Founded for increasing sellers’ productivity and offer a unique approach to sales operations, Apparound is an integrated cloud solutions for digitizing sales based on a CPQ software (Configure, Price, Quote), that allows companies to manage the entire sales process with a single tool.
Gartner, a multinational strategic consulting corporation, conducts every year an extensive research and analysis activity in the ICT industry for constructing its Magic Quadrant™.
Inside this analysis, which is one of the world most renowned research, Gartner® scrutinizes the most important market players and states its competitive value in a dedicated table, differentiating technology providers in four main categories: leaders, visionaries, niche players and challengers.
Apparound has been featured in the Magic Quadrant™ di Gartner® for four years as a Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites.
In 2022 Fondo Italiano d’Investimento SGR has invested in Apparound by means of Fondo Italiano Tecnologia e Crescita (“FITEC”), and partially takes advantage of Azure’s technology, which is applied to Apparound’s proprietary technology.
On the other hand, the mobile part is developed natively in order to ensure maximum performance and guarantee availability of the software in any kind of situation of the entire sales process, even during lack of network coverage, thanks to a synchronization engine.
Within the platform there are modules designed to make all processes more efficient, ranging from the presentation of products or services to the signing of the contract, from the monitoring of each sales action to content management and salesperson training.
In this post we present the first part of these modules, those most closely related to the negotiation phase:
- Content Sharing
- Solution Advisor
- Power CPQ
- Interactive Tools
- Contract Generator
- Electronic Signature
Content Sharing: information materials always available for the sellers
Thanks to this module, the entire sales force can access useful materials for the presentation of products or services.
During negotiations, either in person or remotely, the seller can showcase digital contents that have been uploaded on Apparound, such as:
- Brochures
- Data sheets
- Catalogs
- Price lists
- Videos
- Images
There are multiple file formats that can be uploaded: images, pdfs, videos (streaming or download), URLs and links to existing items, tables, catalogues and brochures, generic files, and much more.
Searching for individual content is quick and easy. This makes the interaction between the seller and the prospect or client smooth and engaging. In addition, materials can be sent instantly to the relevant person.
The Content Sharing module allows the company to design and propose products and services, either simple or complex ones, to its prospects in order to create a guided path that leads to an informed purchase, because it is personalized based on the type of customer or the needs that have been explicitly expressed by them during the negotiation.
Solution Advisor: smart support during the negotiation
The Solution Advisor module is designed to offer companies a precise modality of facilitation for both sellers and customers.
The seller is supported through guided paths that help the seller select the most suitable option and respond in real time to the needs expressed by the customer.
The customer is taken by the hand and led towards the right solution that solves his/her problems through a series of questions and targeted contents, that help clarifying doubts and focus the sales interaction on real needs.
The main objective of the Solution Advisor module is to ensure that the company can access a tool that reduces the time and costs of training its sales force by simplifying the quoting process.
Even the less experienced seller who has been in the company only for a short time will have the ability to create a quote quickly, thanks to the guided paths identified within the software. Up-sell and cross-sell mechanisms are also suggested directly inside Apparound thanks to this module.
Power CPQ: configure customized offerte personalizzate
This module represents the core of Apparound. Power CPQ allows you to compose an offer together with the client and generate mistake-free quotes, either simple or complex ones.
Apparound allows complete customization and configuration of the entire sales journey.
Through the administration portal, with a simple and intuitive interface, it is possible to:
- Define sales journeys;
- Customize the layout of the configurator for each individual sales journey;
- Control the position of products within the interface;
- Customize the labels on different screens.
In addition, the software allows to manage different types of products (commodity or extra-commodity) and the links between products by organizing them into offer types, which the seller can then select in the CPQ.
Obligation rules can also be set between products, so that the vendor is guided during the configuration process and the generated quotes always comply with commercial policies.
As with products and price lists, Apparound also allows profiling of quote types for different sales channels, seller profiles or customer targets.
The configurator also allows additional content, such as data sheets, images, videos and documents, to be linked to products so that the seller can show them to the customer during the quoting and selling process.
Through Power CPQ it is possible to ensure dynamic sales policies and logics depending on various factors, such as:
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The type or number of products included in the offer;
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The type of customer;
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The overall value of the offer;
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The hierarchical role of the seller making the offer.
Once completed, the offer can be shared in several ways:
- Remotely, through the creation of a dedicated customer-facing portal
- Via email or in real time, if the meeting takes place in person.
Interactive Tools: a portal dedicated to the customer
Within the portal made available by Apparound through the Interactive Tools module, the customer will be able to:
- View the offer
- Discover and consult product-related attachments
- Edit data by themselves or with the support of the seller
- Chat with the seller.
This is a way to actively engage the customer in a unique and interactive sales experience. Once the offer has been confirmed, the customer can proceed to enter the necessary information for the realization of the contract.
It will always be possible, however, to intervene with cross-selling and up-selling proposals, monitor interactions with the customer through a dedicated dashboard and intervene, if necessary.
In addition, it is possible to connect sales back-office and marketing automation systems to the flow.
Contract Generator: the contract created together with the customer
The module was developed specifically to create the contract from the quote produced together with the customer, in person or remotely.
Going directly from a shared quote to digital contracting can be greatly beneficial, since:
- It avoids errors and improves customer perception
- It speeds up negotiation's closure time
- It shows the customer how efficient the company is.
The contract structure can be customized through the Admin Portal, so that it fits the type of products or services being sold.
The latter allows CPQ software to be uploaded, configured, managed and maintained in a matter of minutes, from any browser, and with no IT skills required.
Electronic Signature: close the contract anywhere, safely
Electronic signature is the element that allows you to close your contract quickly and effectively, without geographical or time constraints.
Apparound, in order to meet the needs of the market, providesdifferenttypes of electronic signatures with legalvalidity.The Italian legislation, as already expressed in a dedicated article, requires a simple electronic signature, corresponding to the characteristics of the "electronic signature" of the European eiDAS regulation, and the digital signature, which can be associated with the "qualified electronic signature" described in the eiDAS.
For example, the customer will be given the option of placing a graphometric signature directly on the vendor's device (e.g., tablet) or opting to use the remote signature with OTP authentication.
The process is extremely secure because Apparound uses the world's leading and most reliable signature systems.
