The world of enterprise sales is complex. Reason? All sales leaders and their team face the never-ending challenge to deliver not just a quick and personalized experience that buyers look for, but also hit the sales target. In challenging times like these, sales automation technologies such as CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) software can be a game-changer.
What is CPQ and why it matters
CPQ is a sales software that enables sales professionals to accurately generate quotes for orders. This sales acceleration software platform works in tandem with other business tools like customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) which helps ensure integrated data and accuracy.
One can say that the CPQ tool is all about strengthening the adoption and use of the CRM, automating the sales processes, centralizing products and pricing platforms available for real-time use, accelerating sales productivity, providing personalized offer recommendations, and successfully curtailing the errors that may occur during quoting. It leverages a pre-programmed set of rules to produce the automated quotes considering different factors – customizations, discounts, quantities, product features, varied revenue types, and incompatibilities.
A recent study has revealed that CPQ implementation leads to:
- Reduced deal cycle time and 10 times quicker quote generation
- 95% lowered approval time
- Accelerated quote-to-cash (QTC) cycle
- 30% quicker ramp for new reps
This is also one of the key reasons why the global CPQ software market is expected to grow by $1.49 billion during 2021-2025. Indeed, the C-suite is fast realizing the true value of CPQ adoption due to its ability to help sales professionals to deliver ROI under pressure in an ever-changing, complex digital economy. But are all CPQ solutions equally capable of delivering all these advantages and benefits to the salesperson?
How to select the best CPQ software
With so many different CPQ solutions in the market, identifying the right fit can be tough and confusing for businesses. Asking these key questions to the potential suppliers will help the decision-makers steer in the right direction and harness the full potential of CPQ software.
- Is it simple to use?
First and foremost, the CPQ software you decide to choose should offer ease of use and navigation. This will ensure that the creation of quotes, contracts, and other sales materials isn’t time-consuming, allowing the sales professionals to focus on their core task, i.e., selling.
- Is it scalable as per your growing business needs and can it be maintained efficiently?
Look for a platform that is flexible, scalable, enterprise-ready, easy to maintain and use. Asking this question will help you choose a solution capable of supporting your business, especially as you scale and grow. Reason? Replacing CPQ software when your business is in expansion mode can hamper growth prospects.
- Does it allow easy communication between teams?
A good CPQ software allows effective collaboration between team members. A platform incapable of supporting your team in the field is definitely not the right pick.
- Does it support integration?
The perfect CPQ platform is the one that can be integrated with other applications like Contracts, Billing, Order Management, and Financials. Integration is a must-have feature to look for in CPQ software because it not only bolsters the efficiency of sales reps and a vital ingredient of a multi-channel, global selling strategy.
- Is it analytics-driven?
This is one of the other important features a world-class CPQ software encompasses. Analytics-driven CPQ software that provides regular data reports enables businesses to understand what’s working and what needs to be fixed. Data reports help with guided selling and improve the performance of sales reps as well.
While enterprises planning to invest in a CPQ product should look for answers to the above-mentioned questions, they should also consider the financial viability and affordability of the platform. When making pricing decisions, find the answer to questions – Do I need to pay for features that we won’t use? Do I need to pay extra when my business scales up? – and undertake a thorough review of the pricing structure to avoid paying through the nose later.
The parting words
Planning to take the CPQ route but still feeling like you need a little more clarity on how to proceed? Forsys can help.
We are a top-notch CPQ implementation vendor with solid experience in CPQ best practices. As a full-solution platinum-certified implementation partner for Conga + Apttus and a systems integration partner for Salesforce, we are experts in executing CPQ deployments optimized as per organizational needs. Well-rehearsed in all industries, we have a robust team of 200+ certified resources for Salesforce and Conga + Apttus who have helped hundreds of customers maximize their CPQ investment.
Drop-in your queries here for a free consultation with our CPQ specialist team.