Updates

In today’s rapidly changing economy, companies are always on the lookout for ways to improve their sales processes. In recent years, Configure Price Quote software and ecommerce have proven to be useful tools for these companies to sell their products and services in an easy way. While the two approaches might seem similar at first, there are some key differences that are important to consider. Let’s take a look at these two online solutions, their similarities and differences, and how they can complement each other to help businesses grow.

UX design, or User Experience Design, entails any interaction a user has with a product or service and describes their emotions, from frustration to satisfaction. It plays a pivotal role in design decisions and providing positive customer experiences. But could UX design also be interesting to help drive sales? And how would that exactly work? Let’s find out.

You might feel like you are stuck with your current Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software system because you have already spent so much time and effort on its setup and maintenance. But you don’t have to stick with a solution that doesn’t work for your business. We believe you deserve to switch whenever you’d like. That’s why we created the Hive Smart Forklift, the easiest way to transition from your current CPQ to Hive. 

The war for talent rages on. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, companies are not only dealing with a talent gap, or a lack of skills in the workforce, but also with the great resignation, making people rethink their salaries, working conditions, and job satisfaction. The number of people quitting their jobs has rarely been higher. Studies have shown that the manufacturing industry in particular has been hit hard by this job market crisis. How can you protect your company from the increasing influence of the talent gap and the great resignation?

“Time is money”, the famous words from Benjamin Franklin prove that time efficiency was even in 1748 a trending topic. Today, the pressure is higher than ever to not waste any time, which has in turn influenced customer behavior. Customers today are demanding a better and faster buying experience. How can you handle this growing difficulty as a company?

Over the last few years, digital technologies have had a major impact on our daily lives: we wake up reading the online newspaper on a tablet, work on our laptops throughout the day, host remote meetings, and go to bed scrolling through social media on our smartphones. These changes are forcing companies to reinvent their businesses and to make a digital leap. However, merely digitalizing the internal processes is not enough. Let’s take a look at why you should transform your sales process and how you can do so in today’s modernized world.

Customers that have to wait for months on their orders, empty shelves in stores and unseen increases in price: the manufacturing industry is currently struggling with a worldwide shortage of raw materials. The lack of materials such as lumber, aluminum or plastic has caused a crisis for manufacturers. But where does this sudden scarcity come from? And what is the best way for companies to handle this situation?

Manufacturers are often struggling with long and complex sales processes, making it hard to increase sales. This has to do with the complex nature of the goods, but also with the fact that B2B sales requires various stakeholders to work together. On top of that, the manufacturing market has had some intrusive changes: increasingly demanding B2B buyers and global competition continue to impact companies. Increasing sales in manufacturing is therefore not as straightforward as it often is in other industries. We are bundling some tips to increase your sales again. Read along!

Attracting customers is essential for the growth of your B2B or Business-to-Business company. The best way of doing so is by meeting their needs. For years, B2B customers have been distinguished from B2C target audiences. However, in the most recent years, we have been noticing a shift, initiated by the changing behavior and needs of B2B customers.

Are you losing sales because it takes too long to make a quote? Long sales cycles kill deals. It slows down your manufacturing business on its way to growth and holds sales back. Are you also looking out for a shorter sales cycle to be able to move faster and grow? A CPQ can assist you with this process. But what exactly is CPQ? And how does it drive sales? That’s what we will be figuring out in this article.

Quotes are formal documents sent to your clients to offer goods or services at the indicated price. A good and winning quote includes accurate prices and product information, and has proven to be a method to grow your business even further. However, if you are selling configurable products, writing quotes is usually a long and dreadful process. The complexity of the products and prices slows down the workflow, resulting in an enormous backlog of quote requests that are not followed up quickly enough to keep the customers interested.

The idea behind the job of a sales representative is simple: help your customer find the best solution that fits their needs. However this task is a lot harder in a B2B environment in which companies are often struggling to explain complex products. This is where guided selling comes into play, a powerful strategy to regain control over your solution offering.