ConnectWise eBook Series

The True Cost of

Your Free Quoting Tool
 Contents

1 2
Introduction Pros & Cons Why Automation
of a Free Makes Quoting
Quoting Tool Easier

3 4 5
All Your Quoting Improve Your Gain Complete
Needs in One, Customers’ Control of the
Dedicated Buying Quoting Process
Location Experience

6
Weighing Your Conclusion
Options

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 Introduction
It’s easy to have a love-hate relationship with the word free. The concept
has enormous appeal that draws us in. Who doesn’t want to get something
for nothing? But in reality, when something is free, there’s probably a good
reason. That’s why we often ask “what’s the catch?’

Of course, there are cases where free really does mean free. But when it comes
to using free quoting tools for your business, you may actually be paying a
very high price. Spreadsheets and downloadable templates that cost nothing
are fine for many business processes, but when relied on for creating quotes
and proposals, they can cost you significantly in lost time and potentially lost
sales.

Making the switch to a CPQ (configure-price-quote) solution will help

you automate time-consuming tasks, minimize errors, and create more
compelling and professional sales quotes with just a few clicks.

Change happens when the pain of staying

the same is greater than the pain of change.
—TONY ROBBINS

Not convinced it’s worth the effort to change? Maybe that’s because, over
time, you’ve grown numb to the pain of using your manual quoting tools—
from error-prone repetitive tasks to miscommunication to a drawn-out sales
process—thinking they work “good enough”. This eBook takes a look at how
your current process could be hurting your business, and reasons why a
quoting tool may be the best way to stop the pain.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 1. Pros & Cons of a
Free Quoting Tool
Many businesses that use a manual quoting method—such as spreadsheets
or downloadable templates—have valid reasons for not wanting to change
to an automated solution, and maybe a few of these will sound familiar to
you. But for every pro, there’s also a con that should be considered.

PRO: I’m familiar with what I have. Why waste time and effort to learn
something new?
CON: Familiarity is comfortable, while change is not. So sticking with what
you know can seem like a logical choice. However, manual quoting not only
wastes time and resources that could be directed elsewhere, but it’s prone
to human error that can wind up costing you even more time, and possibly
customer relationships. An automated quoting tool offers efficiency and
accuracy. And most offer robust training to ease the transition.

PRO: Our quotes are winning deals, so customers must be fine with the
template we created. Why mess with success?
CON: While what you’re doing seems to be working, the real question is
whether it could be improved for better results. It’s worth evaluating the
benefits of a CPQ tool that could help you get more quotes out the door in
less time.

PRO: I can easily update and resend a quote when a customer requests
a change.
CON: Even if the process is easy, manual changes still require time. And
you risk confusion if multiple versions of a quote are floating around.
An automated quoting solution can present your customer with several
options on the initial quote so they choose what’s right for them from the
start. Plus, you’ll easily see the most up-to-date version of every quote.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
Pros & Cons Page 2 Continued

PRO: We’ve gotten good at manually moving data around. It may take some
time, but we all know the process. Why should I care about integration?
CON: Maybe not having an automated connection between your quoting
tool and your PSA system hasn’t been an issue…yet. But can you honestly say
that manually sharing and entering all that data is the best use of your team’s
time? And there’s no risk of mistakes?

PRO: We have a quoting expert right here in the office who is always
happy to get the job done.
CON: Your resident quoting expert may have been there for years, and have
every little detail in their head about markups and who gets what discount.
Naturally, it’s very easy to just walk over to their desk for any answer you
need. But what happens when they take a vacation, or leave for another
opportunity? You’re risking a lot by not having a much more dependable
storage system for all that valuable information.

PRO: We built our own quoting software, and know how to maintain it.
CON: That is impressive. But when the inevitable glitch happens, who puts
aside their primary job responsibilities in order to fix it? And is there more
than one person in your office who knows how to “save the day”?

PRO: Our vendors make price sheets available to everyone in sales, and
email us weekly updates.
CON: Unless someone is responsible for updating pricing in a shared drive,
you could easily build your quotes with the wrong numbers.

PRO: It’s FREE!

CON: And that sounds like a good deal…until you put a price tag on
inefficiency, errors, and potentially lost sales. You get what you pay for.

Does free still sound appealing? In the next few chapters, we’ll dive into the
benefits of having a single, centralized quote and proposal solution.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 2. Why Automation
Makes Quoting Easier
Once again, automation saves the day. An automated quoting solution not
only saves your sales team time, it reduces human error that could lead to
underselling your services, or the wrong quote ending the deal altogether.

Automation
Say good-bye to tedious, error-prone quoting tasks. Quoting tools
automatically ensure the right information is included on all quotes,
pricing is set correctly, and that they’re acted on in a timely manner. Quote
templates, pricing rules, and quote tracking all give your sales team a break
from manual work, and more time for making deals.

