Our main points:

- It is a tool designed to augment your sales process which allows you to reduce the time it takes to calculate a price and enables you to deliver an instant quote to the customer.

- CPQ applications can be used as a cloud-based solution, A Mobile App or as an internal tool for your staff to use during inbound enquiries.

- A CPQ system will enhance your customer's experience and will also eliminate inconsistencies and drastically reduce the time needed to train up new staff.

- It can provide a completely transparent pricing system that can build trust and improve customer relations.

- More companies will begin to adopt a more sophisticated approach to their quotation systems over the coming years but it’s unlikely that smaller SME’s will adopt such systems until as late as 2020.

- 56% of manufacturers find their customers most frequently demand short notice production capabilities as a value-added service.

- It is important to start considering new technology that meets the needs of your customer's expectations.

Get in touch with us today and we can help you create a bespoke CPQ system that fulfils your needs.

A "Configure, Price, Quote" Calculator

What is it?

If you have read our case study on Utility Smart you will have learnt how they streamlined their sales process by using a CPQ tool for their field-based consultants, but what is a CPQ? CPQ stands for Configure, Price, Quote and it is an extremely valuable tool for any salesman who must tackle complex quotes as part of their sales process.

Some companies need to go through rigorous calculations to be able to provide a quote for their customers. Often, this requires a lot of back and forth communications between various parties to:

1. Learn which variables (materials, environment, scope) affects the price.
2. Get the price double checked by someone else internally to reduce human error.

This process typically takes a long time and truth be told, people don’t like waiting. So the introduction of a CPQ system can allow business rules to be centralised, become automatic and available to those who quote in real time. Companies no longer have to delay their quotes when Fred from the quote department is off work due to illness!

The Aberdeen group breaks down CPQ even further:

• Configure: The process to align the customer requirements with the existing product format. The core for this process is aligning the requirements with a Bill of Material (BOM) that is built from the products basic parameters.
• Price: The process of calculating the actual price that the customer will pay. The core of this process is getting the actual costs and applying the appropriate margins.
• Quote: The process of delivering the product description and price, along with terms and scheduling proposals to the customer. The core of the process is applying all information from the above processes in a format that aligns with company capabilities and legal needs.

To sum it up once again - it is a tool that can be used within your sales process which allows you to reduce the time it takes to calculate a price and enables you to deliver an instant quote to the customer.
Example of bespoke CPQ systems we can create for you:

• A cloud-based solution on your website to allow customers to insert their requirements and receive the quote back
• A mobile app for your field based sales team so they can deliver quotes on the road
• An internal tool for your staff to use if you receive inbound enquiries.

Why should you buy it?

Consider this: I make an enquiry with company A and B.

Company A relies on their salesman to deliver a quote to me without the help of an automated CPQ system.
Company B has a CPQ system in place, readily available to their sales rep.

The rep from Company B has given me my quote instantaneously but… I have to wait a WEEK to hear back from Company A… You know where I’m going with this one.

The world of sales is changing rapidly and those like company B who have adopted such a system will always be ahead of the game. Their system allows them to provide a completely transparent pricing system that can build trust and improve customer relations because all the information regarding the sale is readily available, in real time.

Their sales team are invigorated because now they know they can sell faster than ever. They can spend more time working on other prospects and build up their pipeline. It's also giving you a brand new value proposition. Having your own bespoke CPQ tells others that you are unique, you care about their time and needs and you want to deliver the best possible service.

Not only will your new CPQ system enhance your customers experience but it will also eliminate inconsistencies and drastically reduce the time needed to train up new staff.

Who uses it?

Any business who provides quotes. You may opt for a system that allows the customer to input their requirements without any sales interaction or you may opt for a system to be used by your sales rep. There are many possibilities - it just depends on how you run your business.

Kevin Prouty from Aberdeen Group recalls his experience running a manufacturing operation:

“I ran a manufacturing operation that supplied tooling for the high-tech industry. Our CPQ process consisted of our sales person or channel seller calling our quoting department with customer requirement to get a formal quote. The customer requirements were taken by a quote builder who had been in the plant for 40 years. The quote builder had a background as a supervisor and technician in the plant, so he had detailed historical knowledge of the operations and dealing with sales. That person then used that knowledge and walked through the plant to build out the product workflow. Materials were added to a bill of material and a quote was sent out”.

He then goes onto explain that every time that worker was absent… quotations would be delayed until the worker returned.

More companies will begin to adopt a more sophisticated approach to their quotation systems over the coming years but it’s unlikely that smaller SME’s will adopt such systems until as late as 2020. We want to help you reduce that gap by creating an affordable CPQ system you can use straight away. Can you afford to wait until a time where such systems will be standardised among your competitors or do you want a head start?

Companies who fail to incorporate new technology such as a CPQ system will see the gap between themselves and the early adopters widen. Automation of production allows companies to focus more efforts on other aspects of their business and whilst the top companies gain more customers due to their advanced services, it's likely those playing catch up will see their product offering will become dated and unwanted within the market place.

To back this up, IQMS found that 56% of manufacturers find their customers most frequently demand short notice production capabilities as a value-added service. We predict this number will rise as customers become more accustomed to streamlines sales processes.

If you are reading this and work within an SME, we can speak to you about this solution today to ensure you can provide a high-quality service and help you reach quota.

Summary of benefits:

1. Become easier to do business with.
2. Adopt a fast sales cycle.
3. Improve the value of your deals.
4. Reduce inconsistencies and human error.
5. Improve overall productivity
6. Improve customer perception.