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Quoting is The First Order of a New Line of Business

Business Process, Competitive Advantage, Entrepreneur, Productivity, Proposals, Quotes, Sales, Technology No Responses »

Jan 032012

A new line of business is usually a major investment of time and money – time in training, certification, and business process engineering as your company prepares to implement and support customers and a new product or service.

While sales training is also a part of this investment, there’s a significant component of a new business line that is often overlooked or “under”-looked: the ability to easily and naturally quote the new products and services.

To be blunt, I’ve seen many new lines of business fail before they get started simply because the sales team can’t propose it to their customers.

It’s natural enough to try to quote a new business line using your existing spreadsheets or word templates, and such is often the case. This results in a manual, half-baked, ill-understood proposal process that is first and foremost difficult – and that spells disaster for your new business line.

Do yourself and your business a big favor: Don’t just do a good job of setting up your proposals for that new business line: HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK. Go overboard. Make absolutely sure that your sales team can quote those new products and services while falling out of bed.

A few of the things that you should attend to:

Are you leaking sales?

Business Process, Competitive Advantage, IT, Kent, Knowledge Transfer, Managed Service Providers, Order Porter, Productivity, Proposals, Quotes, Sales, iPad No Responses »

Sep 092011

Five Major Sales Leaks That Could Be Affecting Your Company

My wife Anne gets after me because I’m not always careful enough with my spare change and bills, and they often fall out of my pocket. This often occurs in her car, and many a shopping excursion has been thus funded. She says I “leak money” (and does her best to restrict my access to the same).

Some of our customers leak sales rather than money, and this was brought home to me when I recently had a conversation with a good customer who had started using our Quosal Order Porter Mobile for the iPad application. He said he was doing three times as many quotes as he previously had been. Naturally, I think that’s great – but I realized, as he did, that he’d been missing out on two thirds of his sales opportunities before – he was leaking sales by writing them down on yellow sticky notes, or business cards, or just trying to commit to memory a customer’s request for a new product, or his own on-site observations of a customer’s needs. Now, he takes out his iPad and delivers the quote on-the-spot.

There are many ways to leak sales, and all of us do, sometimes on a daily basis. It’s a very costly habit. Here are a few ways that I see sales dribbling away for businesses of all types, but particularly our information technology audience. Continue reading »

Sales as a Service – A Perspective for Success

Business Process, Competitive Advantage, Proposals, Quotes, Sales No Responses »

Jul 082011

I’ve blogged in the past about the concept of “Sales as a Service” – in fact, one of the most important services that you provide to your new and existing customers. The concept applies to the overall sales process of course, but the quote and proposal aspect of the sales process is my focus.

Clearly, a properly, fully, and accurately configured solution is one of the most important services that the sales team can provide to the customer. In fact, it may be the most important service we ever provide – because a properly configured solution provides a smooth ride for the customer throughout the life of our relationship with them. A poorly configured, inaccurate solution will drive the need for far more services under less-than-optimal circumstances.

For those of us that provide services to our customers either as our primary business or in support of solutions we sell, it’s easy to draw the comparison between the “service of selling” to any other services we provide on a daily basis – and the customer’s reaction to those services is nearly the same. Continue reading »

Quotes and Proposals: The Major Deliverable of Sales

Business Process, Entrepreneur, Kent, Proposals, Quotes, Sales No Responses »

Dec 132010

Throughout my career in sales, I’ve always felt a significant sense of accomplishment when completing and delivering a high-quality quote or proposal to a customer. This feeling continues through to this day, and is greatly augmented by our own product at Quosal.

The other side of this coin is the pressure I would feel as a salesperson when I had a backlog of proposals to complete. I know that many business people and their sales team labor under this pressure today. Indeed, I feel this even more intensely now, in those rare times when, despite our own tools, technology, business practices and policies, I don’t get my quotes and proposals turned around immediately. I feel this pressure more acutely because my own experience, research and expertise in the field of quote and proposal automation tell me that the sooner you get that accurate, attractive quote in your prospective customer’s hands, the more likely you are to win the business.

There’s a great reason for sales professionals and the entrepreneur salesman to feel a major sense of accomplishment when completing and delivering a quote: Quotes and proposals are indeed the major deliverable of the sales team. I can hear you out there saying, “No, CLOSED quotes are the major deliverable,” and of course that follows. However, you can’t close (win) a quote that has never been created, and you WON’T close an inaccurate, half-baked, ugly quote most of the time. Continue reading »

ConnectWise IT Nation: A Community Experience Unlike Any Other

Cloud, ConnectWise, Kent, Order Porter, Partners, Proposals, Quotes, Sales No Responses »

Nov 082010

Our team returned yesterday from a very full week at the ConnectWise IT Nation event in Orlando, Florida. This was our third trip to the event, and our best experience yet. Combined with our participation in and sponsorship of the HTG Q4 meetings at the beginning of the week, it was an incredibly, richly powerful experience.

