Part 1 focused on Schenck's needs and challenges, and Part 2 focused on Schenck's decision to chose BigMachines.  So now, we'll show you why that was a GREAT decision! Success and Results Schenck rolled out BigMachines to their sales teams in 2011.  The adoption phase took approximately six months and focused on bringing the sales reps up to speed with training to ensure regular use of the new quoting system. Results: Much more consistent and professional quote to our customers Reduced time required for order entry and reduced time during the order review process. Sales representatives spend less time trying to configure products correctly & submit quotes properly, and more time meeting... read more »

Science has yet to figure out a way to share knowledge through osmosis, but BigMachines Guided Selling sure comes close! While your most accomplished sales executives may already know the precise questions to ask prospective customers, Guided Selling helps new team members--as well as Channel Partners and eCommerce customers--to find the right solutions to fit project requirements. Specifically, Guided Selling asks a series of questions that result in tailored product recommendations, including pictures, help tools and calculators to further assist choices! In addition, Guided Selling can be configured to present alternative features and options based on the initial input provided. This... read more »

Worldwide leader in interactive promotions, ePrize, replaced its previous sales configuration tool with BigMachines in 2008, simplifying ePrize's quoting process and streamlining their sales cycle. ePrize creates interactive promotions that generate metric-driven results to meet companies' unique marketing challenges. The company has launched over 5,000 promotions in 36 countries. ePrize has successfully deployed BigMachines for sales configuration, quoting and proposal generation, hosted with BigMachines' secure, high-performing data hosting services. "We needed more robust and flexible solutions to meet our requirements," said Drew Bennett, SVP, Product Development of ePrize. "We chose to... read more »

In B2B sales, questions can be your #1 friend or your #1 enemy when used inappropriately. You may be thinking: Of course, I ask questions all the time, but they don’t close deals. Questioning technique is what I found to be the turning point in my sales career. In fact, had I not mastered the art of questioning technique, I’d probably be tending bar in a college town again after my failed attempt at a new career. On average, I have found that most people think they are good at asking questions, but most of them are leading and closed questions that only push your thoughts and ideas onto the other person. But isn’t selling my thoughts and ideas what I want to do as a sales person? My... read more »

You have questions. We have answers! Ask our team of B2B sales experts about your current challenges in the inquiry-to-order process and learn how you can sell more and sell faster with product configuration, workflow approvals, and proposal generation. Today, we will focus on our latest product, BigMachines Express. BigMachines Express (formerly QuickConfig) is a packaged, easy-to-use, quick-to-install configuration solution for growing, mid-sized businesses. BigMachines Express enables users to quickly and easily select the best products and add them to sales quotes and opportunities using a powerful, intuitive selection and configuration engine. Built on Force.com, the enterprise... read more »

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 »

Melanie Gipp, BigMachines Director of Marketing for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, was  interviewed by our partner Innoveer. "Sell more, and sell it more quickly" is the mantra for many an industry. But if there's one impediment to rapid selling, it's product complexity. Buy a PC online today, for example, and you may have to navigate through 500 core options — some top-level, others stemming from choices you make — not to mention an array of accessories and add-ons. To tame this product complexity and proliferation for salespeople and customers, and to streamline proposal generation and price quotes for products, many companies work with Innoveer to integrate a "product configurator"... read more »

Dilbert may struggle to get approvals on his sales quotes or proposals in the cloud, but you don't have to! Using BigMachines Sales Engine and Channel Sales Engine, administrators can set up Workflow Approvals through a visual flow chart interface. Building a workflow is quick and easy with drag and drop and can be used for both simple approval chains, or more complicated ones with multi-levels of approval. With a workflow in place, quotes created in BigMachines will automatically route to the appropriate approvers, such as account, finance, or management, based on user-defined conditions. This means management can alleviate the bottleneck effect for approvals for quotes which pass... read more »

Founded in 2000, BigMachines is a company defined by innovation, growth, and customer commitment. In just over ten years, what started as two MIT graduates has grown into the global leader in product configuration, quoting and proposal, and B2B e-commerce software. From the beginning, BigMachines has believed in hiring talented, motivated people that are passionate about helping our customers succeed. We look for technically-savvy interns and graduates from leading universities and colleges that can make an immediate contribution to our customers' success. We offer exciting opportunities for new graduates in our product development, professional services, and sales teams across our global... read more »

The Cloud Computing Event of the Year has passed and BigMachines wants to share some knowledge gained so you can be at your best for the next big event which will be packed full of non-stop networking, learning, partying and demos. Want to know our secret for fine tuning your biggest and most complex asset (you!) for BigIdeas and other conferences? Stay Hydrated! Your Selling-Engine-Self is about 60% water and while you are busy networking, you’ll lose more than a cup of water from exhaling and talking! If you're a BigMachines user, you likely be providing pricing and quoting directly from your iPad using BigMachines Unplugged – Loose lips sink ships but chapped lips lose deals, so drink up!... read more »