Managing sales quotes is a big part of any business; it helps generate revenue by converting customers. Therefore, there’s no denying that a company’s sales department holds insurmountable importance. And effective quotes are key to a stable income stream, regardless of the industry.
In this era, sending carefully crafted quotes is more important than ever. The entire world is embracing an online format, meaning that client conversations are now primarily conducted across the internet. Such that, email-marketing now replaces one-on-one meetings, and businesses must make the sale through these at all costs. That is if they expect to realize their goals and succeed.
Getting quotes right is marked by certain characteristics, and these include various facts and statistics that determine the whole process. In order to understand this, you need to familiarize yourself with current business trends. Let’s get you caught up.
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The rise of cloud computing
This technology has been making waves for quite some time now. Safe to say, it is taking over the world, one handheld device at a time. What makes it great for businesses is that it streamlines processes, makes the communication flow seamless, and enhances flexibility. In turn, this helps companies achieve economies of scale.
It is even estimated that 89% of businesses will use cloud computing by the year 2022, and Osmos Cloud is one of these. Osmos cloud streamlines the process of creating and sending quotes, managing quotes, follow-ups, and keeping a record of quotes sent.
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Mobile apps help accelerate sales revenue
It isn’t just teenagers who can’t seem to abandon their handheld devices; business professionals fall in the same category as well. According to verified statistics, 55% of small business owners are using mobile apps to increases sales. Primarily because it is more convenient to conduct business that way, mobiles reduce response time and increase accessibility by considerable margins.
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Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence
These two are relatively new in the technological world, but they are being adopted at incredible speeds by both the production and service sectors. It is expected that all businesses will integrate machine learning and artificial intelligence into their systems in the near future. This will, of course, help them automate monotonous tasks and pay closer attention to areas that need improvement.
Statistics that reinforce the importance of sales quotes
From creating a quote to calculating the win rate, research proves that there is a lengthy and daunting process. It is reported that it takes 20 to 40 minutes for starters to create a quote on average. Anything more than that goes over the optimal level, and it can be deduced that the salespersons are not as efficient as they should be.
To reinforce, 65% of sales leaders assert that salespeople spend more time on paperwork and other non-selling activities than anything else. Moreover, sales personnel are 21 times more likely to close a deal when they respond to the inquiry within five minutes, as opposed to 0% when this time stretches to two hours. Needless to say, using CRM software is a norm now; in that, 65% of salespeople use some form of such tools.
Quotes: A Clearer Perspective
To get the most out of quotes, professionals should know the dos and don’ts of the practice, and what better way to do that than to look at tested facts and figures? Here’s what you should know:
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On average, it takes 97 days for a referred lead to close, 75 days for a lead generated by a website, and 40 days for that linked to social media
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Excel is still the most, 98 % to be exact, popular platform small and medium businesses use to create quotes
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Quote follow up stands at a meager 10% to 30 %, and 50% of quote inquiries are never sent
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Clients expect quotes within one day, but it usually takes 3 days until they actually receive them
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The average win rate for closing a deal after a quote is sent is 40%
