Every year businesses are losing millions because their sales processes are inefficient. A new survey by Apttus and Adobe reveals that digitizing some of these processes results in a big boost to top line revenue.
The two companies polled more than 140 executives at Fortune 1000 companies from a variety of industries. Respondents were quizzed on internal processes, revenue goals, and sales and contract systems. Many admitted to knowing about problems in each of those areas, which adds up to millions in lost profits per year. Adding to those confessions, a quarter of respondents were unable to say whether their company was successful or not because they don’t have insight into critical sales performance metrics.
What’s happening to cause so much confusion and inefficiency? “It’s a shocking depiction of the siloed, disconnected nature of many companies,” said Elliott Yama, AVP of Best Practice and Knowledge Management for Apttus, in a report by CMS Wire.
The report also revealed:
Half of companies surveyed said their company took a hit because of an error made while generating a sales quote, even though 40 percent take three or more days to get that quote to a customer.
Nearly half (45 percent) of companies responding said it takes more than a week to get contracts signed and more than a third (33 percent) don’t manage renewals effectively.
Both Apttus, a revenue management supplier, and Adobe are advocates of automating sales processes to reduce mistakes and boost profits in part because they’ll win business from companies that upgrade to their digital solutions. But independent research published in the Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing found that in the U.S. sales increases of $22.2 million were attributed to sales force automation usage.
And one particular result from the Apttus/Adobe findings is compelling: simply switching to an e-signature solution on contract renewal can contribute 15 percent or more growth to revenue per year. One third of companies that digitized their contracts said they were able to close deals in one day.
“Response time when it comes to deals can often be the difference between winning and losing–businesses dealing with perishable goods, or other strict delivery dates, cannot function without a reliably fast contract process,” Yama told eWeek. “Bottom line, having more time means having more options.”