Efficiency
Eliminate wasted time spent manually pulling and compiling information
from various sources, and then entering it. All the data you need is
quickly at your fingertips, ready to be dropped into professional-looking,
customizable templates with just a few clicks.

Accuracy
Humans are going to make mistakes. Period. With a quoting tool, errors are
minimized, which saves not only time, but makes a good first impression
and builds a relationship of trust with customers.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 3. All Your Quoting Needs in
One, Dedicated Location
You’ve brought other areas of your business into a centralized platform,
so why shouldn’t your quoting needs not be in one too? A single quoting
solution puts all your pricing and service information at your fingertips in
one location.

Centralization
Imagine a world where all your pricing standards, distributor information,
quote templates, and more are in one place. That’s what a quoting solution
will do for you.

Dedicated Software
While spreadsheets have their place, a software built for the specific
purpose of quoting will always function best at that task. And it’s designed
to scale with your company’s growth, so that you stay efficient at any size
without adding resources to handle additional workload.

Integration
Real-time vendor integrations help your sales reps work quickly to source
products and price shop multiple websites or price sheets, all in a single
pane of glass. By integrating a quoting solution with your PSA, you save
considerable time in data entry, and streamline the hand-off process
between sales, operations, and finance.

No-Hassle Maintenance
Since a quoting solution is maintained by an external source, you get to
simply enjoy the benefits of improved efficiency, better communication,
easy hand-offs, and more sales.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 4. Improve Your Customers’
Buying Experience
The easier it is for a customer to approve a quote, the more deals you
can close. The tools provided by a single quoting solution can reduce the
barriers for approval and make the buying experience a little more pleasant
for your customers.

Customer Experience
A quoting solution is designed with customer satisfaction in mind. From
fast delivery of a professional and accurate quote to easy e-signature
approvals, your clients will be impressed, leading to more revenue for you.

Standardization
Consistency in how quotes are created,
and what information is displayed,
ensures the same experience across your
customer and prospect base.

Quote Anytime, Anywhere

Always be on top of opportunities. With
a cloud-based CPQ, you can use your
mobile device to quote and close deals
anytime from anywhere.

Ability to Upsell
Quoting tools make it a breeze to upsell your customers by giving them
multiple options all on one quote. Show them accessories and more, and let
them opt in on what fits their needs. More power for them, more revenue
for you.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 5. Gain Complete Control
of the Quoting Process
As your quoting process becomes more fragmented, you begin to lose sight
of your sales team’s performance and impact it has on your organization.
A single quoting solution allows you to keep an eye on every facet of the
sales cycle.

Visibility
Sales managers need insight into their team’s performance. Quoting
solutions let you see what’s in the pipeline, which deals are closing,
and much more. Dynamic reporting keeps you in-the-know for making
informed business decisions.

Version Control & Auditing

Version control keeps current and past quotes organized and easy to
maintain. Keep track of everything that’s been sent to each customer with a
robust centralized audit trail.

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 6. Weighing Your
Options
We’ve highlighted the pros and cons of your current quoting process, and
shared the benefits of an automated quoting solution. Are you ready to
create quotes faster and watch profits rise, all with less stress? It’s your turn
to weigh the options, and consider the true cost of your free quoting tool.

Time Savings
If you saved just two hours per quote creation at 50 quotes a year, that’s
100 hours back into your business to focus on more sales. And those
numbers are conservative. Research indicates that implementing a CPQ
tool shortens the sales cycle by 27%*. And if you’re quoting with a cloud-
based CPQ, you’re not tied to 9-5 quoting from the office.

Higher Lead Conversion & More Closed Deals

With such significant time savings, more quotes can be generated—
according to a Forrester TEI report**, up to 60 more quotes per year—
leading to more closed deals without adding resources. And use of quoting
tools has been show to result in a 19% higher lead conversion rate*.

Customer Delight
The quoting experience matters to your clients. According to 2010 Gartner
research, 80% of customers buy the products they need from the
company that makes purchasing as easy as possible.

*Source: 2013 Aberdeen Group

**Source: 2018 Total Economic Impact™ of the ConnectWise Platform

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The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool
 Conclusion
No matter how comfortable you are with your current quoting tool, the
right CPQ solution will help you automate more, sell more, and grow more,
which ultimately leads to greater success. While only you can determine if
your company is ready for the transition, keep in mind that numbers like
those we’ve shared confirm the switch is well worth the effort. And with
the dedicated training and support offered with most quoting tools, the
change is much easier than you may think.

As you explore your options, consider the features and benefits of

ConnectWise Sell, automated quote and proposal software that supports
your sales success with streamlined quote creation, real-time product
sourcing, workflow automation, and sales reporting.

Explore all the ways ConnectWise Sell can change how you sell your
services forever.

ConnectWise Sell:
The True Cost of Your Free Quoting Tool 11

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