Challenge 5: Worldwide or local? Time difference no longer a barrier
02 September 2011
Producing quotations in an internationally operating company is often a big challenge. How do you make sure that your sales people quickly generate consistent and flawless quotations?
On a plane
Many companies battle with the problem that a request for a quotation costs quite a lot of time. For internationally operating companies, this problem is often even bigger.
An example:
A salesman with an English company is in contact with an American company. The salesman is asked to come to the US to present his solution more fully. After hearing what he has to say, the potential client has become enthusiastic. The salesman promises to put together a quotation and gets back on a plane.
Back in the UK
Back in the UK, the salesman wants to start working on his quotation. But unfortunately his normal work is backed up. Priorities must be set. He needs to finish a few things before starting on the quotation. Finally the salesman has time for the quotation. With some use of copy and paste and the dangers this entails – extensively documented in Challenge 3 – and some consulting with Engineering, the salesman manages to put the quotation together. Now he has to check if it contains all the information necessary and that no mistakes have crept into the quotation. The quotation can finally be e-mailed. By now, a number of days have passed since the salesman’s visit to the US and the e-mail ends up in the American’s inbox in the middle of the night – American time.
Which company was that again?
The following morning the American sees the quotation: “That looks familiar. Which company was that again?” After the quotation is opened comes recognition: “That was that English salesman who visited us.” By now the weekend has rolled around and the American has not had time to discuss about the quotation with his colleagues.
Enthusiasm?
A week after the quotation was sent out, the English salesman – attentive as he is – decides on a follow-up call. “The time difference such a pain!” After a couple of tries – due to the time difference and meetings – the salesman manages to reach the American. The American’s enthusiasm has waned compared to a week earlier. The salesman understands that he is losing his grip on the sales process. “If I could only have offered him a quotation earlier so that I could have used the momentum we had.”
Momentum
Momentum, what is that really? The ideal moment to respond to the (potential) client’s needs. When was this? Right! When the salesman was in the US. If only he could have given the American a quotation when he was there. But is this even possible? Yes! This is possible with a Guided Selling system.
More than a product configurator
Guided Selling. That’s a term you may have noticed before in my blog articles. So what is Guided Selling? You could look at Guided Selling software as an intelligent product configurator that can do more than only configuring products. So actually, ‘product configurator’ is not the right term. ‘Sales configurator’ is nearer the mark because the configurator can guide sales people through the quotation and sales process. A sales person receives all the tools needed to independently access company and product knowledge, available via the software. This makes it simple for a sales person to produce a quotation. So what does this mean in practice?
A quotation right away
The same English salesman could have produced a flawless quotation or contract right away on his laptop with a Guided Selling system. It would have been error-free because the quotation would have been produced using up-to-date company information input by his colleagues. And it could have happened this quickly because it is only a matter of answering a few questions, and the answers lead to the quotation. The salesman could then have connected his laptop to a printer and given the American the chance to become a real client instead of a potential. You may now ask yourself: if a client wants to sign immediately it must be a simple (read cheap) product. I can tell you that this is not the case. One of our customers recently found a client for a two million euro machine in this way. He was sure that he would have had a much smaller chance of scoring if he had boarded that plane. Does that give you food for thought? Feel free to post your questions or comments. I would be pleased to help!
In the next article, a colleague of mine will be sharing his knowledge with you. See you soon!
Judith Steinmeier is Communication Manager at Sofon - supplier of sales support software. As Judith has a lot of contact with clients, she has a clear insight into how companies that deliver customer-specific products and services can realize improvements within their sales and quotation process.
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