He’s making a list.
He’s checking it twice.
He’s gonna find out who’s naughty or a good fit for proposal automation software.
Imagine the actual job of being Santa:
there’s a customer relationship management component (kids on your lap, sending you snail mail, etc.);
there’s supply chain management to make all those toys;
you’ve got to be a human resources manager — rather, elf resources manager;
finally, you have to hand-deliver each and every product to a billion-plus customers in a single night.
There’s no way Santa is hitting his KPIs without a serious technology stack in his Santa sack.
Same goes for the competitive B2B sales team: there’s no way to hit your numbers without using the proper business tech to its fullest.
Today, that means means proposal automation software, the “Nice List” way to build, send, and track sales quotes. But some people still end up on the “Naughty List.”
Let’s break down the ways people build, send, and track quotes — both naughty and nice.
Building a sales quote:
Naughty or nice?
Where do you start? With a template? Great: you’re halfway to the Nice List, because you’re saving time.
But if your template is stored locally (on your own drive or machine), you’re going to be on the Naughty List because being part of a team means collaborating, sharing insights, information, and best practices — and having effective proposal templates available to all reps.
And when was that template designed? By whom? Did you use a professional designer to build your quote template, or are you copy/pasting the same Word doc you’ve used for years?
With proposal automation software storing all templates in a central repository, every rep has access to the most effective proposals. Additionally, your software can include preconfigured, professionally designed templates, which will result in a cleaner look to every quote you send.
Sending a sales quote:
Naughty or nice?
Most sales proposals are sent via email… which beats faxing them, but not by enough to keep plain old “emailing quotes” off the Naughty List.
Why? Because what happens if the email account used to send a quote gets hacked, or if the person who emailed the quote leaves the company? Who’s tracking that sent quote now?
Using proposal automation software to send your quotes is the Nice List way. Should a rep leave your company with “quotes in the air,” the system enables a sales manager to easily pick up where that rep left off, and seamlessly transition any quotes in any queue to another rep.
Tracking a sales quote:
Naughty or nice?
How do you track your quotes? Are you a responsible sales manager who has every sent quote logged into a spreadsheet and regularly checks with your team for updates? We’ve got news for you: you’re on the Naughty List.
Tracking quotes is far easier using sales proposal automation software. Rather than viewing where each quote is, you’re able to see where all quotes are, and thereby easily identify bottlenecks in each rep’s pipeline, and spot opportunities to optimize the overall process.
Additionally, your quoting solution can provide detailed reporting data that helps you in tracking overall sales in addition to quotes in circulation. Best of all, this means of tracking and reporting qualifies you for the Nice List.
