Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) -- How to Get It Right
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Involve the Entire Company
Next-generation CPQ is great for sales, enabling teams to exceed targets for new customers and renewals. But others within the company will find it valuable too. For example, it will help product managers run the entire product lifecycle, and it will allow marketing teams to easily develop and implement promotional plans. So you need to make sure that your colleagues understand CPQ and the benefits it will bring to their team in particular.
The recommended tack is to explain predicted and measurable improvements for each business function, focusing on the metrics that will best resonate with each team. For example, the sales team will like to hear about the number of quotes per person, higher percentages of quota achieved and improved retention rates. On the other hand, marketers will appreciate the shorter time to market, improved conversion rates and lower costs per lead. Customer service will be looking for other benefits, such as a good user experience and improvement in productivity through a reduction in admin.
Beyond these functions, CPQ typically integrates with other ERP systems. This capability provides a seamless transition of data and processes to other parts of the business such as fulfillment and finance.
Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) platforms are relatively new on the scene. But, as often happens with technology, the pace of market change has been so swift that the first platforms have soon become outdated. As a result, second-generation CPQ has emerged before the first wave has been fully appreciated.
CPQ is a sales tool designed to help companies produce accurate and highly configured quotes. It centralizes all complex product, pricing and business rules, making them automatic and available in real time. But so much for definitions. Why is it needed?
Appropriately for an application that’s evolving so rapidly, the topline answer to this question is that CPQ turns ideas into reality more quickly. Taking a great new concept from initial discussion to fruition used to take anywhere up to a year or so. In many sectors, such as telecoms or software, this is no longer fast enough; the markets move so quickly that by the time the product or service is launched, it may no longer be relevant.
Due to this constant need for reinvention and renewal, product portfolios have become increasingly complex. Technology advances, new compliance regulations and increasing globalization have also played a part in making life more difficult for sales and marketing teams who struggle to optimize their entire catalogues. It hasn’t helped being hampered by outdated legacy IT, which can present them with a confusing array of configurations.
Enter the first CPQ platforms. At first, these were exactly what was required at a functional level to make the sales process more efficient. But now, these sales operations need more streamlining and more agility. It has become even more urgent to quickly launch new products and services, to eliminate clunky business processes and excessive admin tasks in order to stay competitive. Businesses now want something that takes them beyond CPQ to help them manage the entire customer lifecycle from quote to cash. So, a new generation of platforms that includes CPQ – and more – has emerged in the market.
Needless to say, this can be confusing for anyone considering investing in the technology and naturally wants to ensure a fast return. How can they be sure they get it right? In this slideshow, Rowley Douglas, executive vice president of CloudSense, explains more about this disruptive new technology and issues that should be considered.
Related Topics : Vulnerabilities and Patches, Resellers, Broadcom, Broadband Services, Supercomputing
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