Few things in life are worse than losing track of an important document. Anyone who has ever shown up at the airport only to realize they have left their passport home on their nightstand can attest to this.
Yet, for construction professionals, there is an even worse feeling—that of realizing they have dropped the ball in managing quotes and keeping up with client communication.
In a world where missed responses can lead to missed sales, this is a very real problem, particularly in the no-mans-land between quote approval and the signing of the contract.
Keeping track of quotes and client engagement in real-time has never been more important, particularly for contractors, home improvement professionals, and small business owners in construction. Losing track of quotes and dropping the ball in customer communication can result in missed opportunities and a very real loss of revenue.
If you don’t already have a good system in place, fear not.
There are tools available to help.
Real-time quote tracking software helps contractors stay on top of leads, resulting in very real benefits.
Benefit 1: Gain Immediate Visibility into Client Engagement
While it’s true that speed to quote is a key component in accelerating sales, moving from quote to contract is equally vital.
If you are distracted for a day—whether you’re on the job site or focusing on communication with a client in crisis—you could easily lose track of where other potential clients are in their sales process.
When that happens, you could potentially miss seeing a quote approval come through.
And if there’s a lag between quote approval and signing the contract, that gap creates a Bermuda Triangle in which any number of dangers could sink the sale.
When there’s a lag between quote approval and contract signing, clients could:
- Get cold feet
- Lose interest
- Have a change of heart
- Decide to go in another direction
- Sign a contract with a competitor
This is why it’s vital for contractors and other home improvement professionals to track exactly where clients are in the decision-making process at all times. They need a system in place for timely follow-ups at each step in the process.
The best-case scenario involves investing in real-time tracking software that shows when clients view, request changes, or approve quotes.
Armed with this information, construction professionals can instantly move customers along to the next step.
And these days, speed matters.
People don’t just want things fast.
They want them now.
With the advent of technology and the internet, access to information, products, and services has become instantaneous. This has fueled a culture of immediate gratification, where people expect instant results, quick fixes, and constant validation. (William Maina)
With immediate visibility into client engagement in the quote-to-contract process, you will never miss a beat—or a potential sale—due to lack of visibility into client engagement.
Benefit 2: Employ a Streamlined Follow-Up Processes
It is not enough simply to know where clients are in their quote-to-contract journey.
While this information is helpful to a point, it is not sufficient for accelerating sales.
What really matters is moving a customer toward the next step in the most efficient way possible.
The most effective way to do this is by setting up a system of automated reminders that will auto-send at intervals, reminding customers that their quote is ready to be viewed.
Automated reminders are incredibly effective tools leveraged on a daily basis across industries to remind people of everything from doctor and dentist appointments to quotes and contracts awaiting their approval.
Digital reminders can take many different forms, including automated (“robo”) phone calls, emails, or SMS messages. Of those options, SMS may be the most effective mobile contact approach overall, with open rates of 98% and response rates of 45%.
After setting up a system of automated notifications to alert clients, contractors can enjoy a streamlined follow-up process that they can essentially set and forget, letting the automated reminders keep customers in the loop while simultaneously preventing leads from going cold.
These tools are especially helpful when the time comes for customers to approve the quote and move to the contract stage.
Regular reminders can create a sense of urgency, pushing clients toward a decision before the quote expires.
Benefit 3: Leverage Data-Driven Insights to Prioritize Leads
One of the benefits of conducting business in this era is that digital tools can remove a lot of the guesswork from your sales approach.
Rather than simply relying on your gut, intuition, or assumptions—none of which are wholly reliable—you can examine available data and analyze it in order to make more informed decisions and enjoy greater innovation.
A data-driven approach to quote tracking will allow you to prioritize leads and focus on the ones most likely to convert quickly into sales.
This can be done by monitoring data related to customer behaviors—such as quote views.
After identifying trends related to how quickly quotes are typically viewed, how many times they are viewed before approval, and other such metrics, you will have all the information you need to make data-driven decisions about how to prioritize your current leads and focus on the ones most statistically likely to convert into sales.
Over time, you could even leverage tracking data to forecast likely conversions and allocate your resources accordingly.
A few ways to get started on data-driven decision making would include:
- Identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) most relevant to your current goals. Common KPIs for construction companies may include 1) operating cash flow, 2) average days to collect/days sales outstanding (DSO), and 3) accounts receivable aging vs. accounts payable aging.
- Next, utilize analytics tools to analyze any relevant data. Choose from a wide array of simple online tools to analyze your data in seconds or reach out to a professional.
- Finally, review the data in segments. Segmenting your data allows you to isolate trends and customer groups so that you can target your sales accordingly.
Move forward armed with your data-driven approaches to grow, scale, and improve your business.
Benefit 4: Enjoy an Accelerated Sales Process
Knowing when quotes have been reviewed or accepted allows you to expedite the contract creation process.
While this might sound like a super basic statement, this one step in the sales process often proves difficult for everyone from small businesses to major corporations with massive resources.
As we consider what it might look like to enjoy an accelerated sales process, here are a few stats to consider:
- On average, companies take 20 to 30 days to create, negotiate, and finalize contracts. Most companies are not using Hearth’s instant contract features. Even then, contract approval may take time. Any moves you can make to reach this stage faster will accelerate your sales.
- The average time it takes for contract approval is 3-4 weeks. Granted, this statistic is not specific to construction contracts; nor does it take into account how automated alerts and customer tracking can lead to faster approval times. But still. Potentially losing weeks to the contract approval stage should make you value any steps you can take to move customers forward.
- The contract process can consume 18% of the sales cycle. The longer this phase takes, the less robust your overall cash flow. Anything you can do to cut down on that will create margin for you to move forward and scale at a greater rate.
- 55% to 70% of organizations lack effective contract management systems. Use such organizations as a cautionary tale. With Hearth, you can access both contract management tools and real-time quote tracking. A win-win.
While we will not take the time to do so today, we could easily offer statistics breaking down each step in the sales cycle, demonstrating how easily each stage can lead to slowdowns and potential derailments.
For today, however, we merely seek to demonstrate how reducing the time between sending a quote and gaining final customer approval will help you win more bids.
Bear in mind, however, that like the best fine wines and cheeses, the best sales processes tend to evolve over time.
While accessing real-time quote tracking will help you accelerate your sales cycle, you cannot allow that to be the first and last step you take.
To ensure that you are not just maintaining but improving over time, be sure to implement regular evaluations and adjustments to your methods.
Contractors Close More Deals With Real-Time Quote Tracking
The evidence is clear.
Real-time quote tracking software can improve lead management and lead to overall increases in approval rates.
With real-time quote tracking working on your behalf, you can gain immediate access to client engagement, employ a streamlined followup system, leverage data-driven insights to know how best to prioritize your current leads, and enjoy all the fruits of an accelerated sales cycle.
Contractors, home improvement professionals, and small business owners in construction who manage multiple clients and are looking to improve lead tracking and conversions absolutely must consider investing in software that includes real-time quote tracking.
Fortunately, tools like Hearth make this easy to accomplish.
For better lead tracking and faster project closures, reach out to Hearth today.
