How to Easily Implement CPQ Software

Purchasing and implementing CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software can cause some change management woes among your team members and feel like a daunting task–but it doesn't have to be. With the right knowledge and resources, implementing CPQ software can be a straightforward, efficient process.

Understanding Your Business Needs

Before you start the process of implementing CPQ software, it's important to take a step back and understand your business needs, and assess what’s working and what’s not with your current processes. What kind of pricing, quoting, and configuring do you currently have in place? What processes do you want to automate? What kind of features do you need to make your process easier? Answering these questions will help you determine what kind of CPQ software is the best fit for your business and team.

Who Benefits From CPQ?

Sales teams are often the first to recognize the benefits of a CPQ solution; however, multiple departments benefit from the efficiencies that CPQ offers:

Salespeople do not have to learn and use multiple systems to pull together the information they need.

New salespeople can be onboarded faster, so they can be spending their time selling rather than learning a complex quoting process.

Engineers only need to review special cases, not every single quote. For automated configurations, engineers can access configuration data at any time.

IT does not need to update multiple systems when costs or prices change; automated updates can be done quickly, giving sales current information pulled directly from financial sources, ERP, CRM, etc.

Purchasing can get ahead of the curve by analyzing the types of products being quoted and trends with customers. For example, purchasing can view high-probability quotes with hard-to-order components with enough time to modify sourcing if needed.

Key stakeholders such as the C-Suite, finance and production have excellent visibility into the pipeline to support informed business decisions. Staffing can be ramped up or down with trends; machines can be ordered in anticipation of increased business.

Customers receive exactly what was quoted and ordered.

Researching Your Options

Once you've identified what problems you want to solve with CPQ, it's time to start researching your options. What CPQ software solutions are available? Which one meets your requirements and fits within your budget? Make sure to read reviews from other customers to get an idea of what it's like to use the software. After you've narrowed down your choices, it's time to start the implementation process.

Top Features to Consider During Your Search

Visual Product Configuration

People want to see what they are buying, which means your CPQ software must include a visual component.

You can choose from 2-dimensional configurators and 3-dimensional configurators or take it a step further with a virtual-reality (VR) based product configurator.

Advanced Rules Engine

If you want to avoid forced refunds and unhappy customers, having a robust rules engine is a must for any CPQ solution you are considering.

Instead of relying on your sales reps or billing employees to catch quote and order errors, you can use CPQ software that does it automatically.

This is especially important for manufacturers and distributors of complex, configurable products, for whom configuration and quote errors can be incredibly costly.

Cloud-Based and Mobile-Friendly

A CPQ that’s cloud-based (and includes a mobile-friendly component, such as a smartphone app) gives you access to customer orders, pricing, and proposals from anywhere.

Your team can whip out the product configurator on location during a client meeting, make important updates to customer data on the go, and have all the necessary information to make sales calls while traveling.

This also reduces IT costs associated with storing a CPQ system on-site. It’s a win-win!

Automated Quoting and Pricing Management

Automation features included in more advanced CPQ software can help you completely eliminate necessary admin tasks like updating customer quotes and checking pricing information.

Automated quoting management ensures that quotes are automatically updated as the customer makes changes to their chosen product configuration.

With automated pricing management, any pricing updates will be applied system-wide to ensure accuracy and efficiency.

Guided Selling

Guided selling takes automation a step further, creating an Amazon-like experience for your business-to-business (B2B) customers.

They can use filters to search for the products best-suited for their needs while CPQ software uses their data to suggest recommended products based on their selections.

The software can also suggest other relevant products, accessories, and product bundles to boost potential revenue from the sale.

Integration into other Systems

CPQ solutions can weave a common thread through your front to back office applications for an end-to-end experience.

CRM Integration links customer information to quotes and orders and can provide analytical insights such as buying cadence and upsell opportunities.

ERP Integration provides pipeline visibility so that production knows what’s coming. Integration can also show sales which components are at risk for late delivery due to supply chain or other issues.

Other applications such as PLM and eCommerce can also be integrated for improved efficiency and channel expansion. The Cincom CPQ integration framework provides out-of-the-box connectors to many enterprise applications (e.g., Cincom CPQ, D365 CE, D365 F&O and Salesforce), along with the ability to easily extend and include connectors for other applications. Other out-of-the-box connectors include File, Email and SQL.

Reporting

Advanced reporting features allow you to see where in the ordering process the customers are dropping off, which product configurations are most popular, as well as other important insights about your quoting and ordering process.

CPQ can increase the quality and amount of information that you, as a Sales manager, can gain through the details of the quotes and corresponding configurations. Forecasting becomes on demand and super insightful with all of the data you dream of through CPQ reports.

Implementation

When it comes to implementation, you have several options. You can either hire a consultant to do the implementation for you, or you and your team can do it yourself. If you decide to take the DIY route, make sure you have all the resources you need, such as user guides, tutorials, and installation guides. Once the software is installed, you'll need to configure the settings to match your business needs, test the software, and train your employees.

Next Steps

With the right steps, you can easily set up and use CPQ software to make your purchasing, quoting, and configuring processes more efficient.

If you’re ready to experience a solution that’s easy to implement and full of all the features you’re looking for to centralize product and pricing information, win more deals, and offer a better experience for the customer, consider Cincom CPQ.