If you're a B2B VAR of MSFT Dynamics CRM and you get an RFP to answer ASAP... you have far too many acronyms to sort through.
In all seriousness, if you are this person, you likely know one thing above all else when an RFP hits your inbox: YOU ARE NOT ALONE. In fact, a handful (or a ton) of people reading this blog may have the same RFP and are also readying a response.
What's your plan? Do you have an RFP response template ready to go in your Dynamics solution? Is it vertically targeted? Can you automate the product and pricing configuration therein and get it there in half the time? Will you be able to track every step from sent to signed?
If you're using a configure, price, quote tool (CPQ) as part of your RFP response process, then you can say: "Yes, I have a plan, and yes, yes, yes, and yes."
Dynamics CRM and CPQ: good for the customer AND the partner
While it makes crazy-good-sense for every Dynamics reseller to offer as part of their overall customer-facing Dynamics offer, it makes just as much sense to be using a CPQ solution yourself.
After all, we are all in the B2B sales space and know that a is often at least half the battle. The other half is getting that response out quickly and following-up (for more details on killer RFP responses, check out this ).
New to CPQ? We'll explain it to you. CPQ is a CRM and ERP extension that automates the RFP response/sales proposal process. With professionally designed, vertically targeted sales quote templates, a product and pricing configuration engine, and granular tracking of every RFP response you send, CPQ does what CRM can't (rather, what it can't do as well as it should).
When you add CPQ to your CRM offering, you have a great way to start customer conversations as you can focus on closing sales rather than, say, organizing contacts or tracking leads. (Not that those aren't important, but every business worth its salt will take a closed sale over, well, just about anything.)
And when, as a Dynamics partner, you use CPQ yourself in your RFP response process, you'll find a faster way to send more (and more professional) sale proposals.
Writing killer RFP responses
All the above aside, and as you likely know, no matter how progressive and aligned your tech stack is, it's only ever as good as the data and content you put in it. E.g., while CRM can help you organize information, if that information is "dirty," what's the point?
And while CPQ can help you send better looking proposals more quickly, if the content in them is weak, it doesn't matter if you were the first RFP responder as your response was lacking.
If you want to know how to populate your CRM and CPQ offering with RFP responses that help close more sales, check out this new whitepaper, "." And if you want to know how to add CPQ to your Dynamics portfolio, leave a note below.
