The Distribution Blog

One of your customers is considering buying a new product. During their visit with your field sales rep, the customer asks a few questions, then requests a quote. Back at the office, your sales rep fills out a request form and emails the quote to their customer. But as days turn into weeks, it becomes clear that the customer hasn’t made a decision yet. So, what happens next?

The B2B purchasing process is tough. Buyers have to go through a lot of research and approvals before they can make a decision. Quoting is a big part of that process.

Gartner found that high-quality information, such as quotes, drives sales. “Customers who perceived the information they received from suppliers to be helpful in advancing across their buying jobs were 2.8 times more likely to experience a high degree of purchase ease, and three times more likely to buy a bigger deal with less regret.”

It’s a shame, but most distributors don’t have a process in place for quote follow-up. Although it’s one of the highest-value actions a rep can take, studies show that 48% of salespeople never make a follow-up attempt.

Without a bulletproof strategy for quote follow-up, winnable revenue will fall through the cracks. Keep reading to learn how to get the quote follow-up process right. With a little effort, you can turn potential wins into actual ones.

What Sales Reps Need for a Successful Quote Follow-Up Strategy

Customers say “no” a lot. Studies have found that 60% of customers say no an average of four times before finally purchasing a product. If you want sales reps to win sales, an effective follow-up strategy is critical.

However, blindly following up on quotes won’t improve your close rates; reps need detailed information to be helpful and consultative during their follow-up calls. After all, if a sales rep follows up on a quote without knowledge of the product or customer’s purchasing history, they’ll only frustrate the buyer and waste time.

For a successful quote follow-up, your reps need to see:

• When the quote was created
• Which items the customer already purchased
• Which items from the quote have been followed up on (if any)
• The customer’s activities (such as looking at a quoted item on your eCommerce site)

When your team can see details about each quote on a single dashboard, they have the knowledge to confidently follow up and provide consultative service to their customers – winning you higher sales and a more significant wallet share.

Tracking quotes with sticky notes and paper is a recipe for missed opportunities. That’s why your sales reps need a software solution that integrates your product, customer, eCommerce, and transactional data in real-time. With the right insights at their fingertips, they’ll be able to close more deals and boost your revenue. Don’t settle for a manual, outdated approach when a smarter solution is within reach.

How Proton Enriches Quote Follow-Ups

Proton makes it easy to see which customers have open quotes and follow up on them. Because deep-learning artificial intelligence (AI) powers Proton, it can quickly analyze years of customer, product, and transaction data (including online transactions) to find patterns and generate helpful insights.

For example, sales reps can view Proton’s Accounts Table to see the number of open quotes each customer has, or they can visit the Customer Account page to review quote details. Sales reps can also see customer activity related to quoted items on the Customer Account page. For instance, if a customer talks to a customer service rep about a product, or views it online, the sales rep will be able to see this activity on their dashboard.

Proton makes it easy for reps to stay on top of their quotes. If a customer has received a quote for a product but hasn’t ordered it yet, Proton will automatically create a follow-up reminder for the account’s sales rep.

Proton enriches quote follow-ups for everyone, including:

• Sales Reps: Proton gives sales teams a complete overview of open quotes – all on a single screen. With Proton, sales reps can filter accounts by open quotes to ensure opportunities don’t slip through the cracks. With this solution, sales reps can close more deals in less time and never miss a chance to follow up.
• Sales Managers: Sales managers can use Proton’s Accounts Table and Activity Feed to see which quotes have been followed up on and when. This feature lets managers keep track of pipeline opportunities and remind reps when open quotes need attention.
• Your Company: On an individual level, Proton makes sales reps and managers more proactive and consultative. On a company level, this empowers you to take control of your quote process and boost your bottom line

For most distributors, the secret to success isn’t generating more quotes but doing more with what they already have. It can be frustrating to see potential sales slip through the cracks. That’s where Proton comes in. With the right software, you can fix leaky funnels, generate more revenue, and take control of your follow-up process. To learn more about how Proton can enhance the productivity of your sales team and transform the way you manage open quotes, contact a member of our team to schedule a demo.