The platforms featured in this category offer diverse tools for streamlining and automating the quote-to-cash process. The following are some common features found in this emerging space.
Guided selling — By integrating with external systems and indexing past contracts and quotes, certain quote-to-cash products offer in-the-moment assistance with selling, especially as it relates to pricing, discounting, and assembling accurate final quotes. This involves configuration rule sets for complex pricing and intelligent repositories of up-to-date product and pricing information. As quotes and contracts are assembled, certain solutions help verify the accuracy of the information entered, along with feedback such as upsell recommendations.
In some cases, products include centralized quote storage. Using these databases, sales team members can easily reference past quotes using a number of filters, and use the information gathered to help influence future proposals. They might also include or integrate with product catalogs, sales playbooks, contract management software, or other resources that can be leveraged in the proposal and contract-completion processes.
Workflows and approvals — For many sales contracts, particularly those involving important customers or substantial quotes, a finalized proposal may require review from sales management or product engineers to ensure the correct amounts are quoted. Depending on the structure of an organization, this can be a complicated process that leads to bottlenecks and miscommunication, which can impede the deal and endanger the customer relationship. Certain quote-to-cash platforms include approval workflow features that notify relevant parties when a quote requires review and approval. These features help prevent rogue discounting or other forms of misquoting, ensuring a positive customer experience and optimal revenue collection.
Pipeline monitoring — At any given moment, there are a number of in-process sales happening in an organization. Quote-to-cash solutions offer a transparent view of the sales pipeline, allowing salespeople, sales managers, financial teams, and others in an organization to track customer interactions. This visibility not only benefits sales team members with scheduling their tasks or customer follow-ups, but helps leadership keep tabs on these relationships and make strategic decisions based on the size, scope, and details related to the pipeline at any given moment.
