Teknion Drives Enterprise-Wide Adoption of Winning Proposal Format with Sant ProposalMaster

Current Status

Teknion Corporation generates more than 500 high value sales proposals each year for their office systems and furniture. These customized proposals, prepared with Sant ProposalMaster, are carefully designed, graphics-rich, and professionally formatted to convey Teknion's brand image. Individual sales representatives, regional sales support staff, and central corporate resources all use Sant ProposalMaster--either individually or collaboratively. The solution eliminates the need for a sophisticated graphics package and cuts the initial draft proposal creation process from more than four hours to just minutes.

Original Challenge

Before implementing Sant ProposalMaster, most Teknion sales representatives created their own proposals, for their own customers, using information stored on their own computers. "While there was an attempt to share a corporate standard, no single resource existed for up-to-date information," says Cynthia Kirkland Odell, Teknion's Vice President of Marketing Services. "Furthermore, sales representatives spent a lot of time searching for specific information needed to tailor the proposal to meet their customer's unique requirements, which sometimes diverted energy from creating a response which distinguished us."

The company thought they could solve this problem quickly by implementing an automated proposal solution. But, after doing so, they soon discovered that while proposals could now be created faster and with more current content, the proposals still did not meet the expectations of their prospects.

"Our proposals were typical to our industry--a lot of words in a big binder," says Kirkland Odell. "When I spoke to prospects whose business we did not win, the most frequent comment was, 'I just don't have time to read everything in your proposal.' We clearly were not meeting market expectations, and our proposals weren't an accurate reflection of the quality solutions we provide, either."

Solution

To make it easier for sales staff to create winning proposals that contain the most current information, Teknion's first move was to implement Sant ProposalMaster.

"We thought that enabling sales representatives and sales support staff to choose pre-approved and relevant content for each proposal from a repository of best in class responses would solve our problem entirely," Kirkland Odell recalls. "Looking back now, I can see that was naïve. ProposalMaster is a powerful tool, but its true benefits can only be unleashed if the right proposal format and structure are created first."

It was at this juncture that Teknion embarked on a program to come up with that format and structure. "Essentially, we're in the design business," Kirkland Odell says. "So we wanted to be sure that our proposals presented not just words, but also images and a graphic layout that convey our design aesthetic and our branding message."

To create their new proposal paradigm Kirkland Odell consulted with customers and interior designers to determine what they wanted in a proposal document. Teknion then took this information to a team that included external design and graphic professionals, as well as internal sales, design and marketing staff, who, together, re-crafted their proposal format.

"In our first trial proposal with the new model we were essentially the seventh of six contenders," Kirkland Odell says. "The prospect wasn't even seriously considering us. But we shot to the top of the pack after our proposal submission. When I spoke with the lead reviewer, he said that a key reason for our dramatic rise in the standings was our proposal. 'It called to me, he said. It was the first one I read and it set the benchmark for everything else that I reviewed.' And that's when we realized we'd solved the puzzle."

The initial successful format was executed with a sophisticated graphics package. But because this package was both difficult and time-intensive to use, Teknion ported the new format into Sant ProposalMaster.

"After loading the new proposal format into Sant ProposalMaster, proposals were just as impressive as if they had been crafted with the graphics package," Kirkland Odell says. "And, best of all, any of our sales representatives or sales support staff, anywhere in the world, can create draft proposals, without needing a degree in graphic design."

The Future with Sant

Teknion is currently relying on Sant ProposalMaster to prepare about 500 high value proposals each year, but that number is expected to more than double as the solution with the new format is rolled out to all sales representatives, globally. By the end of 2009, the goal is to have all proposals created by all sales representatives conform to the new format.

About Teknion

Teknion Corporation is a leading international designer, manufacturer and marketer of office systems and related office furniture products. The company's extensive product portfolio encompasses several lines of systems furniture, mobile furniture, desk systems, an architectural wall system, seating, storage and filing, and freestanding case goods. Teknion headquarters are located in Toronto, Ontario and the company has offices and facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Russia, and Malaysia. Clients are also served through a network of authorized dealers worldwide. For more information visit www.teknion.com.