Finding the Right CPQ Solutions

You rely on your customers, but before they can become customers, they first have to complete the sales journey. As leads are located, evaluated, and guided along the path toward purchase, it’s inevitable that a certain percentage of them drop off. Those who remain, however, reach the end of the sales process eager to do business — and then more of them fall away. Why? Often, the final steps in the sales process can be the most grueling. As a sale nears completion, contracts are negotiated, prices are quoted, special circumstances are considered, and everything is finalized. Unfortunately, while these steps are necessary parts of the overall process, they have a way of derailing a customer’s forward momentum. Customers get tired of the constant back and forth, and they turn their attention elsewhere. To combat this, many businesses are adopting configure price quote (CPQ) solutions.

CPQ solutions are tools designed to enable businesses to improve their sales processes. CPQ solutions often come in the form of CPQ software, which enables the configuration of a quote that becomes available to a sales team immediately, based on a customer’s unique needs. The best CPQ solutions include systems that boil down complex pricing rules into a simple, custom quote for a specific potential customer.

As mentioned previously, CPQ stands for configure price quote, and is generally used to describe software tools designed to help organizations create and share accurate price quotes quickly. The best CPQ solutions take it further, by streamlining the entire contract process.

Advanced CPQ software lets you tailor contracts and sales quotes to individual customers, implementing discounts, special offers, or other modifications to the standard price. Additionally, by drawing from reliable data sources to auto-populate fields, CPQ eliminates the potential for user error. Because of CPQ’s capabilities, the market for it is growing at a rapid pace. One report forecasts the global configure price quote (CPQ) software market to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.53% from 2017–2021.

With these advantages in mind, it’s easy to see why so many companies are investing in CPQ solutions. It’s also easy to see why so many different vendors have decided to start offering CPQ services. With such a range of possibilities to choose from, you might be having trouble finding the best CPQ for your business.

To help get you started, we’ve identified the eight most important things to look for when selecting a CPQ solutions product:

• Communication
  Getting contracts created and quotes delivered means keeping communication channels with your customers open. However, unless you’re the only person in your organization dealing with those customers, it also means communicating with members of your team. Superior CPQ solutions provide a unified central hub, where you can easily coordinate not only with clients, but also with any of your colleagues who are involved in the process.
• Ease of Use
  The point of any CPQ tool is to make things easier for all parties involved. In order to do this, it needs to be accessible and usable without large amounts of training. A simple interface, coupled with intuitive controls, can help ensure that you are providing your customers with the best cash-to-quote service, even if you aren’t an IT professional.
• Customization
  Your customers aren’t the only ones who should be demanding personalization. In order for your business to get the most out of your CPQ solution, it should be flexible enough to align with your existing processes and systems. Customization and configuration options are a must, and will help you get the most out of your investment.
• Scalability
  Finding a CPQ solution that benefits your business today is only part of the issue. As your business continues to grow and change, it won’t do you much good if your CPQ tool can’t grow along with it. When choosing a CPQ solution, be sure to look for something that can handle your workload, whether that load is small or large.
• Compatibility
  Just as the best customer relationship management (CRM) systems are based in the cloud, the most effective CPQ tools likewise take advantage of cloud technology. Cloud-based CPQ requires no in-house hardware to run; instead, it can be accessed remotely over any internet connection. This makes it possible for users to access the CPQ from any platform, and coordinate with others regardless of operating system.
• Support
  

  Even the most user-friendly, intuitive CPQ solutions might throw you for a loop now and then. When that happens, you’ll want more than some online troubleshooting guide to help get everything back on track. Multichannel support options, including web chat and telephone options, help keep you in control at all times.

• Mobile Compatibility
  When opportunity strikes, the last thing you want to do is have to rush to the office. Modern business professionals don’t confine themselves to their cubicles. CPQ solutions that are fully mobile compatible give you the power to share product information, send out contracts, create quotes, and finalize deals, all while on the go. And thanks to cloud technology, your CPQ solution will be updated in real time to reflect any changes you may have made to the data — no matter where you are when you make those changes.
• Pricing 
  When it comes to CPQ pricing, cheaper isn’t always better. As the adage suggests, you get what you pay for. Of course, that’s not to say that the most expensive option is necessarily the best one either. When considering a CPQ solution, research all of the advantages and disadvantages for each option before you consider the price. Read online reviews, take advantage of any free trials that might be available, and be willing to make an investment if it looks like it will pay for itself. There is a broad range of CPQ pricing, so as long as you shop around, you should be able to find what you want.

There aren’t many brands as closely associated with CRM and cloud technology as Salesforce. As such, when Salesforce decided to create a CPQ tool, the entire industry sat up and took notice. Salesforce Quote-to-Cash is a complete CPQ solution. Automated tools help you generate accurate quotes, error-free contracts, and professional proposals easily and quickly. Streamlined billing and revenue recognition help you collect payments, manage subscriptions, and account for revenue received. Perhaps best of all, the entire tool is accessible through a single dashboard, so that you can understand and guide your sales process from a unified central location.

Salesforce Quote-to-Cash is a scalable, cloud-based, universally compatible tool to help keep your leads on the right track.

No business is able to turn every one of its leads into clients. However, with Salesforce CPQ, there’s no reason why you should ever have to worry about those leads calling it quits at the finish line. Salesforce CPQ is the most trusted CPQ solution available. In fact, in a CPQ software comparison performed by G2 Crowd and based on customer satisfaction and scale, Salesforce scored higher than any of the other CPQ providers on the list.

Yes, the final steps of the sales process can be complex, but with a Salesforce CPQ solution, turning leads into customers is as easy as pushing a button.