Discover a new module: FAQs on M.Hub

With the new M.Hub module, we want to enable you to create a more effective order process. This especially refers to the apparently concurrent but still important processes, such as meetings, releases, internal checks, and feedback loops with the customers. M.Hub functions as a collaborative module for quick and direct exchanges during the entire order process.

Sales teams often face the following challenge: after they have sent a quote, they pause contact with the customer for some time. After a few days, they initiate elaborate follow-up actions, and you are sometimes left to ask: has the customer understood all quote contents, or are there any questions?

Further inquiries and requests for changes are tediously clarified and integrated into a new quote. Maybe the quote even contains components that require special releases and checks. All these factors result in expensive coordination processes. What's even more: often, no clear documentation of the individual process steps is available. A colleague could be busy and, thus, force the quote generation process to be halted as there is no cross-team overview of the pending tasks.

M.Hub is supposed to prevent exactly that. On the one hand, M.Hub can be used for direct communication with the customer. On the other hand, it is useful for the internal communication between specialist departments, management, colleagues, and other stakeholders. What emerges is a new digital and collaborative approach to teamwork.

M.Hub offers three central functions:

1. Inbox

The inbox provides an overview of all current requests and quotes and their respective status. Sales teams can see at a glance whether a quote has already been sent to the customer, is at another department as part of the release process, or the order has already been completed.

2. Quote view

Via the Quote view, customers can receive their quotes per mail containing a link to a web document. All quote parameters are clearly listed and can be hidden or extended. Any created quote is especially appealing and conveys professionalism containing emotional product images, an appealing but simple design, and an intuitive overview of the offered products. If required, you can simple upload further documents and attach them to the quote.

What's most important: different action buttons are available to the customers. Especially the comment function assumes a significant role. Comments on changes and extensions are quickly and easily added at the desired position using the Quite view. Sales teams are immediately notified about new tasks and always know the current status of any quote. Any communication is always documented.

3. Workflow management

In M.Hub, different status options are displayed: first, the superordinate quote status and, second, the status of individual customizable workflows. Such workflows can include discount releases or technical checks. You can review the current customer status and in which specialist department the next step occurs at any time. Release processes, coordination meetings, and internal checks are handled more quickly and more agile. The workflow status can easily be defined and modeled with appropriate rules in M.Model.

For example, when installing a certain component in a product, a technical check is required. The groups of persons responsible for such a check are automatically notified about the check requirement by automatically generated notifications. After the check, a hint along the following lines can be issued directly in the quote: "Hey, the product is not feasible this way, please configure a new variant". This comment then automatically appears in the comment list and can be edited and processed like a task using the boxes. By granting special permissions, internal comments can be processed separately. Thus, the customer can only see the comments relevant to them, but the sales employee has an overview of all comments.

M.Hub offers various benefits that are all about making your order process more efficient.

The entire order process and the corresponding communication are documented in real time. This results in efficient coordination meetings. Additionally, all stakeholders are connected with each other. The collaborative approach establishes faster, more digital, and more transparent communication. Sales teams can keep a clear overview of all quotes and requests at any time. With M.Hub, you can also provide the customers with a unique customer experience. They can become a part of the quote generation process and interact live with you.

M.Hub functions according to the "Single source of truth" principle and accesses a valid data set in M.Model just like all other Merlin modules. M.Hub is an independent module that connects the previous Merlin modules. For example, all quotes and requests from M.Customer and M.Sales are listed in the M.Hub Inbox. You can access the inbox from a CRM system or independently. The inbox can also be fully customized.

The Quote view, however, is generated from within M.Sales. Therefore, the customer receives an e-mail with a link to the quote instead of a generated document. The workflow management is also integrated in M.Sales and displays additional features, such as status options for various processes.

You can license M.Hub as of the beginning of December and will be released along version 10.10.