They need to be nurtured, and it’s a fine line between nurture and nuisance. One of the best things quoting software can do is set a cadence for how often you should touch a prospect.
You can preconfigure replies, pokes, and pings that will help move your proposal down the pike. And you can learn from every sale about proper timing for the next one.
So stay visible, but not too visible. Because while it’s important to stay on their radar, the last thing any prospect wants is you calling them every day. Over time, your sales proposal automation system’s business analytics will help you better understand cadence, and what’s the right pace to move someone from prospect to customer.
If you'd like to learn more about this topic or see IQX for yourself with a free demo, contact us.