Our levels of engagement with this event are unique in my experience. We are a ConnectWise user, AND a sponsor of the event and community, AND ConnectWise is also our customer and a user of Quosal. We’re not unique in this; the community has many such ties within the ecosystem that ConnectWise represents. It is one of the reasons, I believe, for the intense levels of energy-times-energy that I have not experienced in other communities – ever.

The event leaves one so overflowing with its vibrancy that the energy must have an outlet — therefore I blog, plan, strategize, sell, discuss, compare, analyze. The energy well has been replenished.

Among the standout experiences was the number of our Quosal clients that attended, and the rather amazing number of them that found me in the halls or in our booth, and related some version of, “Thank you for creating this product. You don’t know how much you’ve helped our business.” The sincerity and intensity of our customers was really somewhat moving, and surprisingly frank. This didn’t happen just a couple of times – dozens of our clients had this message for me. It was really a powerful experience.

Keith McFarland, author of “Bounce” and “The Breakthrough Company” was a real energizer. You know you’re listening to a good speaker when you want to launch out of your chair and enact the ideas that are cascading through your head, put fear aside and make bold moves into the future. This, combined with a general feeling of confidence among the ConnectWise partners, makes me feel great about the future.

I’m heading to Australia in Q1 2011 – and now it’s in writing. This is a big item on my bucket list, and a lifelong dream. It was an Australian-themed event, in any case – we dined with the Australian contingent of HTG (as well as their UK brethren) and had many great conversations and interactions with our good friends from Down Under (who universally feel that we are extreme lightweights in the partying department. I’m afraid.).

We had a great experience with Order Porter on the iPad in our booth at the vendor solutions pavilion. We processed more than 80 quotes, delivering them right then and there on the show floor. ConnectWise (who also uses Quosal and Order Porter) was doing the very same thing for add-on sales in its own booth. It was a great sales experience to do this, and we were delivering a great customer experience as well. It’s always a fun moment to see the startled look on a prospective customer’s face, when their cell phone vibrates as they receive their quote and Order Porter link. The revelation that they can do this themselves, for their own customers, is an “a-ha” moment for them.

A customer related to me the workflow he’d built into his sales process between Quosal and ConnectWise: “We’ve got it down to a science. I tell my salespeople, ‘Just mark the opportunity as Won in Quosal, and walk away!’”

I do not fear the Cloud, and I don’t believe information technology providers need to fear it either. On a high level, “The more things change the more they stay the same.” On an even higher level, imagine how many iterations we’ll continually go through over the years. From mainframes and timeshare to the disconnected PC to the Cloud and back again. I can hardly wait until my grandkids tell me about this awesome new technology called Local Area Networks. Arnie Bellini had a good message for the IT Nation on this very topic.

You know you’re getting old when you’re standing in the lounge thinking, “Who let all these kids in here?”

There were some terrific speakers and presentations at both the ITN and HTG events. The former, I witnessed; the latter, I heard about, as I’m not actually an HTG member. I definitely get presenter envy, as my own skill set in this area stopped progressing in the last century. I’m amazed at how much information can be presented in an hour with the preparation and technology brought to bear by talented people.

It goes on and on, the buttery goodness of such a well-executed event with the energy of true community. It’s great to witness and to be a part of it. I think a lot of people feel the same way. Congratulations to all involved, to the hosts and attendees alike. Can’t wait until next year.

Kent McNall

Kent McNall
President and CEO
Quosal LLC

The Craziest PowerPoint Slide Ever

Business Process, Competitive Advantage, Productivity, Proposals, Quotes, Sales No Responses »

Sep 202010

Look at that chart.

Just look at it!

That, according to Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog, is the Pentagon’s craziest PowerPoint slide.

It’s the The “Integrated Acquisitions Technology and Logistics Life Cycle Management” diagram, which purportedly describes the Pentagon’s process for developing, testing and acquiring new gear.

Stare long enough, and you’ll start to see why it takes a decade for the Defense Department to buy a tanker plane, or why Marines are still reading Web pages with Internet Explorer 6.

