I´ll write today about Salesforce CPQ.
Applications that enable each company to stand out from its competitors are a requirement in a fully globalised world. Specialisation and the added value of products and services is needed to survive. One of the key factors of differentiation is the way that product apps and their associated sales processes are managed.
Products, whether tangible or intangible (i.e., services), are the lifeblood of a company. Product service life has been exponentially shortened in recent decades. Partly because of ongoing innovation and partly due to increasingly common plagiarism by the competition.
One way of breaking this vicious circle is to add value to products but taking care to keep overheads to a minimum. This virtuous circle is now possible thanks to the technology inherent to Salesforce CPQ.
Salesforce CPQ complements the functionality of the CRM world leader (Salesforce) in three key areas:
- Configuration: It supports highly complex products and services such as bundles, which contain various hierarchical levels and must meet a number of configuration rules (validations and bundle/product interdependencies) in the sales process.
- Price: It makes it possible to automate price and discount calculations based on various calculations (product, volume, contracts, cost) and sales levels, adapting to the needs of the business.
- Quote: It provides the Sales Department with maximum flexibility in setting special offers and quotes, allowing them to focus on negotiation and closure.
Salesforce CPQ also contains other functionalities that facilitate management:
- Guided sales processes (firstly generating an option tree in line with the salesperson’s previous choices)
- Automation of the renewal process. This is probably one of the most important functionalities.
- Flexible price calculation for subscriptions (services). Based on configurable timeframes, a price that is either set or based on the percentage of another concept.
- Previous quote adjustments (reduction or increase in quantities or amounts).
- Reports and scorecards to analyse return and sales trends by product, family, industry, time or any other variable.
Also worth a mention:
- It is supported by the Salesforce platform and capitalises the standard functionality of the Sales Cloud module (products, price lists, opportunities, orders…).
- Finally, It does away with the need for a code to support business processes.
One key factor in Salesforce CPQ implementation is having exhaustive knowledge of the tool’s possibilities. We therefore consider it fundamental to approach CPQ implementation with a partner of proven track record, such as S4G Consulting.
In conclusion, with everything described it is obvious that Salesforce CPQ can bring that something different to the sales of your products and services moreover is flexible enough to adapt seamlessly to your business model.
At S4G we are rolling out Salesforce CPQ across various consulting projects we are running from our Madrid and Barcelona offices. If you would like more details about these types of projects, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
