“Quoting in Word or Excel meant I was susceptible to human error and a simple mistake could end up costing me some serious money, plus it took forever. Since making the move to ConnectWise Sell I can get accurate and better looking quotes out the door in half the time.”
– KEN PEACOCK, Contracting and Logistics Manager, 360IT Partners
The team at 360IT Partners was using a clunky, non-comprehensive application to manage the back end of the business. It really only provided basic ticketing functions and because they were using Microsoft Word to build and execute their proposals, they were lacking a centralized tool that could integrate and communicate seamlessly.
Ken Peacock, Contracting and Logistics Manager at 360IT Partners, can now confidently say they’ve increased the value of their services, can deliver their quotes faster, and have reduced manual errors thanks to a more streamlined and automated quoting process. Their secret? The switch to ConnectWise Sell.
Change is never easy, and sometimes it’s hard to step out of your comfort zone. Years ago, the company tried implementing ConnectWise Sell, but they weren’t ready to take on the transition at that point in their business model.
So, what do you do when you don’t hit the nail on the head the first time? You try again.
A few years later, 360IT Partners was in the process of acquiring another company who was using ConnectWise Sell. This reignited their interest in the product, as they never fully got the benefits of this powerful CPQ solution out of their head, and the company decided to give implementation another try. This time? Success!
With ConnectWise Sell, product sourcing has become a breeze. Ken and his team save valuable time with the ability to not only link to their existing spreadsheet catalogs, but also access specialized online catalogs, like Etilize™, for real-time pricing, availability, and content.
And, if they decide they want to use the same products they’ve quoted in the past, they simply access their quote history, add items to their new quote, and the costs are updated automatically. “The catalog function gives me that ability right there in the application. It’s a time-saving feature that keeps me from having to look at each vendor and trying to figure out who has the best price. Plus, I love the way it’s customizable,” says Ken.
Making It Easy to Say ‘Yes’
A popular feature with the 360IT Partners team is Order Porter, ConnectWise Sell’s patented technology for online quote delivery. With the ability to produce intuitive quotes and proposals with just a few clicks, they can provide positive customer experiences anytime from anywhere. They can customize quote pages to meet the unique needs of each client and quickly answer questions and make changes on the fly, moving prospects smoothly towards a closed sale.
“I wouldn’t think of going any other way than going through Order Porter,“ says Ken. Everything can be sent and seen in one comprehensive proposal as opposed to multiple documents sent at varying times, providing more accuracy and readability than ever before - while reinforcing the 360IT Partner brand at the same time. They can even allow their clients to upsell themselves based on summary or detailed options provided in the proposal, and ensure timely follow-ups every time with notifications when customers view their quotes.
Combine all that with built-in e-signature that automatically generates a contract, and 360IT Partners is maximizing opportunities at every step in their customers’ journeys.
The Power of Communication
Where does the 360IT Partners team experience the benefits of a truly integrated platform to run their business? Once the hard work is over and the deal has been won. Converting product and services detail from won quotes in ConnectWise Sell to sales orders, projects, or tickets in ConnectWise Manage, gives Ken the efficiency needed to scale without hiring more people or sacrificing customer service.
“All the information included in our quotes is automatically pushed from ConnectWise Sell to ConnectWise Manage in the exact format we require, so there is no need to manually enter information in 2 different systems, or worry about accumulating costly errors.”
The Best of Both Worlds
So, what would 360IT Partners say to someone stuck in a world of manual quoting and double data entry between systems?
“Utilizing things like Word or Excel for quoting takes up a lot of time when putting quotes together. Even if you have templates in that software, there is still so much manual work you have to do. Whereas if you’re utilizing ConnectWise Sell, you’ve got everything you need inside of one application. Everything from creating templates to sourcing product to passing it on to the ConnectWise Manage system is done seamlessly; it’s a real timesaver,” says Ken.
From empowering conferences, networking events, and boot camps - there’s plenty of other benefits that come with being a ConnectWise partner. Ken says, “If a company chooses ConnectWise Sell and has the opportunity to attend the boot camp in Seattle, not only is it located in a nice part of the country, but it’s a wealth of knowledge. I thoroughly enjoyed everything I learned up there. The people were really nice and helpful. The implementation portion of getting the product up and running was great.”
