SALES Technology: COMPLEX PRICING SOLUTIONS CLOTHER DESIGN SOURCE More salespeople are involved in creating and offering custom solutions, which means pricing out the sale can be challenging- especially since so many of us didn't enter sales because we like math! Fortunately, there are technology solutions that help, and not just with the pricing but also with the actual product design. A company can input its product catalog into a software system called a product configurator, making it easy for salespeople to work with customers to design the products they want. For example, Powertrak, made by Axonom, can not only be used to generate proposals and price quotes, it also can be used to design the final product. The system can even apply virtual reality to give the buyer a better look at what is being purchased. Shimadzu Scientific Instruments chose the Powertrak configure/price/quote (or CPQ, as the type of solution is called in the industry) in part so that new salespeople could become productive more quickly. But the benefits weren't just for new salespeople. The system doesn't allow the user to make mistakes, like putting two incompatible parts together, which means that fewer approvals are needed. Fewer approvals means faster response to customer inquiries, resulting in more sales. Page-2: Case Study Analysis Shimadzu Scientific Instruments manufactures highly complex medical testing instruments. Karen Sasaki, manager of information technology at the company, said, "Powertrak (the CPQ it uses) not only gives us control to create kits and execute sales quotes more efficiently and accurately, but its robustness allows us to apply multiple quotes, that may include multiple product kits, to any given opportunity in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and forecast one or more quotes for pipeline management." Arkos Field Services found that a CPQ system cut its proposal preparation and approval time from days to minutes. The company, which serves the oil and gas industry, sells replacement compressors and other equipment used in the field. "Successfully completing a job quote was an excruciating time-consuming task. Our sales managers were required to understand the job, scope it contact the OEM about parts and pricing, and calculate service expenditures, all before finalizing the quote," said Eric May, director of project management office (PMO) at Arkos. But with a CPQ, the process became much easier. The result is that Arkos's sales engineers can spend more time going after new business, rather than working on proposals. 5. Summarize in your own words the review of Powertrak provided by Arkos Field Services? 6. Suppose you are a sales manager of a famous brand "Clothier Design Source" and you are using the Powertrak. Give at least three examples of how Powertrak helps you in generating product designs and price quotes in your line of business