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Automating sales quotes is usually put on the back burner by sales reps. But will a change of this perspective influence the sales flow effectively? Let's figure it out.

Congrats! You've made it all the way through the sales flow to arrive at discussing price and terms with the potential customer. He shows interest, and you are ready to prepare him a quote. Despite appearances, the quoting stage is not the end of your sales.

Sales reps frequently put most effort into the first stages of the sales funnel. They focus on new ways of attracting and converting leads, leaving the closure to chance. But how many leads get lost when it comes to submitting a quote?

"Those who use sales quoting software outperform non-users by 105%"

Source: Cincom Systems Research

When the customer base is growing, each of them still needs a personalized quote. If you offer complex products with subscriptions or complementary services, the workload multiplies.

As a result, you end up with a backlog of quote requests that you fail to deliver in time or deliver with mistakes. Keeping your customer satisfied at this stage results in either further recurring purchases or lost deals. So, the risk is high.

Solution? Automate sales quotation process.

Contents:

What is a sales quotation process?

Why automate sales quotes?

How to choose quote automation software?

Example of an automated sales quotation process

Sculptor CPQ Demo

What is a Sales Quotation Process?

A sales quotation process consists of several stages. Sales reps gather product information, perform calculations, receive approval, and send a branded quote to a customer. Depending on the offerings of your organization, a sales quotation process can take from a couple of minutes to hours or even days.

Here are typical stages of the sales quotation process:

Typical Sales Quotation Process

Most often, these operations are performed manually. So, each pricing/product update steals sales reps' time, and leaves your customer waiting.

Errors and lost time are not the only challenges. Manual quote preparation also leads to the following:

Long waiting period
Lost upsell/cross-sell opportunities
Information kept in different sources
Difficulties in tracking customer behaviour
Challenges for your business upscale

Why Automate Sales Quotes?

Automating sales quotes is beneficial to both companies and customers.

Companies build the optimum product and service combinations, set exact pricing, and capture extra sales possibilities (upsell, bundle, and cross-sell) to keep one step ahead of the competition.

Customers receive a quotation tailored to their specific needs and circumstances, resulting in the greatest value for money currently available.

Don't forget to check out: What is Salesforce CPQ - Why Does Every Business Need it?

Benefits of an Automated Sales Quotation Process

Automating sales quotations leads to a quick and efficient sales flow. When all the information is kept in one place, sales reps focus more on communication with clients than sorting out the information from various sources.

The price books are kept up-to-date, sparing the sales teams from unwanted mistakes. You won't forget a discount or an add-on if automation rules are set correctly.

Businesses that use successful sales quote automation software see an increase in sales due to these advantages.

How to choose quote automation software?

Here are a few things to keep in mind while deciding on the best quote automation software:

1. Financially, Is It Worth It?

Some solutions have monthly fees, while others have a one-time price that you pay at the start. So choose wisely!

Look into the solutions you're evaluating for any additional expenses that may arise, such as when you start to grow, while we're talking about pricing models.

2. Intuitive Design

Sales quote automation software makes complicated pricing and product configuration faster, simpler, smarter, and easier to monitor. When evaluating the finest software for your team, you'll hear the phrases "easy and fast" a lot.

You can't call it an agile solution, however, if your salespeople still have to work too hard to provide automated sales quotes that address your customers' concerns. So rely on simplicity.

3. Always Up-to-Date

You'll want to ensure that your solution is routinely updated in addition to having a support system. It doesn't take long for even the greatest technology to become obsolete.

Moreover, you may be able to adjust the software to match your team's needs out of the box now, but can you do so effectively? This is an important consideration, particularly as your project grows in size. So make sure your sales automation software offers room for customization.

Example of an automated sales quotation process

To illustrate a sales quotation process, let's move step by step through one on the example of integration of Sculptor CPQ with Salesforce.

Sculptor CPQ in Salesforce Sales Cloud

As the result of this integration, you:

Have all the deal information kept in one place - Salesforce
Increase your analytics and upselling capabilities
Configure fixed bundles for complex products to avoid mistakes in quotes
Set up automation rules for price calculation and approvals
Generate PDF or interactive quotes with a few clicks

Let's break down the steps:

Step 1

Go to AppExchange and install Sculptor (for free)

Sculptor CPQ AppExchange listing

Install and set up Sculptor for your Salesforce org easily, following the installation guidelines. The free (trial) version doesn't expire and comprises the full functionality for automating your sales quotes.

Step 2

Compose product bundles with necessary components with drag & drop

Bundle Builder

Make sure the list of products that you're going to use for your automated quotes is already in Salesforce. For more complicated products, you can create bundles.

Create tips to guide your salespeople through the bundle configuration process. First, discuss the typical challenges of the newcomers with your salespeople and use them as a base to simplify the onboarding and reduce human errors.

Step 3

Set rules for pricing, discounts and dynamic products

Check out another amazing blog by Twistellar here: How to Reduce Project's Cost with Business Analysis | Salesforce Business Analyst Guide

Pricing Rules

To manage the automation rules effectively, define a person responsible for keeping them in order in the future. Think in advance about the set of pricing rules you'd like to automate, and the attributes of accounts, quotes, or products to trigger them.

You can define discounts for accounts with a certain status, set volume discounts for your quotes, or additional charges for emergency quotes or seasonal surcharges, etc.

Step 4

See how rules are applied, and send PDF or Interactive Quotes

To watch full videos, visit our website's article.

Configure a quote with the required products, and customize the header, the footer, and the logo on your interactive or PDF quotes.

The sculptor is an intuitive, customizable, and powerful software for automating sales quotes, that allows sales reps to focus on customer relationships rather than routine tasks.

Salesforce Blogs in Agile Solution | Forcetalks

How to Automate Sales Quotes And Win More Customers For Your Business | Salesforce