If you work in manufacturing and your sales quoting process has become slow or disconnected, it’s time to look for a different solution. Many manufacturing sales teams are working with disjointed or manual quoting processes that don’t produce results. Is that you?
If it’s time to upgrade your quoting software, this blog will show you how to make sure you know what youre looking for, find a tool that solves your problems and choose your implementation partner wisely.
Here’s how to choose the right manufacturing quoting software:
1. Identify your biggest sales challenges
Your products and systems might vary, but your sales team is regularly dealing with the same roadblocks and issues. By first analysing your own sales challenges, you can identify exactly what kind of quoting software your team needs to become more efficient. Here are some challenges that your team might be facing:
Long quote and sales cycles
Over-complicated processes, quoting delays, and a lack of consistent communication with the customer can slow down closing the deal.
Sales staff need technical knowledge
It’s harder to find the most talented salespeople when they need specific experience in your industry.
Lack of real-time stock and product info
In an industrial setting, where warehouses are huge and supply chains evolve, sales teams need quick updates or risk losing customers interest.
Sales tools dont understand your industry
Many sales tools don’t directly cater to industrial businesses, overlooking their commercial needs.
What are your team’s challenges?
2. Evaluate your most important objectives
Increasing profits is a simple and common goal, but can be achieved in various different ways. Your quoting software should help you with as much of the following as possible:
- Increase average order value.
- Turn short-term customers into ones that keep converting.
- Speed up quoting.
- Improve margins.
- Customise services/add discounts easily.
Make sure you are clear on the primary and secondary objectives for your sales team and use them to guide your quoting software decision.
3. Work with other stakeholders
A quoting system for manufacturing, which makes big, proactive changes to your sales process, could affect other areas of the business too. In particular, product management, operations, and marketing.
Make sure all relevant stakeholders are involved in decision-making and understand what their role is. The new software could mean its necessary to adjust methods or work differently, so each department needs to be ready for likely and possible changes.
4. Check testimonials and ask an implementation partner the important questions
The quoting software implementation partner you choose should have significant experience with different businesses and sectors, including manufacturing. They’ll have detailed testimonials, the team will be deeply knowledgeable, and ready to guide you through the process from the very beginning.
Here are the things to look out for in a quoting software, or CPQ implementation partner:
- Complete guidance on integrating your existing systems.
- A detailed explanation of what results to expect.
- Go-live preparation and support.
- A detailed roadmap of short and long-term goals.
Walpole Partnership’s consultants have delivered some of the largest and most successful Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) systems in Europe and the Middle East.
“The team at Walpole Partnership has delivered several projects in budget and on time for us. They helped us to get our salespeople using our CPQ system and they worked closely with our team to make sure we got the right result.” Barrie Homewood, TITAN Sales & Marketing Director, Atlas Converting Equipment Ltd.
For the ultimate guide to CPQ for the manufacturing industry, download our latest eBook. It’s a comprehensive guide written by the CPQ experts.
