In the fast-paced world of sales, time is of the essence, and a swift quoting process can make all the difference between securing a deal and losing a prospect. HubSpot, a leading customer relationship management (CRM) platform, offers a robust quoting tool to help businesses streamline their sales processes. However, to truly maximize efficiency, it's essential to implement strategies that expedite the quoting process. In this article, we will explore key ways to accelerate the quoting process in HubSpot.
1. Customise Your HubSpot Quote Template
One of the primary advantages of HubSpot's quoting tool is the ability to create templates for common products or services. To speed up the quoting process, invest time in customizing these templates to align with your company's branding and specific offerings. Customise HubSpot's three default quote templates: Basic, Modern, or Original, as the modules in these are maintained by HubSpot. If these are too limited for your needs, arrange a fully custom template where virtually anything is possible. Pre-populate with extra information such as automated terms to reduce sales time and the risk of errors in the quoting process.
2. Maintain Your HubSpot Product and Service Catalog
Efficient quoting relies heavily on a well-organized product and service catalog. Regularly update and maintain your catalog within HubSpot, ensuring that all relevant details such as pricing, specifications, and descriptions are accurate. This minimizes the time spent searching for product information during the quoting process, allowing sales teams to generate quotes swiftly and with confidence.
3. Integrate Automated Pricing Tools:
Hubspot provides a single price per product or service. If salespeople are manually looking up special prices or discounts, integrating HubSpot with pricing tools or systems significantly expedites the quoting process. This ensures that your sales team prices accurately, eliminating the need to manually cross-reference or update prices. Automation in pricing reduces the chances of errors and enables your team to generate quotes with the most current and accurate information.
Pro Tip: Some integrations are paid while others are free:
Hundreds of HubSpot portals automate multi-currency exchange rate updates with DoCurrencies, a free HubSpot Plugin.
Rivertrace a UK-based manufacturer saves several hours per salesperson per month with the addition of DoPricer CPQ, a paid plugin for HubSpot.
Pro Tip: Some integrations are paid while others are free:
Hundreds of HubSpot portals automate multi-currency exchange rate updates with DoCurrencies, a free HubSpot Plugin.
Rivertrace a UK-based manufacturer saves several hours per salesperson per month with the addition of DoPricer CPQ, a paid plugin for HubSpot.
4. Automate Quotes with HubSpot Workflows:
HubSpot offers robust workflow automation capabilities. Leverage these features to create quote workflows that guide your team through the quoting process step by step. Define specific actions, such as approval processes or discount validations to ensure consistency and accuracy. By automating routine tasks, your team can focus on more strategic aspects of the quoting process. Beware quote data updated via workflow can be overwritten by HubSpot's own quote builder user interface. Integrations such as DoQuotes (currently in Beta) can mitigate this by automating quote creation.
HubSpot's Operations Hub adds finely tuned automation such as keeping prices up to date for quoting. For example Matt Tomlins, Pacific Geomatics Limited, Canada: "We are using DoCurrencies with a custom workflow to update pricing of certain products based on daily exchange rates."
HubSpot's Operations Hub adds finely tuned automation such as keeping prices up to date for quoting. For example Matt Tomlins, Pacific Geomatics Limited, Canada: "We are using DoCurrencies with a custom workflow to update pricing of certain products based on daily exchange rates."
5. Use Integrated Electronic Signatures:
Closing deals often involves obtaining signatures, a process that can slow down the overall sales cycle. HubSpot Quotes includes electronic signature tools to enable clients to sign quotes digitally. This not only expedites the finalization of deals but also enhances the customer experience by providing a seamless and efficient signing process.
6. Collaborate on Quote Editing:
Facilitate collaboration among team members during the quoting process with HubSpot notes and tasks on HubSpot deals to review and edit quotes before sending. This allows multiple team members to work on a quote simultaneously, reducing bottlenecks and ensuring that quotes are prepared and delivered promptly. HubSpot's collaboration tools make it easy for sales teams to work together in real-time, improving overall efficiency.
7. Invest time in Training and Documentation:
Train your sales team on the best practices for using HubSpot's quoting tool. Create comprehensive documentation that outlines the quoting process, from template selection to finalizing the quote. A well-trained team is more likely to navigate the quoting process efficiently, reducing the likelihood of errors and delays.
Speeding up the quoting process in HubSpot is a multifaceted effort that involves customization, integration, and efficient collaboration. By optimizing templates, managing the product library, integrating with pricing tools, utilizing workflows, incorporating electronic signatures, enabling quote collaboration, and investing in training, businesses can ensure a streamlined quoting process that not only saves time but also enhances the overall effectiveness of their sales teams. With these strategies in place, companies can respond swiftly to customer needs, increasing their chances of closing deals and staying ahead in the competitive landscape.