Cloud-based quoting software empowers a sales team to be selling anywhere and all the time. Better still, it empowers a sales team leader to easily access and oversee the “sales quote pipeline,” anywhere and all the time.
It’s 2022: so we shouldn’t have to explain in too much detail the benefits of using cloud-based technology, but the basics are:
scalable (add/subtract users as needed);
accessible (use cloud apps anywhere with a web connection)
predictable (one fixed monthly operating expense);
flexible (easily incorporate other apps/datasets);
and cost-effective (no more maintenance fees, no more upgrades).
This naturally applies to all cloud-based apps, but it’s especially critical for sales as sales, more than most any other part of your business, is “always on.” Especially if you’re a global enterprise with reps scattered across the world.
Pulling from the list above, central benefits for making sales quotes with a cloud solution are accessibility and flexibility.
Accessibility: Sales reps need on-demand access
Sales teams have a different motivation than other teams. More than any other department, sales is numbers-driven: quarterly revenue, % of leads into opportunities, # of quotes in the pipeline, and on and on.
As such, sales is typically a 24/7 department, ready to jump into action the moment a lead goes from warm to hot, willing to set up a demo while on PTO, able to build and send a quote in the middle of the night. Which is why a cloud-based sales proposal solution is the only option for successful sales teams.
A rep needs to be able to access quote software no matter where they are, which means your application needs a versatile mobile interface and easy-to-use drag-and-drop tools to select templates, add products and pricing, and conduct follow-up.
But it’s not just individual reps who benefit. A sales team leader also needs on-demand access to the team’s quoting solution, and dashboards that tell them–in a glance–which quotes are moving forward, which may have stalled, and which reps are involved across the board. Only a cloud-based app enables this level of oversight and administration.
Flexibility: Data needs to be shared; reps need support
In the cloud, flexibility usually means integration: can this app easily connect to that one, can data be passed between platforms and easily centralized, do connections between solutions hold or break?
For quoting software, the ability to easily, flexibly integrate with other systems–such as Dynamics, Salesforce, Zoho, and Oracle–is a core requirement. Primarily because it’s the rare case where a company starts with a cloud-based sales proposal solution and then seeks to add a larger CRM or ERP system after. It’s usually the opposite.
Ideally, integration between your back-end and quoting app is via single sign-on, making the app more of a feature of the back-end (rather than “feeling” like a 3rd party solution outside of it). We say “ideally” as most sales departments live-eat-breathe-sleep inside a CRM like Salesforce, and ensuring their tools are in the same toolbox helps ensure adoption.
iQuoteXpress currently has single sign-on with Zoho CRM and Dynamics 365, and an API that makes it easy to integrate with most any other backend: Oracle, HubSpot, even Shopify.
IQX gets it
Unlike most of the other cloud-based sales quote solutions, iQuoteXpress was designed by sales people for sales people. Every feature and function was put in place in order to put closing first.
iQuoteXpress was also designed to be flexible enough to integrate with major back-end CRM and ERP systems, and also to be used standalone, making it ideal for SMBs or any company without a larger back-end system.
In fact, as it stores contact and account information and offers sales reporting and analytics, iQuoteXpress can even be used as a de facto CRM. And it always has been, and always will be, in the cloud where it’s accessible, flexible, affordable, and so much more.
