HubSpot, a popular CRM platform, is only as useful as the data users input.Garbage in equals garbage out (GIGO), is an old computing expression. This is never more true than when a business produces a quote to win new business. The accuracy of the data that is fed into the HubSpot platform by a company, whether it’s a quote for an existing client or a quote for a new customer, is crucial.
Here’s a quick introduction for those who may not be familiar with HubSpot.
HubSpot integrates marketing and customer service activities by integrating lead generation, social media marketing, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It also includes content management and generation, account history, live chat, and web analytics. HubSpot dashboards allow salespeople and marketing professionals to see their efforts, sales results, and strategies with just a glance.
Checklists are not enough
What is CPQ? CPQ is an acronym for Configure Price Quote. It is the process that ensures every possible factor is taken into account when creating a quote. CPQ can be viewed as a simple cost checklist that can be easily managed by a spreadsheet. Imagine that Loggit & Son was a small company with two employees. They sold firewood to rural customers in Loggit’s hometown.
Loggit sells barn-seasoned logs for USD 200 per cord (128 cubic feet). Delivery using Dan Loggit’s trailer could cost $2 per mile round-trip plus $17.50 an hour for labor. A customer who lives 20 miles from Loggit’s depot inquires about 2 cords of wood. The calculation will be as follows:
Cost ($200 x 2)+ (40 miles x $2) + 2.5 hours labor (2.5 x $17.50) = $400+$80+$43.75 = $523.75
The total of $523.75 is enough to cover everything, and yet still generate a profit. Calculations like this can be done without a CPQ or CRM platform like HubSpot.
Do not let your profits go up in flames…
Imagine that Loggit is expanding. Old Man Loggit offers different types and qualities of timber, such as spruce and ash for the fireplace, or oak, pine, plane, and plank for the extra crackle. The company offers fuel oil, coal, and smokeless fuels for heating systems. Loggit decides that it will replace its growing stock by planting as it harvests the wood. The cost of buying new saplings is another factor that complicates the ongoing costs.
Loggit then uses kiln drying for its wood along with simple “seasoned” log aging. The company builds a mill, purchases a fleet, hires forty to fifty people, and sets up a marketing division. All those simple calculations above won’t account for the extra costs that come with the upscale. Technology must be brought to the rescue with a CPQ Platform.
CPQ software can not only identify all of the complex relationships between products and services but also highlight any incompatibilities or health and safety contraindications to sales teams and engineers. A spreadsheet program would not be able to provide such features, but a CPQ system can be set up from the start to ‘understand each customer’s individual needs on a personal level. CPQ is based on an artificial Intelligence based ‘decision tree’ that ensures all relevant factors are considered before a quote is generated.
Artificial Intelligence for Real Results
The CPQ may already be programmed to know that Mr. & Ms. Smith are regular customers and live in a smoke-free’ zone. It is therefore important to not quote them for regular coal or wood which produce more smoke per ton, than what the civil ordinance allows. If a rookie salesperson received a phone call from Mr. Smith, asking for 2 tons of coal, and 3 months’ worth of wood, the CPQ wouldn’t offer the cheaper raw materials, saving a costly mistake and preventing angry and frustrated customers.
The CPQ will create a price that is then fed into HubSpot, where the dispatch, accounts, and safety teams can verify that the requirements have been met. HubSpot operators can also note any ZIP codes of smokeless zones within their delivery remit area and ensure that other customers in these regions have not been emailed quotes for products they wouldn’t be able to use.
It’s important to remember that the customer’s satisfaction is more important than profit or efficiency when quoting for services and goods. Experienced sales professionals also heed this wise phrase:
“Dissatisfied Customers Generally Don’t Complain, But They Rarely Come Back …”
Using a CPQ in conjunction with a CRM system can help to prevent customers from becoming dissatisfied.