I recall a previous project of mine that involved seven different companies, each with its own agenda. I sat down and committed the project’s approval process to a PowerPoint slide, which I humorously titled “How a Bill Becomes a Law.” At the time, it was the ugliest thing I’d ever seen, with flow-chart lines going everywhere. But of course it was nothing compared to that Pentagon slide.

Does anything in your business resemble it?

We talk a lot about “personal productivity” and “lifehacking,” but we don’t spend enough time on company productivity, measured by the time it takes to turn a quote into an order, and how many steps are involved. And think about the steps it takes for a customer who wants to buy your product to get back to you. Print the quote. Sign the quote. Scan the quote. Get the scan into an email. Write the email. Send the email. Every step representing a moment where the customer can reconsider their decision.

Quosal and Quosal for ACT! will help you streamline this process, making it easy for your sales staff to get your approval, and Order Porter will make it even easier for your customers to say “Yes.”

But it’s all going to come down to you. How many flow chart lines can you delete from your process?

Fitting Right into the 101 Ways to Make More Sales

Competitive Advantage, Knowledge Transfer, Proposals, Quotes, Sales No Responses »

Aug 032010

Former journalists, like me, gravitate toward Copyblogger, a fantastic blog about all things words, and specifically, copywriting tips for marketing success. Quotes and proposals are by definition things with words, so there’s a lot that can be gleaned from Copyblogger.

Former journalists, like me, are also suckers for lists. Say “top 10” anything, and we’ll read it. You can see why Copyblogger’s “101 Ways to Make More Sales Online,” caught my eye. In fact, “put a number in the headline” is one of the 101 Ways.

But what really made me sit up and take notice was how Quosal fit into those 101 suggestions.

Let prospects know they’re buying from a human being.

Honestly, this is the very reason behind Order Porter’s personal video feature. People tend to buy things from people. You are not a vending machine, so your quote or proposal document should not act like one. Adding a personal video to your quote – even just to say “thanks” — and delivering it through Order Porter is a great way to make one more memorable impression on your customer.

Tell a story about how you solved this problem for yourself before you started selling the solution to others.

Quosal CEO Kent McNall loves telling the story about how Quosal got started when, in one of Kent’s past businesses, a lack of a good quoting tool led directly to a salesman’s six-figure mistake. Knowledge Transfer is a key problem Quosal solves.

Make sure you’ve described your product or service in enough detail. If it’s physical, give the dimensions and some great photos. … Don’t assume your prospects already know any details — spell everything out.

Include a photograph of what you’re selling, if you can.

It’s for this very reason that Quosal works with Etilize, allowing you to smoothly include product details and product photographs into your quotes and proposals. Quosal + Etilize is a powerful, powerful combination.

Put your photo on your sales page. Human beings are hard-wired to connect to faces. If prospects can see you, it’s easier for them to trust you.

Not only does Quosal recognize this as a fundamental truth, we built this feature right into the application – an optional space for a personal photo is built right in, ready to go.

Does the prospect know everything he needs to know in order to make this purchase? What questions might still be on his mind? How can you educate him to make him more confident about his decision to buy?

You probably already have product brochures, descriptions of your services and various sales sheets. Quosal’s PDF Merge Manager feature makes it easy to include these materials with your quote and proposal documents. No more cobbling together documents – they can be merged into one, smooth-looking professional package.

Can you provide a demonstration of the product or service?

As a matter of fact, we can.

You Too Can Have Successful New Sales Associates

Hiring, Kent, Knowledge Transfer, Sales No Responses »

Jul 092010

The common elements of the MSP/IT business experience are many, and surprisingly similar in nature, scope and duration for those of us lucky enough to make it a “long-term enterprise” status.

One of the most common experiences is trying to bring a new salesperson into the business, getting them up to speed and actually producing sales before we lose them. I’ve had countless conversations with business owners who are themselves the only “technical salesperson” within the organization. Over the years, I have experienced the challenge of hiring or creating new salespeople for IT/technical sales.

There are, of course, many factors to a salesperson’s success with a new business and/or product. Some of those factors are beyond the direct control of the business management — such as the economy and whether customers are spending money. But just as many factors — and points of success or failure with a new salesperson — ARE indeed under the control and influence of business ownership and management.

The most common points of failure that are within your control are:

Making a good hire (I see Kendra Lee at KLA doing a lot of great work in this area).
Having a good product with a happy, reference-able customer base.
The ability for the sales rep to properly configure and quote products and services on their own.
The ability to compete effectively with the materials presented to the customer.
The knowledge transfer infrastructure that enables the new salesperson.

If the salesperson can’t create their own quotes and proposals, they must continually rely either on other salespeople, management or the business owner. They must rely on “tribal knowledge” to pass the sacred information along on how to put a quote in front of a customer.

