To get the most out of CPQ, it’s crucial to understand how it will fit into your existing sales processes. That means defining your business goals and requirements and determining the product catalog, pricing structure, and discounts used in the quotes.
Increased Productivity
Whether you aim to shorten sales cycles, increase margins from every sale, or grow customer retention, CPQ applications help achieve it. To maximize the benefits of a CPQ implementation, you must build a proficient team with the right competencies. A CPQ solution such as from Tacton allows your sales reps to deliver accurate, customized quotes more quickly. This boosts productivity by reducing the time they spend on administrative tasks. It also enables them to connect with more leads and land more clients for your business.
This increased productivity results from the CPQ software’s ability to automate complex product configuration processes. For example, it can reduce the steps required to generate a quote by eliminating manual handoffs between team members. This can be extremely helpful for businesses that sell large, complex products with millions of possible permutations. It also improves sales-to-engineering collaboration. =
Boosted Customer Satisfaction
A successful CPQ system provides accurate and up-to-date quotes for every client. This helps salespeople deliver more relevant options for buyers. This leads to higher customer satisfaction, which in turn boosts sales. CPQ also automates processes that are important for the business. This can help operations with efficiency and margins by speeding up quote delivery times, preventing rogue discounting, and incorporating company policies throughout the revenue lifecycle.
For example, if you sell a car that can be configured with different accessories, the menu of possible configurations could be millions or billions of items long. CPQ can streamline the process so that quotes are generated in seconds, and errors are eliminated.
In addition, it can auto-generate CAD models and BOMs for each product configuration, streamlining engineering and improving collaboration. In the case of complex products and services, a CPQ system with advanced 3D visualization, AR, and VR capabilities can provide a highly interactive and lifelike configuration experience that wows customers and increases their engagement.
Increased Sales Revenue
Sales reps spend only 34% of their time selling — the rest is spent putting together quotes and following up on them. With a CPQ solution, these teams can deliver sales quotes free of errors in less time.
In addition, a CPQ solution can prevent costly errors by setting rules that ensure that pricing doesn’t fall below a certain margin value or go against product policies. This is especially helpful as more manufacturers introduce value-added offerings and solutions as a service, where they need to set specific terms of service and discount levels.
Moreover, sales admins can use a no-code CPQ to easily update pricing, products, and discounts based on market research and business intelligence. This prevents rogue discounting and ensures that pricing is consistent and accurate across all channels. It also helps sales teams avoid losing customer credibility by delivering timely quotes tailored to their unique requirements.
Increased Employee Satisfaction
A CPQ solution lets your teams spend more time selling and closing deals, ultimately boosting employee satisfaction. When employees are freed from spending time on manual quoting processes, they can focus on their jobs. A successful CPQ implementation will also enable your sales teams to create personalized and accurate quotes, increasing their productivity quickly. Having the ability to customize a product is a major perk for customers, and it makes them feel that you understand their needs and wants.
A CPQ system can also help you keep track of customer renewals, which is crucial for your recurring revenue. It turns the process from a slow, error-prone manual process to an automated one that ensures that contracts are up to date and that you’re not leaving any money on the table. Moreover, a CPQ system allows you to track customer buying patterns and identify potential opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling. A CPQ platform also automatically generates CAD models and BOMs, which reduces the time needed to submit proposals to engineering, improving sales-to-engineering collaboration.
Increased Efficiency
The best CPQ software solutions help sales reps create quotes that are accurate and ready to be sold. That eliminates the need for manual processing and reduces time spent preparing, sending, and reviewing quotes. This improves productivity and frees up time to spend on closing more deals.
Today’s customers want products tailored to their specific needs. However, this trend presents a challenge to manufacturers. To serve their customers well, they must offer various product configurations and manage pricing for all combinations. It’s a complex task that often requires the collaboration of multiple teams, from engineering to sales and marketing.
Using Salesforce CPQ, you can automate the quoting process and ensure each product is properly configured to meet your customer’s needs. It also collects data about the options customers choose and do not select, which can be used to improve product design and forecasting.