Sales is never easy. Despite what the skeptics may say—who probably never tried closing a substantial business deal—solution selling is time-consuming and complicated. It can take even the most skilled IT sales professional months, if not years, to identify and nurture solid leads and then design, pitch and work through all the specifics of each potential services package. Communication skills and attention to detail are critical.
Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons, some managed services prospects will never become clients. The decision-makers may not see the fit or have the budget to support their technology systems properly. Others may simply fall off the sales team’s radar and sign up with a competitor. Then there are those businesses that fail or get acquired by another company in the midst of the negotiations. There are many moving parts, and it’s not easy for any MSPs to keep track of all the communications, documents, notes and changes.
Some of those things can fall through the cracks, especially for productive sales teams working dozens, if not hundreds, of prospective deals with constantly shifting timelines. MSPs need effective organizational processes and tools to bring order to the chaos and ensure the sales cycle keeps moving in a positive direction. Automation is an essential piece of that equation.
With a multitude of communications check-ins and other activities in the sales process, most businesses implement specific platforms to streamline those operations. A quoting tool is a perfect example.
Automating and tracking Request for Proposals (RFQs) and quotes eliminates the headaches. Just as importantly, these applications reduce manual tasks and human errors, improving the team’s efficiency while boosting their opportunities to close more and larger deals. MSPs can leverage several complementary technologies to ensure sales activities move faster today—and in the right direction
Here are five reasons why every IT services firm (no matter if they have 2 or 200 employees) should invest in and automate these critical tools.
- Efficiency Drives Sales Success
The formula for increasing an MSP’s revenue is quite simple: more touches means more opportunities. Sales automation allows team members to achieve more desirable outcomes by giving them more time to contact and develop relationships with lucrative prospects. An effective quoting tool helps MSPs build proposals and automatically search for availability and pricing from a large network of suppliers. By integrating these tools with CRMs, PSAs and payment portals, such as ConnectBooster, providers can also gain greater insight into team activities and sales cycles.
- Augment Communications
Collecting and sharing information is vital for closing new and larger deals and growing “wallet-share” with clients and prospects. When properly configured and integrated, sales automation tools allow MSPs to tear down data silos between business applications and strengthen their lines of communication. Sales teams can oversee accounts and prepare the next actions using a “single pane of glass” management portal, which provides access to all account-related files, email messages, texts and recordings of customer exchanges. Integrations to other IT services-specific platforms allow that information to automatically transfer and initiate automated responses and set reminders for various team members.
Those connections help sales teams improve the quality and objectives of each potential customer conversation. Adding a quoting tool into the mix also speeds communications between MSPs and suppliers, allowing providers to get more competitive pricing, increase profit margins and speed delivery of hardware and cloud solutions.
- Center on Top Prospects
Automation allows MSPs to prioritize and manage sales activities. After evaluating the quality of the opportunities, providers can leverage various tools to nurture prospects, build more effective proposals, and monitor the sales team’s negotiations. Automation lets them focus more on meeting each decision-maker’s specific needs and increase “wallet-share” by selling a more comprehensive set of services and solutions to each business. An integrated set of tools, including PSAs, CRMs and quoting tools, allow MSPs to adjust plans and shift resources to opportunities that can generate more revenue.
- A More Informed Decision-Making Process
MSPs with great situational awareness are more likely to close more sales. Rather than searching through spreadsheets and notes, PSAs, CRMs and quoting solutions allow sales teams to review previous conversations, notes and other account activities before the next call. Account managers and company leaders can leverage that formation to strategize and create new pitches, proposals, and closes and determine the next steps.
- Boost the Size and Volume of Deals
Freeing the sales team from unnecessary tasks gives them more time to close more and bigger deals, maximize monthly recurring revenue and boost profitability. Automation puts useful tools and up-to-the-minute information at their fingertips, improving their chances with each opportunity. Team members can strategize with co-workers on ways to expand RFQs and quickly fulfill and close proposals. Automation tools give MSPs the power to generate sales faster.
Automate Quotes, Increase Revenue
The increasing complexity of IT sales can create chaos without the proper systems in place. MSPs must leverage multiple tools and integrations to streamline information flow and centralize account management capabilities.
Quoting tools are integral to that operational infrastructure, allowing sales teams to quickly and effectively build proposals with optimal pricing and profit margins. They also help MSPs determine availability and delivery options. When integrated with PSAs, CRMs, secure payment platforms and other IT services-specific tools, providers can save time and money while boosting their bottom line.
Automated workflows streamline processes and save MSPs more time, money and frustration.
ConnectBooster integrates with various quoting tools, to ensure you never miss a payment. Schedule a demo to see how ConnectBooster works with the tools you already use.
