Signs that you’re ready for Salesforce CPQ
Almost every company that sends out quotes could benefit from CPQ software, but there are some telltale signs that your company needed it yesterday.
Inaccurate quotes
If your quotes are going out with inconsistent pricing or that include the wrong products and services, your sales agents are probably having a hard time keeping track of your price book. This turns into inaccurate quotes that lose your company money and opportunities.
Quoting process takes a long time
Quotes that take an hour or more to create and send out means your sales team needs a more streamlined way of quoting. The process could be taking so long because of lots of manual document generation, a bulky price book, or no set location for documentation so they spend valuable time searching for the correct information.
They have complex configuration or product make ups
Any complexity in your configuration or product make ups is going to slow down your quote process. CPQ software helps you manage complexity and reduce manual entry
Salesforce Standard Quotes are just not making the cut
If you already use Salesforce Standard Quotes, but they just aren’t cutting it, up-leveling to Salesforce CPQ may be the answer. Standard Quotes are great for a simple quoting process, but when you add extra layers of complexity, you’ll need a more powerful tool.
You have to go to a third party quoting tool in another system
Maybe you already have quoting software in a third party system. It’s great that you already realize how important this is, but the time it takes for your sales team to switch back and forth between systems, not to mention the manual data entry involved when your systems aren’t integrated, means your team is losing precious time and missing valuable opportunities.
You have partners and they get special discounts or pricing on products
Anytime you add extra factors into your pricing structure like partners who get special discounts or pricing products, you need a system that can handle the additional data. Thankfully, Salesforce CPQ can manage lots of variables.
How to prepare
First step, gather all the information you will need – all your products, subscriptions, and services. Make sure you know what everything is and where it all is.
Next, make sure nothing is in flux at this point. You don’t want your pricing book to be in the middle of being revamped because that will cause extra work and reconfiguration down the road.
You’ll also need a really clear understanding of how all your products work. Pull your team together and get each subject matter expert involved so as you begin to implement your CPQ, you’ll know how all the data works together.
The final thing you’ll need to know is if your company follows one of the standard pricing methods:
– List
– Cost
– Bundle Pricing
– Discounts (partner, customer) and limits on the discounts
– Margins
– Subscriptions
These pricing methods will determine how your CPQ is implemented so knowing the structure upfront is important.
This is a big undertaking and if your business is in flux or your teams aren’t in agreement you could be doing a lot of double work. All of the above are required for configuration, and if you’re making changes in the middle of your configuration you may have to go back to things and reconfigure how they work. Get all the cards on the table so we know what we are working with.
Partner or not?
You can certainly implement Salesforce CPQ on your own.
However, we’ve been pulled into implementations late in the process because while a company’s IT department may be awesome and amazing at what they do, there’s lots of new knowledge that they need to learn before properly implementing this tool.
Certifications and classes to learn how to properly implement your CPQ will help them, but if their time is limited, those may not be possible.
In-house implementations often end in low adoption or calling in partners anyway to reconfigure the tool to meet their needs.
To get the most out of your investment and to save your company time and money in the long run, it’s best to call in a partner right from the beginning. Once the system is in place, you or your admin team can maintain it in-house.
Learn how Penrod can help you improve your quote process with Salesforce CPQ