What is CPQ?

CPQ, or “configure price quote”, is a software solution that enables companies and their customers to select and customise products they want to buy, view accurate, real-time pricing for every possible configuration of the product and generate a quote for the product–all from a single program/application. With full mobile functionality and industry-grade security, CPQ can be implemented as on-premise or cloud-based software/SaaS, depending on business requirements.

Who uses CPQ?

Industrial Equipment Manufacturing

CPQ software helps IEM manufacturers configure and quote complex products with speed and accuracy. CPQ reduces the number of people, such as engineers, needed in the sales cycle while also reducing errors in the order-entry process and eliminating costly reworks. That adds up to more revenue on every deal.

Specialty Vehicles Manufacturing

CPQ software helps specialty vehicle manufacturers deliver accurate quotes to buyers and enables salespeople to cross-sell, upsell and offer the right upfits for the customer’s needs. CPQ also standardises sales process across multiple channels and regions, giving you more control over your product and enabling more accurate sales and revenue forecasting.

Medical Equipment and Device Manufacturing

CPQ software benefits manufacturers of healthcare equipment and medical devices by enabling salespeople to simplify complex sales and provides an electronic configuration and quote history in one centralised system. CPQ makes it easier for your product and sales teams to adapt to ever-changing compliance regulations and get to market quickly for faster return on investment.

High-Tech and Electronics Manufacturing

CPQ software helps manufacturers in the high-tech electronics industry handle short product lifecycles and dynamic competitive markets with an agile, easy-to-use rules engine that puts accurate product information and data in the hands of the sales team at the point of sale. That means you’re getting to market faster and realising more revenue from your R&D investments quicker.

HVAC-R and Plumbing Manufacturing

CPQ enables HVAC-R and plumbing equipment manufacturers and distributors to provide a positive customer experience by delivering the right products and parts for specific needs and jobs. CPQ puts product expertise into the hands of your sales reps at the point of sale, allowing them to deliver the right configuration at the right price.

Utilities, Energy and Power Generation Equipment Manufacturing

CPQ enables utilities, energy and power generation equipment manufacturers to sell more, faster. CPQ provides new sales reps with the product knowledge they need to get up and running faster, and allows all your reps to more quickly adapt to changes in your product catalog so your team is spending its time selling instead of training and retraining on product updates.

How does CPQ work?

Step 1: Share Expertise and Tribal Knowledge

CPQ provides the rules engine that your modelers and engineers will use to enter product information, pricing and configuration data. In essence, your product experts are digitising everything your sales reps need to know in order to sell your products correctly and effectively.

Once the rules are defined on the back-end, your front-end business admins can update product and pricing data as necessary. Salespeople always have access to up-to-date product and pricing information and are able to provide accurate sales quotes to prospects and customers.

Step 2: Increase Sales Productivity

When a customer is ready to buy, your sales rep will open the CPQ program and guide the buyer through the various stages of product selection and configuration. The configuration rules built on the back-end will ensure the sales rep is only offering viable (plausible) product options to the buyer.

Product configurations and sales quotes will never include incompatible parts, options or prices. The pricing rules built on the back-end will ensure sales reps sell the product at an acceptable margin–they can’t over-discount the product or gouge the customer. Once the product configuration process is complete, a sales quote is generated detailing the customer’s selections, complete with a bill of materials (BOM) and itemised pricing for components and materials.

When integrated with customer relationship management (CRM), such as Microsoft Dynamics and Salesforce, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, CPQ is a centralised, powerful platform that helps companies manage complex configurations and complicated quotes.

Step 3: Leverage Product and Sales Data for Business Intelligence

The CPQ solution stores product configuration and purchasing information, so your organisation can see which products are selling the best, which price-points are more effective, which configurations are most popular, etc.

Data from CPQ software provides business intelligence that informs decisions around product vision and development, release/launch timing, sales and pricing and other critical issues.

Why use CPQ?

Companies use CPQ software because it helps simplify and standardise their best sales process, creating a better buying experience that results in greater revenue and increased profitability.

Remove Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt from the Buying Process:
With product expertise available to your sales staff throughout the sales process, your customers are getting faster, accurate answers to their biggest questions and concerns. Guided selling ensures your customers get the right products for their needs.

Enable Engineering and Pricing Transparency:
CPQ provides real-time clarity around the product configuration process, so customers can see valid and invalid options from an engineering perspective, as well as the cost of their selections.

Ensure Fast, Accurate Fulfillment:
CPQ system integrations ensure orders enter the fulfillment process immediately, so it takes less time to place an order and get approvals, meaning customers get the product they need faster.

Sales Management:
Increase margins, revenue and profitability, and give your sales reps the ability to hit quota. Reduced time-to-quote means your reps can sell more, faster.

Sales Operations:
Accelerate sales processes while reducing the number of people required in the sales cycle; eliminate errors and reworks associated with the order entry process.

IT:
Empower business users to safely manage product information and free IT resources for other critical projects.

Finance:
Move products to market faster across all of your sales channels so you can realise revenue and ROI sooner.

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