Salesforce CPQ advantages

Out-of-the-box Salesforce may not always support all your business needs. Sales reps sometimes struggle to sell complex products with their associated pricing. They resort to the manual generation of quotes to be sent to the customer. Generating quotes that are accurate is one of the biggest challenges that companies face. When the sales process is dependent on accurate data that the rep does not have access to or the quote does not reflect the products and services being sold to the customer, the following may occur:

• A disconnected sales process: When the data used by the sales rep during the sales process is disconnected, it is hard for the sales rep to refer to isolated product catalogs and price catalogs. This sales process will have data discrepancies when the information is stored locally if the source changes, (Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Word is referred to as the local copy). Referring to product codes or product names that have changed may result in the pricing not being accurate during the sales process.
• Revenue impact and quote correction: Generating quotes with information that does not reflect accurate pricing of products impacts revenue for the business. Furthermore, retracting such quotes could result in a longer deal closure and a loss of revenue as well.
• Approval and bad customer experience: Sales reps need to chase approvers manually for updated quotes, resulting in potential delays for the customer to receive these quotes. The sales organization may also see a bad customer experience when quotes are retracted, or when quote information needs to be corrected.
• Sales forecast and lack of visibility: The sales org will struggle to forecast the buying habits of the customer accurately and to keep optimal product inventory, resulting in revenue loss for the business.
• A solution that is not scalable: When customized solutions are implemented, the sales process is not scalable. Data will reside in silos and will depend on individuals for access and the retrieval of information.

To address the aforementioned shortcomings and to give more flexibility to the sales organization, Salesforce CPQ is the way forward.

Some of the obvious advantages of using Salesforce CPQ include, but are not limited to, the following:

• A predefined process: The disconnected sales process discussed in the previous section can be addressed using Salesforce CPQ. Salesforce CPQ helps you close complex deals quickly. Sales reps can use CPQ to apply discounts, automate product configurations, and create quotes. Salesforce CPQ serves as an internal e-commerce platform. Sales reps can add, modify, and delete items from the cart. The Salesforce CPQ configuration can help sales reps tailor product configuration. It will also act as a guard rail in providing the right products to the right customers.
• Quote change and approval: When the customer requests a change, the sales rep can generate quotes with the company branding and update and/or modify the quotes. Negotiations with the customer become easy for the sales rep, as multiple quotes can be created within a short time. With automation in place using Salesforce CPQ, approvals happen when the criteria are met. Changes to existing contracts that are to be shared with customers can be made easily with add-ons or amendments. Sales reps can generate quotes in Microsoft Word or PDF and can also share them with customers.
• Pricing: Pricing is part of the integrated system and sales reps do not need to refer to a third-party system. They can automatically apply discounts based on volume or customer tiers (for example, premium customers). Sales reps will be provided with proactive suggestions by the CPQ engine, which looks at the buying patterns of customers. These can be added to the cart and quotes will be updated accordingly.
• Customer visibility and customer satisfaction: The sales organization gets a 360-degree view of the customer and works on improvements if gaps are identified. By integrating third-party tools such as DocuSign, deals can be closed faster for better customer satisfaction. Salesforce CPQ is often referred to as the heart of the sales process, ensuring that business rules and technical rules are enforced in every transaction that goes through the system.

In the next section, we will look at Industries CPQ and when it can be used.