Complete Office Supplies Automated Sales Proposals Expand Market Reach

The Challenge

Financial growth objectives challenged Complete Office Supplies (COS) to rethink its efficiency in responding to tenders to propose products and supply solutions to government agencies and corporate organizations. Growing the business was the main objective and it became clear it was time to consider the efficiencies of proposal automation. The demands of completing large government and enterprise business proposals overshadowed the small- and medium-space opportunities, which competitors were completing faster than COS.

Meanwhile, “Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were constantly being pulled away from their responsibilities to answer the same questions for different opportunities,” said Damon Buckle, Manager of Bids and Tenders. “Half of the new business opportunities had to wait 2-3 weeks for completion while complex government proposals were completed. COS realized its existing process did not efficiently manage its volume of information or easily retrieve the content needed to complete sales documents and expand market reach.”

The Solution

In Expedience, COS discovered a 3-part solution for the Bid Management team to meet business growth demands better: the Style Palette, the Content Portfolio Library, and a customized Proposal Done Quickly (PDQ). The PDQ would beautifully assemble formatted documents with up-to-date content from the Content Library while increasing the speed of completion.

“It is a journey; the goal was to have a baseline of content, looks professional without continually rework and accessible for reuse. With Expedience, we capture great work throughout the year, and it is forever there for reuse.”
–Damon Buckle, Manager, Bids & Tenders

COS initiated a transition in the branding that affected the Bid and Tender Team’s formatting and Styles. Introducing the Expedience Style Palette enabled COS to see the possibilities for a new branded look and feel for proposals, ultimately evolving into an organization-wide change. Infographics and images were added to the Content Library to enhance the quality of proposals. “Content and Style have been an education for the Sales Team. Salespeople see the value this brings, and the impression of sales materials has improved as well. I do believe the quality has increased our win rates overall,” says Damon Buckle.

Before loading the Content Library, SMEs had a formal review process to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the content to prevent redundant checks later. During this review process, Damon Buckle had one-on-one time and the opportunity for solution buy-in with his Executive Team. The executives came away with a clearer understanding of the investment’s overall objectives and potential ROI. This shined a light on the significant impact and contribution of the Bid Management Team throughout the sales process and raised the team’s profile with the executives at COS. Ever since, Damon Buckle says, they are “reaping the benefits every day. We are spending less time on writing proposals from scratch or finding previous proposals to overwrite and more time on customizing the proposals at hand.”

“With the PDQ technology, our Speed to Market continues to improve, and small- and medium-space proposal opportunities that previously required 2-3 weeks’ lead time are completed within 5 business days,” adds Damon Buckle. Sheer volume helps our win percentage go up.”

Under Damon Buckle’s leadership, COS’s possible next step is to roll out the Expedience Content Library and PDQ to their Branch Coordinator Network, which spread across 8 offices located in the 8 territories of Australia, handles ad hoc requests for information from the Sales Team. The plan to implement the PDQ for Muru Office Supplies (MOS), a partnership with Muru Group in support of indigenous communities, has been realized, and the automation of content and proposals will be going live in early 2022.

Expedience Software, founded by pioneers in proposal automation, harnesses the power of Microsoft® Word to drive better proposal quality while accelerating the speed and effectiveness of proposal teams around the world. Headquartered in Manchester, NH, with a presence in Dallas, San Diego, Omaha, and Portland, Expedience serves hundreds of companies in the financial and asset management, healthcare, legal, manufacturing, and technology industries.

The company’s rapidly growing footprint extends to customers throughout the US, Canada, UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, and New Zealand. Named Leading Proposal Automation Software Company by Global Insights and one of the 20 Most Promising Sales Tech Solution Providers by CIOReview, Expedience continues to lead the industry with its innovative expansion of the Microsoft Office suite.

www.cos.net.au

COS is Australia’s largest family-owned and operated office products supplier. We have been in operation for over 40 years, with over 500 employees delivering thousands of products to businesses across Australia every day. We have invested heavily in creating a nationwide presence with an extensive network of sales offices, warehouses, and distribution centres across Australia. Each branch is tailored to local requirements and delivers a local service experience. With thousands of products to choose from for every room in your office, our all-in-one supply solution makes it easier for you to access what you need for your business.