No doubt, it takes money to make money. This means spending big on sales.
The problem? The spending is often wasteful. And a key reason is inadequate sales automation systems (this is according to a recent survey from Adobe and Apttus). It seems that many companies still manage the process from the hip – and it’s causing plenty of problems, including lost revenue opportunities.
This is not a problem just for small or medium size businesses. Even the Fortune 500 suffer from lots of issues. Consider that 50% of them think their sales process is lacking.
So what can a company do? Well, the pace of innovation for sales software continues apace. And yes, one of the leaders in the category is Apttus.
The company has built its system on the standard for CRM, Salesforce.com. For the most part, Apttus is a bridge between CRM and ERP. To this end, the platform helps with processes like Quote-to-Cash, Configure Price Quote (CPQ), Contract Management, Revenue Management and even E-Commerce.
By putting everything into one place, a company can get visibility into the sales workflow. The result is that it is easier to put together forecasts as well as help reps who are out in the field. Basically, they are less likely to provide excessive discounts or cannibalize business.
“A major problem is that companies have many groups that are organized into silos,” said Elliot Yama, who is the AVP of Best Practice and Knowledge Management for Apttus. “So there is not a macro view.”
Just by shortening the quote process by a day could have a huge impact on a company. It could mean not only getting a new customer but snagging a larger order.
Now this does not mean having speed for speed’s sake. Of course, the quote needs to be accurate. Yet with a highly automated system, this is much more likely.
Despite all the clear advantages, it seems that many companies are slow to realize the benefits of next-generation sales optimization tools. Then again, adopting new technologies requires that organizations rethink their habits and strategies – which always take time.
But the benefits from automated approaches are too great to ignore. According to Apttus, by having a fully integrated quote-to-cash system, a company may realize the following improvements (on average):
• 105% larger deal size
• 49% higher proposal volume
• 28% shorter sales cycle
• 26% more reps achieving
• 17% higher lead to conversion rate
With results like these, it probably does not take long to earn back the investment in the technology. Again, it’s just a matter of taking the time to bringing more rigor to a process that has really not changed much over the years.
Tom Taulli is the founder of OptionTaxes.com, which helps with tax planning and preparation for incentive stock options, nonqualified stock options and restricted stock grants.
