Do you need a Sage Quoting tool?
We’ve talked before about our Sage Quote tool, Quote Builder, but what does using Quote Builder really mean for your company?
Well, one client tells us, “quite simply, using Quote Builder has increased our speed of response to requests significantly and has reduced our order fulfilment time by half”
Another said, “using Quote Builder has massively improved our sales team morale and the accuracy of quotes. We give away far fewer items because they were left off quotes, saving us on the bottom line”
What is Quote Builder?
First and foremost, Quote Builder makes quoting simple, quick, flexible and provides a complete audit trail of changes as the sale progresses. It integrates with Sage 200 and automates order processing. It also allows visibility of important metrics such as profitability and margin for each quote. Other metrics include individual and team performance stats.
It has been designed to provide a more flexible and easy to use tool for client sales teams for Sage 200 which is a fantastic financial system, but limited when it comes to preparing quotes.
Why you need a Sage quoting tool
Let’s look at some of the issues when quoting directly in Sage 200:
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- It is necessary to complete the account details within Sage which can be time consuming. Then once the quote has been prepared, it is fixed and cannot be amended. It can be cancelled, accepted or eventually deleted but it cannot be revised.
- Quotes cannot contain options for selection by the customer to customise the quote. For example, special finishes or handles, it is an ‘all or nothing’ quote.
- Looking at cost, the cost model used by Sage 200 is complex and based on the modules added and the number of users and quickly adds up. Giving the whole sales team Sage access can be expensive, particularly as they only need a very limited level of access.
- The Sage quote module has no authority controls built in so a quote cannot be checked or approved prior to being issued. This may not be an issue for some but complex, custom or expensive quotes often require 2 levels of signoff before being sent.
- Finally there is no visibility of margin or profitability at the quote level so this cannot be checked to ensure it is ‘good business’ before the order is received and processed, by which time it is too late. This means that delays can occur while quote are manually checked for profitability, or there is no room for sales to discount without senior level involvement
These reasons and many more are why we, in conjunction with our clients, developed our Sage Quote Tool, Quote Builder.
Quote Builder addresses the issues mentioned above using a client bespoke front end interfaced to your Sage 200 via API’s. It then uses our core system which has been loaded with your products and pricing, allowing you to prepare quotes outside of Sage and overcoming the issues mentioned above.
The Quote builder is fully integrated with your Sage system via an API, so that all required information can be shared between the systems. This makes order processing simple as once the order is received and the quote details finalised, the quote can be converted to an order and automatically sent to Sage for processing, saving time, reducing duplication of entry and increasing client service and satisfaction.
As it is configurable, the Quote Builder can be made to look exactly how you would like it and provide all the relevant information at a glance to you and your team. As it interfaces with Sage, it can also show delivery times. In fact, if Sage can provide the information, we can add it to Quote Builder.
And of course, the Pricing Model is simple with low ongoing annual support costs and as your sales team are using Quote Builder it reduces the number of Sage user licenses you need.