3 Secrets to a Successful Quote
Jun
If you’re in business you’ll know all about quoting for a job, also known as tendering or bidding on new work. If you’ve been in business for a while you’ve probably learned a few tricks along the way, things that can mean the difference between a successful quote and one that isn’t.
And it’s not just about winning the contract either. A job poorly quoted might mean you’re the cheapest option for the customer but it can end up being an expensive burden for your business because you failed to cost it accurately, otherwise known as underquoting.
So how can you make sure your quotes win you business, rather than becoming an expensive headache? Try the following three secrets of successful quoting, secrets that tap into the power of telematics and GPS tracking, which are crucial for a mobile workforce.
#1 – Successful quotes are fast
The pace of business has rapidly increased over the last 10 years and along with that your prospects expectations of timeframes have changed. The immediacy of email, not to mention social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook, mean prospective customers will move on to your competition if you take too long to get back to them with a quote.
Speed up the quote process by having accurate cost data at your fingertips. A solution such as Telogis Route can provide you with accurate route costs in a matter of seconds, based on a wide range of business costs including fuel, vehicle use, labor and maintenance, to help you create custom quotes fast. The faster you get back to a prospect with an accurate quote the better impression you create and a better chance you’ll win the contract.
#2 – Successful quotes are accurate
For some businesses, quoting is more art than science, pulling numbers out of thin air and hoping they’re “about right”. Sometimes it works but in most cases it means you’re quoting too low to make a reasonable profit or too high and losing business. GPS fleet tracking allows you to keep accurate records of miles driven, fuel purchases and labor costs – essentially everything that goes into your costs per mile expenses.
Combining your costs per mile with your GPS route planning software allows you to quickly calculate the cost of servicing a new client and from there you can determine what your best price will be, without it being a loss leader!
#3 – Successful quotes don’t lose you money
A successful quote isn’t necessarily the winning quote – it’s the quote that is a win-win; a win for your business and obviously an attractive offer for the soon-to-be customer. That means you need to know all the costs that factor into every mile you drive – based on current running costs (not last year’s or a report done five years ago) for your fleet. Only then are you able to make sure your quotes aren’t driving your business into the ground – creating a lot of work but not much money.
With a real-time telematics solution you’ll have visibility on all your operating costs, with today’s costs, which is becoming increasingly important, particularly with fuel prices rising quickly.
A GPS solution for more profitable quotes
To start creating successful, more profitable quotes you need to have systems in place to capture the data you need to make those informed decisions. A data-driven approach helps you to know your business better and create accurate quotes using a range of recorded fleet costs such as fuel, maintenance and labor but to do that you need a reliable telematics system, such as the Telogis GPS fleet tracking system.
It might be all you need to take your quotes from hit and miss, to fast, accurate and profitable.
