The Best Way To Manage A Complex Pricing Model Using Web Based Crm Software

Inconsistent pricing is a problem that has far reaching ramifications

. It can also be quite challenging to solve. Recently a small selection of web based CRM providers have introduced software to make pricing easier to understand, access and manage.

Let's start by looking at the negative effects of inconsistent pricing. When you start business, pricing is simple. Generally you have a single price list covering all your products and services. But what happens when you raise prices on some products?. What happens if you open a new office that charges different rates? Or you open an office in a new location with a different pricing scale for that community? What about wholesalers or special clients, do they get preferential prices? You might even run a time sensitive special discount, how do you enforce the deadline?

This is when your pricing gets messy and begin to affect your staff and customers. There are 3 specific problems caused by inconsistent pricing:

1. Time Squandered

Most companies manage their pricing by publishing PDF documents or excel spreadsheets . When you have a wide range of products staff may find it difficult to find the price relevant to the customer they are dealing with. Or they may not even be able to locate the most up to date pricing document.

This wastes time and staff efficiency. Your sales team should be interacting with customers not searching for prices. It can also make your sales team look stupid and amateur, they really should be able to quickly quote product prices.

2. Misquoting-- Price Too High

Assuming that your team don't have or can't find the most up to date pricing information they might quote the client a price that is either too high or too low.

If the customer is given a price that is too high they may decide to go with your competition instead. For example a customer may see your service in a brochure and call to place a booking based on the printed price only to be told that the price is higher. This can stall or completely destroy a sale.

The customer may also engage in 'salesman shopping' where they call your company multiple times asking for the price until they find a sales person who will give them a reduced rate. This is simply unprofessional and it makes your organization look sloppy. No-one wants to rely upon a company that can't even get their own pricing right.

3. Misquoting-- Price Too Low

So what happens when your sales team quotes a price that is too low? If you decide to honor the price quoted you could end up running that particular deal at a loss. On the other hand if you try to bring the client up to the proper price then losing the sale is a very real risk. It's a no win situation.

To avoid these perils it is important to have consistent pricing information that is easily accessible to all staff. The easiest way to achieve this is through Web Based CRM software.

Web Based CRM (customer relationship management) systems are hosted by your CRM provider online, meaning your staff can log in anytime, from anywhere all they need is an internet connection. This makes them ideal for multiple offices and for mobile sales teams as they can access the system (and up to date pricing data) from their smartphone or 3G enabled laptop.

A few innovative web based CRM providers have even created software modules designed to automate complicated pricing models. For example some CRM systems allow you to program different prices based on quantity breaks (if you buy 1 bowl it is $ 7.50 each but if you buy 10 + bowls they are $ 6.00 each). You can also flag customers who get special prices, your staff only need to look up the customers name in the system and they will see the prices that specific customer has been allocated.

However the biggest benefit is simply having your up to date pricing information all in the same place. So staff can quickly confidently provide quotes to potential customers.

by: Troy Netreba

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