AdDataExpress vs. ConnectWise CPQ vs. Proposal Management and Production System (PMAPS)

When using tools like AdDataExpress, demographics are key when trying to identify new relationships. Being able to segment out the population by many demographic fields is absolutely necessary to try and optimize what we are spending. Trying to use this as a pure CRM is probably not the greatest idea, but using it in parallel with one would be good.

Incentivized

The most powerful features are the fact that you can see when your clients have viewed your quote, and that it can pull in real-time information about the products you are selling. It is all online-based, so you can use it from anywhere which is a big advantage over other quoting tools that I have used. We don't use the procurement capabilities, but for quoting pricing and customer visibility it works fantastically.

Incentivized

Do you need consistency of messaging across multiple countries/products/divisions/languages? Do you want to be able to tailor content access per team/division/country? Do you want to be able to report on/track use by user, document, searches, compliance, etc.? If so, PMAPS is the most versatile proposal management tool I've come across so far.

• Provides email addresses - essential when doing cold email outreach.
• Provides agencies for each brand/company.
• Provides media spend for parent company and brand.

Incentivized

• ConnectWise Sell does an excellent job of neatly presenting quotes and proposals to the end user. There are multiple different options for the look and function of the quotes. There are also options for custom quote templates that are designed directly for your organization.
• ConnectWise Sell does a reasonably good job of connecting to and working with Autotask. It took our organization about 6 months to figure out the correct way to flow from quote to invoice with our systems. Sell will easily pull in your customer information from Autotask into a quote and allow you to send the quote direct from your email.

Incentivized

• Searching for boilerplate material--PMAPS allows you to search by keywords, as well as filter by categories (e.g., implementation, training, company information, etc.) I set up all the categories, subcategories, audience types, etc. We used to spend a significant amount of time searching for previously written information, but now we can find it within seconds. I only use it to search for information stored within PMAPS, but you can also set it up to point at other places to search for information as well.
• Manage proposals--PMAPS has a dashboard that lists all of the proposals I'm working on as well as key information that I want to have available for each of them. You can decide what information you want to show on your dashboard (I use mine to show due date, production date, review date, salesperson for proposal, etc.) It is very convenient to have all of that information available at a glance. PMAPS also has a built-in calendar that will show you key dates for all of your proposals.
• Generate custom documents--PMAPS allows you to set up templates that you can use to generate documents. You can set up forms that allow yourself or other users to specify what information should be included in that document, and then PMAPS will generate the document based on how users respond to the questions (e.g., what references to include, what products to list, etc.).
• Word Replacement--PMAPS allows you to set up codes that will automatically be replaced with the correct term when you generate the proposal. For example, in our boilerplate information, any place where I would want the final proposal to say the prospect's name, I use the code <>. Those codes are automatically replaced with the prospect's name for that proposal when either I generate a document or when I simply select the icon that searches for and replaces codes.
• Easily edit boilerplate documents--PMAPS allows you to easily edit boilerplate information. You can select a document one at a time, or you can select a whole bunch of documents at once (simply by doing a search and/or filter to limit the results to the documents you want to edit) and download them onto your computer, edit, and then re-upload.
• Store material--PMAPS allows you to store Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF documents.

• Filtering is not optimal
• Integration with other products is not intuitive or even there
• Keeping data up to date automatically

Incentivized

• I'd like to see ConnectWise Sell develop a more user-friendly environment for advanced form and template design that doesn't require developer skills or consulting engagements. in order for us to develop these forms makes us reliant on consultants. These engagements are worth the cost, but sometimes we just don't have time to wait for them to be delivered.
• I'd like to see ConnectWise Sell automatically generate a quote for items such as warranties or services that are expiring in ConnectWise Manage. This would save us a tremendous amount of time preparing quotes.
• I'd like to see a new version automatically created when changes are made to a quote with the ability to reverse or revert back to a particular version. Sometimes people make mistakes and delete or change something they shouldn't have. Or customers want a change to version 1 only to change their minds when you send them the updated one, and want to go back to the original one.

Incentivized

• There are times when I'm having a problem and I call the general line and have to leave a message and then wait for someone to call me back. I'd like to be able to speak with a live person every time.
• I'd like to see the program handle Excel documents with the ease that it handles a Word document.

We are in our 4th year with Quosal and fully expect to renew again and again. With their development of additional features such as the Order Porter, Visual Quoting and others, we see the adoption rates continuing to rise while making our time to quoted shorter and shorter. Quosal and ConnecWise's vision of automated quoting is an exciting frontier that we are very happy to be a part of

I have been a PMAPS user for over 5 years. I started on their client/server version and renewed/upgraded this past year to their cloud version, WebPro. When you have a good product that delivers all the bells and whistles you need, there is no need to go searching anywhere else. We have a great partnership with the PMAPS staff and find them very resourceful and appreciative of our business

Quosal is a very solid product with a LOT of functionality. Quosal has two main products that they offer, 'Quosal Sell' and 'Quosal Create.' If you are looking for an "out-of-the-box" or "ready to use" quoting software, I would recommend Quosal Sell. If you are interested exploring advanced functionality and integration or have a resource on staff willing to assume an "admin" role, I would highly recommend Quosal Create.

I dont think we use this tool to potential

Incentivized

Have to wait till 11pm EST time to get someone knowledgeable. That sucks truly. Almost half my day is gone. They need to provide premium support, where I can contact a "real" Quosal rep, anytime of the day or night 24/7

Incentivized

Great implementation, the Quosal team has a smart and well planned process to guide your team through the process. More importantly, they understand the challenges with change and user adoption.

Incentivized

Winmo allows more dynamic and functional searches, and puts agency and brand contacts in one place. It also allows exports based on spend and in general, is much more dynamic of a software.

Incentivized

When it comes to the quoting layout Sell gives you so many more customization options. The item inventory is also easier to maintain. Sell is by far the best selling module that I have used thus far and it has helped keep us more organized.

Incentivized

I did the vendor analysis and narrowed my selection to Qvidian (which I had used before) and PMAPS (which I had not). I've never regretted my choice. In ease of use alone, PMAPS wins hands down. We're able to use PMAPS when collecting intelligence from our Subject Matter Experts in ways that weren't possible with other tools.

Connectwise Sell is listening and building their software to fit the needs of their customers. Sell is consistently looking to us for feedback and making sure their product is working for us as partners/customers. We feel we are generally behind on getting to know their updates and software upgrades. They are a great vendor and wonderful corporation.

Incentivized

• Expanded lead horizons
• Agencies provided for each company
• Efficiency of potential partners

Incentivized

• Customer satisfaction improvement. It's an impressive and professional way to present information that our customers appreciate. They not only have a clear way of knowing exactly what is being proposed, but now have another method they can use to easily track and organize approved/ not-approved quotes.
• Improved brand consistency. We have a reputable, trusted image that projects across our client portfolio (not to mention within our community) and this system helps to promote and maintain our transparency and professional image.
• Following up and referencing past quotes is made easy and quickly, which has benefited us from a time-cost savings perspective.

Incentivized

• I don't have any actual ROI numbers readily available but I will say that compared to our last solution (a home-grown document repository), PMAPS has made every aspect of our business more efficient.
• One of our primary goals in procuring a vendor to provide a better solution was our increased need to become more consistent in our messaging, more relevant as things change, and more efficient in getting our user's the answers they need quicker. We accomplished all three.