Not every sales team is hypervigilant about speed, but every sales team needs to be. Whether businesses realize it or not, customers are very responsive to speed—and are much more likely to reward speed with sales. A 2021 study by InsideSales.com found that if a business follows up on a lead within the first five minutes, the company’s odds of successfully converting the lead into a contract are eight times greater than if the sales team sits on this lead for longer than five minutes. With time being of the essence, businesses must make every step of the sales lifecycle as short and seamless as possible, from sales quote generation to cash received. 

Decades ago, businesses struggled with cumbersome, manual processes that needlessly complicated and slowed down the quote-to-cash process. There were out-of-date product and pricing catalogs, inefficient review and approval steps needed before quotes could be sent, and multiple disconnected systems that couldn’t transfer and share critical data automatically. Fortunately, modern, cloud-based platforms—especially industry leader Salesforce Revenue Cloud —have eliminated all of these problems in one fell swoop. Today, it isn’t just possible to achieve speed during the quote-to-cash process; it’s within reach and an increasing necessity for organizations of all sizes and industries. Let’s explore four key tips for how to go from quote to cash at maximum speed with a well-designed CPQ (configure, price, quote) solution:

Use automation to get quotes and invoices to customers without delay

Businesses close deals and get paid when they are on top of every step of the sales process. That includes producing error-free sales quotes as soon as the customer has requested one and then invoicing the customer in exactly the manner and time frame that the customer agrees to. The average business struggles with…

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