What is CPQ?
In the B2B industry, complicated products and a large catalog can make providing a quote a lengthy process, often generating inaccurate product configurations and quotes. The same order may vary in price depending on factors like your relationship with the client, the promotions you’re offering, product bundles, accounts with recurring orders, and more. A configure price quote (CPQ) solution can set you apart from the competition with the ability to provide accurate, compliant, configurable quotes in real-time.
There are various indicators that your business could benefit from a CPQ solution, including:
Complex Products
For manufacturers with complex customizable products with extensive variables, the rules of configuration for those products can be difficult to manage. Without a system to manage the cost effects of these various variables and maintain changes in those values, your business may be resorting to providing complex quotes manually. This could result in quotes for the wrong products or at inaccurate costs. A CPQ with a user-friendly interface and intelligent inventory data management factors in all the variables that affect pricing to simplify the process.
Inaccurate Pricing
Inaccurate quotes are a detriment to both your business and your customers. By over-pricing an order, you may drive your clients to look to your competition for lower prices which is frustrating for them and an overall negative customer experience, and end with you losing a customer and that revenue. By under-pricing in a quote, your customers come to expect a lower price even if it’s inaccurate and means you’re losing revenue. Either way, you end up leaving money on the table and creating a bigger headache for you.
Wasted Time and Resources
Tracking all the complex factors that go into price configuration is not only difficult to do manually, but extremely time intensive. Rather than having members of your team waiting for quote requests to come in and then spending time to calculate a price manually, a CPQ system uses your defined workflows and inputs to generate effective price and allow your employees to focus on more pressing matters.
The Customer Experience
Just like today’s B2C consumers, modern B2B buyers want instant results and answers to their queries. Rather than selecting their variables, submitting a quote request, and waiting for a representative from your business to call them with an answer, you can use a CPQ system to provide an immediate answer and seamless customer experience. That means you have a shorter time to market, thus beating your competition to the sale, and your customers get their orders faster.
Do You Need a CPQ?
A CPQ solution is just one facet of the B2B commerce stack. Whatever technology challenges your business is facing, a CPQ can seamlessly integrate into existing systems to provide value, such as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform, a product information management (PIM) system, and more. Not sure how or where to start? A partner can help perform an evaluation to find out what areas of your business and your tech stack could benefit from a tightly integrated CPQ solution. Contact us to find out more.
What an informative blog! So useful and fresh!