Efficient quoting is key for businesses to ensure that customers stay customers, instead of going somewhere else to have their product and service needs met. Consider current challenges in supply chain operations: If organizations canât get complete and accurate quotes on-demand, they canât reliably predict when items will arrive or how much theyâll end up paying.
As noted by Barrons, while supply chain issues are beginning to ease for some companies, these companies are primarily large enterprises with access to a host of suppliers and logistics options. For smaller businesses, however, thereâs no room for error: If they canât get quotes where, how and when they need them, it becomes difficult to stay afloat, much less turn a profit.
The solution? IWIâs Sage X3 Quote Estimator. Hereâs how it works â and how it can help.
Sage X3 Quote Estimator By IWI Consulting Group Inc.[/caption]
Challenges in a Quick and Accurate Quoting
Along with evolving supply and demand frustrations, companies also face more familiar challenges in quick and accurate quoting. Some of the most common include:
- Lack of preparation
Lacking complete datasets puts companies in the unenviable position of lacking preparation. As a result, when potential customers come looking for RFQs, teams must scramble to pull together datasets, in turn increasing the risk of cost or logistics errors.
- Limited communication
Without streamlined communication between departments such as sales, marketing and front-line customer service, businesses often end up duplicating key processes, in turn reducing the efficiency of quote processes.
- Poor price planning
Given the changing nature of supply, demand and materials pricing, itâs critical for companies to ensure all prices are as accurate as possible. Lacking this accuracy, companies could end up under-quoting customers and having to cover the difference.
- Staff skill gaps
The digital nature of businesses requires companies to respond in kind to customer requests; clients want quotes ASAP or theyâll consider other options. In practice, however, many businesses now face a lack of skilled staff to help bridge the digital quote gap.
- Legacy tools
Last but not least? Legacy tools can create friction between quote requests and outcomes. If businesses are stuck using tools that canât connect to cloud databases, they can find themselves struggling to keep up with consumer expectations.
Building a Better Quote
The Sage X3 Quote Estimator from IWI Consulting Group can help your company build better quotes more quickly. Instead of using multiple solutions to build a single quote â only to discover that prices or processes have changed since the quoting process began â the Sage X3 Quote Estimator lets your team do everything from a single application. And thanks to full integration with your X3 environment, you donât need to worry about missing or incompatible data; everything is pulled directly from your most current data set.
IWIâs Sage X3 Quote Estimator offers key advantages, such as:
- Comprehensive component factoring
The IWI solution automatically factors in key quote components including burden, labour, materials, sub-contractors, set-up time, and production time to ensure quote accuracy.
- On-demand quote creation
Donât wait until itâs too late: Create quotes on-demand when customers come looking. Instead of asking for patience for days or weeks while quotes are prepared, use the IWI Sage X3 Quote Estimator to build quotes on the fly.
- Seamless previsioning
Despite best efforts, quotes arenât always accurate. The Sage X3 Quoting solution lets you easily document revision number and changes made to ensure all parties are working with the most accurate quote data available.
- Complete visibility
Get total visibility into your sales process with on-demand information about stock by site, stock by transactions, stock by lots, projected stock, sales orders, sales order lines, and purchase orders.
Ready to streamline your sales process? Start with the Sage X3 Quote estimator by IWI. Get in touch at 416-499-4821 (ext. 101) or toll-free at 866-916-3851 (ext. 101), or email us at sales@iwigroup.ca today.
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