channelcentral Blog

Most companies would identify with this particular statement: “We want to be easier to do business with.”

It’s how to become easier to do business with; that’s the challenge, not deciding it’s a good thing. In the CPQ market we believe the following are solutions to that challenge:

1. Replace disjointed and labour intensive processes with smooth, accurate and where possible, automated processes. Moving from spreadsheets to online systems provides behavioral insights that help you improve your processes. Good sales come from good processes.

2. Open all hours. Make your ‘closed’ sign redundant. Allowing 24 x 7 access to your sales tools not only stretches the sales window, but also means customers can work when they want to, not just when you do.

3. Replace email ping-pong with slick workflows. Identify clunky processes which result in endless email replying. Who likes mail trails with 30 replies? Nobody. Deploy slick workflows to simplify more complex buying processes. If you are working on a document or proposal why not look to collaborate online instead of mailing edited files to other indefinitely?

4. Surface key buying decisions together: stock, price, promotion in your sales tools. Alt-tabbing between apps is the modern day ‘swivel chair’. Consolidate data. If it costs, say $20, to do a quote, why do five different quotes to win one deal?

5. Introduce guided buying. Don’t always expect your customer to start with a blank canvas. Use starter kits, bundles, solutions, templates etc. to save time. Apply machine learning to improve the quality of these shortcuts.

6. Utilize your Business Information (BI). Decisions based on real data is better than guessing what your customers want. Use their data to improve their user experience.

Ease of business doesn’t improve with one giant investment, it’s lots of tiny steps and the odd leap.