We wish there were such a thing as a perfect proposal. If there were, we'd do everything in our power to make it (and then we'd gladly sell it to you). But there's no such thing. The perfect proposal to sell corn silos just isn't always the same as the perfect proposal for selling airplane fuselages.
But we can offer the next best thing to a perfect proposal: a perfect proposal manager. Such online proposal software is the next best thing to a perfect proposal because it not only allows you to create different templates appropriate for the needs of your clients and your business, it allows you to keep perfecting your template as you go along. And since there's no such thing as perfect, the best we can really hope for is to keep getting closer and closer to it.
@@When it comes to sales, perfection is not an endpoint—it's a process.@@
1: The best proposals are constantly evolving.
Another reason there's just no such thing as a perfect proposal is that no market is ever static. Think about trying to make a proposal for selling those fuselages. If you were selling a hundred years ago, you might want to show a side-by-side comparison with the zeppelin. Fifty years ago perhaps you'd want to emphasize glowing testimonials from TWA. But today, any proposal with that information would be automatically disqualifying.
That's because markets and industries change. What makes your product attractive today may not be attractive tomorrow, and so you want to use online proposal software that reflects that. The best CPQ software allows you to be responsive to changes in the market.
Whatever it is that your sales reps find makes your products attractive these days, you want to have a proposal manager that allows you to make tweaks to reflect it. That's why @@with the right online proposal software you never stop perfecting your proposal.@@
2: Increase unity among your sales team with online proposal software
Just as important as getting the best possible proposal into the hands of your prospect is getting your whole sales team on the same page. The more they act as one, the less chance for mistakes and errors to emerge when they try to work together. Getting each sales rep to use the same proposal template, especially one with centralized pricing information, helps each rep get the proposal right every time.
But you don't want to let that sales proposal get set in stone. Rather, you're looking for business technology and tools that allow for continual improvement, leaving room for everyone to contribute. Instead of handing out a proposal template to each sales rep and saying "This is how we do things," you can hand out a tool for improving the proposal.
Not only does this keep each sales rep engaged and looking for ways to improve the sales process, it means that any insight from one rep can be immediately shared and implemented across your sales force. And that means—while your sales automation solution never stops perfecting a proposal—your team never stops perfecting its process.
If you'd like to learn more about this topic or see IQX for yourself with a free demo, contact us.
