Best-in-class sales reps send an average of 26+ quotes a week to potential customers, according to Aberdeen. With that impressive number, you’d expect them to be killing it when it comes to closing deals quickly. But companies that still rely on a manual process to get from proposal creation to approval can find closing deals to be very slow going.
Of course, getting a sales quote approved for send-off to a prospect doesn’t necessarily mean a closed deal, but the quicker it gets there, the more likely the prospect is to buy. And the less vulnerable you are to being outsold by a competitor. And just think about the message you’re sending with each day that passes without your quote in your prospect’s hands: “Hi, our company is unprofessional. And we don’t care.”
In order to close deals quickly, reps first need an efficient system to quickly get sales quotes created and approved.
Nix the Waiting Game Before It Starts
Consider the following hypothetical — but completely plausible — scenario at a company that hasn’t yet adopted CPQ (configure/price/quote) tools:
Scott, a fearless sales rep, has spent 10 hours carefully gathering numbers and support data to include in his manual proposal for a crucial potential client. Quote at the ready, he goes in search of Dave, his VP of Sales, to get approval. Continue reading
SteelBrick 