Scott Santucci from Forrester Research blogged: "Here are three common ways sales enablement gets defined (unconsciously) within our client base: Sales enablement = equipping individual sellers with skills and or tools to do their jobs better. This lens of sales enablement seems simple, but it leaves far too much to interpretation about what a seller needs to be successful. As a result, many different and uncoordinated efforts pop up all over the organization driven by folks trying to help. If there is a sales enablement function in organizations that views the role in this way – they are likely to be understaffed and constantly putting out fires across the organization.  Sales enablement... read more »

It’s so hot…Really hot…Milk was a bad choice.  To make matters worse, the air conditioning at work has petered out…typical.  All I want to do is get back home to where the AC is working…but there’s so much left to do.  Man, its hot in here…I can’t concentrate on anything.  Okay, I think if I can just get this proposal out to Acme I have gotten enough out of the way to just skip out of here and relax in some air conditioning at home finally…oh man, that will be sweet. Oh but how long could that possibly be?  I’ve just started putting this together, I’ll be lucky to be home before 10pm at this rate.  Why would I set such a lofty goal to let myself out of this hellish heat???…Acme will just... read more »

Channelinsight, the leader of channel sales management solutions today announces a new partnership with BigMachines, the leader in product configuration, pricing and quoting, proposal generation and B2B ecommerce. Together these industry leaders have created a cloud-based solution that empowers enterprises to fully automate closed loop control into the discount management process, enabling customers to gain unprecedented visibility into channel sales data.The partnership allows both companies to offer a channel sales management solution with unparalleled ability to maximize the return on discount pricing policies in the channel.  The solution leverages Channelinsight’s Lead to Ship™... read more »

"Kodak...recognized that by implementing an on-demand solution from BigMachines, it would minimize the capital and time needed from Kodak's IT department...Plus we've shortened our sales cycles."- Mark Moran, Global Sales Operations DirectorStreamlining your sales process and eliminating non-value added activities -- manual data entry & order processing, sales forecasting via spreadsheets, manual editing of contracts, SOWs, and license agreements --  can make a dramatic improvement on your bottom line. Industry leader Kodak Graphic Communications Group successfully deployed BigMachines product configuration, quoting and proposal software to bring order and efficiency across multiple sales... read more »

If you sell directly to other businesses or consumers, you already know how important speed, accuracy and presentation are to close deals. BigMachines offers a variety of solutions to add speed and accuracy to the quoting and proposal, and order process. Here's how a BigMachines Customer utilizes product configuration, quoting and proposals to sell more and sell faster. Configure products and services in minutes instead of days using BigMachines Guided Selling, which organizes product specifications as a series of question menus to guide users through the configuration process. Send custom, validated, configurations on for review and approval via automated workflows. Sales Management,... read more »

Sales Documents convey how "together" you are as an organization - did you throw something together, or take the time to understand, customize, and prioritize the relationship?In this weekly series, we'll share the benefits of the BigMachines Document Engine and leave you with a better understanding of what makes a winning proposal (or quote, or contract)!Streamline the Sales Document Creation Process: Integration, Versioning, and eSignaturesIntegrationWhen you're ready to create a technically valid, branded, and accurate proposal, integration to multiple systems can speed the process along from days to minutes. Today's sales teams are storing customer data in CRM systems like salesforce.com... read more »

Join us on Thursday, July 21, 2011 when we share the success of BigMachines customer Illumina! A leader in life science tools and #4 on Forbes Magazine's list of Fastest Growing Technology Companies, Illumina has streamlined product configuration, workflow approvals and proposal generation, as well as automated management of custom Terms & Conditions for their customers. Manager of Sales Systems, Mark Santero will discuss how Illumina utilized BigMachines to transform their sales and quoting processes.In addition, BigMachines Certified Strategic Implementation Partner, Pierce Washington, will join in to review best practices when planning a new software implementation. Learn more about... read more »

Scott Santucci from Forrester Research recently blogged: "Here are three common ways sales enablement gets defined (unconsciously) within our client base: 1.     Sales enablement = equipping individual sellers with skills and or tools to do their jobs better. This lens of sales enablement seems simple, but it leaves far too much to interpretation about what a seller needs to be successful. As a result, many different and uncoordinated efforts pop up all over the organization driven by folks trying to help. If there is a sales enablement function in organizations that views the role in this way – they are likely to be understaffed and constantly putting out fires across the organization.  2.... read more »

This is re-post from our website.PLATO Learning, Inc. has successfully deployed the BigMachines Selling Platform. BigMachines automates product selection, pricing, approvals and proposal generation for PLATO's Customer Finance Consultant team. PLATO Learning is a leading provider of education technology solutions, offering innovative online courses for kindergarten through adult learners that include reading, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, and life and job skills. They have more than 50 years of experience in the educational technology market. PLATO chose to self-implement the BigMachines Selling Platform, replacing their existing quoting and pricing tool. Prior to... read more »

BigMachines was contacted recently with the following question:How can we use BigMachines to manage the contract process to close deals faster?BigMachines Contract Manager provides an integrated solution to automate the contract process from within the BigMachines Document Engine. Using the same Document Engine features which allow for dynamic sales proposals and quotes, BigMachines empowers legal teams to store rules-based contract templates with pre-approved clause libraries and merged data fields. The result is personalized, accurate contracts that keep company branding and consistency across the sales process.With dynamic workflow approvals, contracts that include non-standard terms or... read more »