Sant Corporation
Tom Sant, founder of The Sant Corporation, first created a methodology and then a software suite that permits its users to create persuasively structured documents that support the sales process. What began as proposal automation has grown to a full range of documents that provide effective sales and marketing communications and can be linked to the most popular customer relationship management programs such as SalesLogix, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft CRM and ACT!, among others.
Sant noticed that in creating proposals, his consulting clients were frequently focused on themselves when they needed to be focused on their client’s needs, were using boiler-plate, cut-and-paste techniques that further prevented them from focusing on those needs, and tended to give away the store by including all the technical specifications that the prospect could then use as a shopping list elsewhere.
Sant understood that you have a better chance to win if you can:
- Demonstrate that you understand the clien’t problem(s)
- Propose specific, tailored solutions in response to those problems
- Outline the investment required (but not the specific details)
- Present a Return-On-Investment (ROI) strategy or
- Show how the investment will prevent further critical problems
- Explain how your organization has helped in similar situations
- Give a short history of your organization
- Introduce the key players who will work with the client
- Provide a logical sequence of “Next Steps” to get things going.
The flagship product, ProposalMaster, used a database of carefully crafted persuasive statements about the client’s problems and needs, about the possible solutions available, and supporting statements providing validation of the supplier as the vendor of choice for the job. The program allowed sale representatives to tailor a proposal to the specific conditions of a prospect’s organization and generate a unique finished proposal in as little as half an hour… something that had previously taken as much as a full day.
The finished product met management’s requirement for written documents representing the company because the previously prepared statements had been read and approved when they were incorporated into the ProposalMaster database. Sales reps could produce proposals that were factually, gramatically and stylistically correct. Sales managers, knowing that the program contained pre-approved copy, needed only to check that no needs or solutions had been overlooked and that the pricing and terms were correct,
For those occasions when the prospect issued a Request For a Proposal (RFP) that contained a list of questions to be answered, the program RFPMaster was created. This program can parse a submitted request, break out the questions to be answered, and search the database for available solutions. It also generates a compliance matrix so you know which questions have been answered and which still need to be addressed. This last feature is of critical importance because many prospects refuse to consider suppliers who fail to answer all the questions.
The latest versions of these programs are web-based so sales reps can work from anywhere and have access to the data and materials that are protected behind the firewall.
Sant sells the software and the supporting services, including library creation. They also provide hosting solutions so you can leave everything in their hands. Some clients who do their own hosting or use a third-party hosting service ask us to help with library creation and maintenance… and we’re always happy to help.