Other salespeople may be distinctly unmotivated to assist our intrepid new hire — I’ve seen many cases where the grizzled vets see that new salesperson as moving in on their turf. Sales management and the entrepreneur business owner can be incredible bottlenecks to that new salesperson — notorious for hoarding needed information and grudgingly doling it out. Or, they may simply be too busy to provide the necessary assistance.

It takes a concerted effort to put the right tools and processes in place to create an environment of success for a new salesperson, but the return on investment ranges from substantial to incalculable – since solving this problem is often the key to unstopping business growth. One part of this effort is most certainly the right platform for quote and proposal management.

The right quote and proposal platform is essential, providing both a vehicle for repeatable, standardized quote AND proposal processes, and the right tools for knowledge transfer to the sales team. Knowledge transfer is facilitated directly within a quoting tool like Quosal, with instructions, directions and even videos pertaining to the creation of the quote embedded within the quote template itself.

The right platform also facilitates the workflow to allow the new sales professional to submit quotes and proposals for approval when necessary — smoothly, easily and efficiently.

Finally, the right platform for creating quotes and proposals is going to put your new salesperson in an advantageous competitive position out of the gate, with documents and technology that impress the customer and leaves the competition in the dust.

With those advantages, a new salesperson can experience the early success that is so critical to longevity, without the blockades that are too often in the path. It is with these factors in mind that these elements of Quosal were designed.

A Warm and Fuzzy Hire

Hiring, Kent, Sales No Responses »

Jun 172010

I had a great hiring experience this week, deciding on a sales representative for the Eastern US region. Naturally, Christian is a well-qualified individual, whom I’m very confident will be very successful with us.

Finding a good candidate is always a positive experience, but what made this particularly gratifying was the interesting approach that Christian took to get our attention and convince us he was the right person for the job.

Our company is a software developer, and we develop quote and proposal applications. Our intrepid candidate’s unique approach to submitting his resume was to download the demonstration of our software and create a proposal for his services. Imagine my surprise when I opened that proposal, created in our own software application, with a section-by-section, line-by-line description of exactly what he would bring to the table for us, and what that would be worth.

It was very difficult to not be had at “hello.”

Differentiating yourself is so important when you’re one of many competing for something scarce, whether it is a job or a new customer. Standing out from the crowd is one of the key things that Quosal helps our customers do, so a salesperson with an innate understanding of that principle fits in perfectly.

By the way, Christian’s second interview was to demonstrate our software for us, with no help or assistance. He knocked it out of the park.

Sales as a Service

Managed Service Providers, Proposals, Quotes, Sales No Responses »

Jun 032010

I’ve had somewhat of an epiphany over the last few months as I’ve thought about working with MSPs and IT providers on their sales processes.

Sales processes can be a bit of a black box to such companies, and truly improving the process with a platform like Quosal is an area that seems somehow less comfortable than improving, say, improving a ticketing process.

I think it’s easier for many of our partners if they think of sales as a service — which it really is.

Sales is, in fact, the first service that you provide a new customer — in some ways, the most important service as it relates to your relationship. As a service, your sales effort and those delivering it should endeavor to provide excellent service to the customer in the same way you would judge any other service you provide.

So, what do your customers look for from any other service that they should also get from sales?

Timeliness — The sales team should deliver on time and as committed, whether that deliverable is an appointment, a quote or a proposal. This is especially true with a new customer that’s looking at the performance of your sales team as a harbinger of the performance of your company.
Quality — We all look for quality work when we receive services — thoroughness, professionalism, accuracy. Sales has many deliverables — particularly the quote and proposal — on which the quality of your services will shine through.
Follow Through — We all feel great when a service provider follows up and follows through on the services they have provided to us. That is certainly true of sales as well.

If you make a mental shift to thinking of sales as a service, then certain processes that you apply to your service delivery efforts become easy to apply to your sales efforts as well.

SLA for Sales? Do you have an SLA for responding to new customer inquiries? What about existing customer needs for a quote — what’s your SLA for them? When customers refer to an organization as “hard to do business with,” they are often referring to the difficulty of getting a quote or proposal for new business.

Surveys for Sales? Many of our customers follow up service tickets with a survey. Have you ever thought of doing that for your sales efforts as well? Wouldn’t you like to know how you’re doing on this all-important effort?

Sales as a Service because sales IS a service. It is, in fact, one of the most important services you can offer your customers. Great sales service leads to great sales, which is a big win/win.

Stay tuned, we have much to share on this topic.

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