We know what some people think when they think “modular housing”: a trailer on the highway with half a house on it and a big red flag yelling WIDE LOAD.
But at IQX, we serve many companies in the manufactured homes and modular buildings market. We’ve learned from our clients how diverse the industry is—yes, there are the “highway houses,” but also warehousing, work sites, camp systems, and more. And the companies building, delivering, and setting-up these myriad structures serve vertical markets ranging from energy to healthcare to non-profit and beyond.
Which is why @@quote management software is a priority in serving the modular housing industry@@: with so many different client needs driving so many different types of proposals (and the products and pricing therein), automating sales as much as possible can be the difference between cleaning house and being left out in the cold.
Templated buildings, templated proposals
Every manufactured home or building has a blueprint, one proven over time to deliver the highest quality product with the most efficiency. Your CPQ software is really no different: quote management starts with a blueprint, too (though we call them “templates”).
Templates for creating quotes build success on many levels:
Speed: rather than start from scratch each time, salespeople can pick a template that best fits the client’s niche in the vertical; in this market, you’d have different templates for energy companies needing temporary housing at a mining site than you would for a builder delivering new homes to a development.
Accuracy: you can pre-populate the templates in your quote management software with the right language, products, and pricing, reducing the need for manual labor and the errors that invariably accompany it.
Brand building: customize your templates with your logos, your positioning, your color scheme. Every little bit counts toward making your company more memorable. Think of Home Depot’s orange, or Nike’s swoosh: What’s your color? What’s your swoosh? Put it in your templates, and on every page.
Supply chain management is in the house(ing market)
In the manufactured homes market, supply chain management is job #1… and job #2 and job #3, maybe even job #4, too. Businesses must track the supplies coming in and the homes going out, be well-stocked and prepared for new business and emergencies (and there are emergencies: think FEMA housing), and ensure that their end-product is delivered on-time and in one piece (or in as many modular pieces as it’s supposed to be in).
Your quote management software is a “mini me” of your client’s supply chain. It can track RFPs coming in, proposals being assembled, follow-ups from sales, upsells, and closing times. This level of insight helps a sale team leader spot where a sale may be falling apart, and get involved to help keep it moving or rebuild it when necessary.
Not only that but, with an online contact management system, your CPQ software can keep track of every customer, partner, prospect, and decision maker, ensuring the most important pieces in your “supply chain”—your customers—are moving through the pipeline as intended.
If you'd like to learn more about this topic or see IQX for yourself with a free demo, contact us.
