To put it bluntly, your quoting process could be costing you thousands of dollars. If you’ve ever lost a deal during quoting or found an embarrassing pricing error, that could be dollars down the drain. One study of 25,000 client proposals found that just 43 percent won deals, even with great salespeople giving well-executed presentations.
What’s the #1 reason this happens to even your most seasoned staff? In a word: Complexity. An overly complex quoting process confuses sales reps, slows down deals, and introduces errors that limit your long-term profitability.
Here’s why complexity is enemy #1 for sales success.
Time Kills Deals
The old saying is true, and experienced salespeople know it: Time kills deals. A slow, complex sales process introduces extra time for prospects to rethink things, balk at the offer, and introduce roadblocks to the sale.
This is why so many companies are turning to platforms like Salesforce to automate the process and speed things up. Before Salesforce, even your best salesperson had to develop an individual price quote for each sales call, customize it to the client’s needs, and handle detailed questions that came up during the sale – including reconfiguring prices on the fly. It’s time-consuming and can be frustrating for the client.
By contrast, software like Salesforce allows the rep to create the entire quote using a built-in template that auto-fills individual customer information. As pricing questions come up during the sale, the rep can use Salesforce to quickly adjust variables like volume and discounts, all tailored to the customer.
Errors are Expensive
Everyone makes errors, including salespeople. Upstanding companies usually honor pricing errors, even when they lose big money on the deal because not doing so is a turnoff for customers.
Your costliest errors might be few and far between, but what about all the little day-to-day quoting errors that actually add up to big bucks?
Salesforce says small, frequent quoting errors are a sign of an unhealthy process. Salesforce also points out that the natural reaction to errors – adding more oversight from managers – further bogs down an already complex system.
The solution is to eliminate errors and prevent them from even happening in the first place. A robust sales quote platform, paired with a guided selling approach, can make this happen.
Salesforce provides a guided selling system that prompts reps for complete, correct information every time. Details like billing terms, fulfillment deadlines, change orders, and special requests can be handled efficiently by the software, minimizing errors.
When your reps aren’t saddled with constant complexity and errors, they can get back to the real work of selling. This, in turn, leads to more closed deals and more revenue for your business.
Taming the Chaos
Sales simplicity. Fast, error-free deals. If this sounds like a pie-in-the-sky situation for your company, don’t give up hope. There are companies that specialize in helping you implement a new solution.
A Salesforce implementation team can help you develop a simple, sleek approach to selling. Implementation experts help you step back, look at your company’s process, and target persistent issues. They guide you in answering crucial questions like:
- How do your reps configure individual items on quotes?
- Do you ever experience errors or workflow stoppages?
- How do you handle discounts and premiums?
- How many levels of quote review take place, and how long does it take?
- How does a quote become an order?
- How do you invoice and recognize revenue?
- What are your points of inefficiency?
StarrData, a five-star certified Salesforce implementation company, has helped hundreds of clients in all kinds of industries revamp their sales approaches. Their success stories include big life science companies like Omada Health, Medfusion, and QIAGEN.
Even in the financial services industry, which often struggles with heavy regulation and legacy systems, StarrData has helped major players like LPL Financial and Alliant Credit Union evolve their sales strategies and drive real revenue.
Ready to shed the complexity? Contact StarrData today.