#cpq process

KBMax: CPQ Demo

How CPQ Process Enables You To Automate Work

Designing complex products can benefit greatly from visual configuration, which enhances adaptability, flexibility, and design efficiency. Designers and engineers can provide a graphical interface for customers to customize a product by choosing different choices and features using visual configuration. 

Designers can design highly complex products suited to specific consumer demands and preferences using CPQ software for product configuration. Users will be able to develop a product that satisfies their particular needs, which can assist in boosting customer satisfaction.

What Is Visual Configuration

Using a graphical user interface to build a product or service, a process known as "visual configuration" allows users to choose and arrange product features, choices, and components graphically. Customers can design a unique product by choosing different options or characteristics from a preset list of possibilities, including colors, materials, sizes, forms, and functionality.

Visual CPQ tools are frequently used in manufacturing to create complicated goods with several variations or alternatives. Customers can now customize the product to meet their unique demands without advanced technical knowledge or design experience.

Visual CPQ tool is frequently employed in industries where clients desire individualized and customizable items, such as automobiles, furniture, home appliances, and electronics. It can also be used in software programs like website builders, which let users visually design and manage their websites by selecting various page layouts, fonts, graphics, and colors.

Benefits Of Visual CPQ Tool

Visual CPQ tools can offer several benefits to businesses, including:

The sales process can be automated using CPQ resources, making it more rapid and effective. Salespeople can rapidly and accurately provide quotations based on customer needs without laborious manual data input. This can lower mistakes, speed up sales, and boost client happiness.

Customers' purchasing experiences can be enhanced by using CPQ software, which enables consumers to view and personalize their items in real-time. Before deciding to buy, customers can experiment with various product settings and choices to see how the changes would appear. Increased engagement, contentment, and loyalty can result from this.

Rules-based setup is used by visual CPQ resources to guarantee the accuracy and completeness of quotations and orders. This can improve the accuracy of the sales process by lowering mistakes and preventing misunderstandings between sales representatives and clients.

By automating the design and quotation processes, CPQ software can assist organizations in bringing new goods to market more quickly. As a result, firms can adapt to customer wants and market trends more rapidly. This can shorten the time needed to develop new goods and get them to market.

By giving customers a more exciting and dynamic shopping experience, visual CPQ technologies can assist businesses in growing their sales. Products that satisfy customers' requirements and preferences are more likely to be bought. Sales representatives can find and recommend suitable product alternatives and configurations that consumers might not have considered using CPQ resources.

Functionalities Of Visual Configuration

Visual configuration tools can offer a range of functionalities depending on the specific product or service being configured. Some of the key functionalities of visual configuration tools include:

Visual CPQ software allows users to select and configure products visually, using 3D models or other graphical representations. 

Visual configuration tools use rules-based configuration to ensure that product configurations are valid and consistent. 

Visual configuration tools can calculate the price of a configured product in real-time based on the selected options and features. 

Visual configuration tools can validate product configurations against predefined rules and requirements, ensuring that the final product will meet the required standards and specifications. 

Visual configuration tools can integrate with other systems, such as CRM, ERP, and CAD, to streamline the design and production process. 

Visual configuration tools can provide realistic visualizations and renderings of the configured product, enabling users to see how it will look. 

Summing Up

The visual configuration enables users to develop distinctive and customized goods that match their particular requirements, streamlining the product creation process, shortening lead times, and boosting customer satisfaction.

CPQ software can speed up a company's sales process, improve customer satisfaction, increase accuracy, shorten time-to-market, and boost revenue.

For most manufacturers operating without CPQ software, generating instant and accurate quotes can be a real struggle. This is because the data required to prepare accurate quotes are frequently dispersed across multiple siloed teams that use different systems.

You can, however, significantly improve your sales cycle by implementing robust CPQ software that automates sales, connects departments, collects data from across your organization, and eliminates errors.

As great as this sounds, CPQ systems are only as good as their integration, implementation, and application. For a successful CPQ software implementation, you will need the right:

Product design

Set-up

Project strategy

Here are some best practices for implementing a highly effective CPQ system in your organization.

1. Clearly Define Project Goals Internally and with Your CPQ Vendor

To achieve an objective in business, you must start by clearly defining it. One of the main reasons business owners buy a CPQ tool is to improve the sales process, streamline communication bottlenecks between manufacturing and sales, or simply connect with their clients better by giving them access to certain features such as 3D product configuration.

The right CPQ tools have all these key features and can help achieve these objectives if implemented correctly. The best way to do that is to start by clearly defining your goals and the desired outcomes. For example:

Faster sales cycles

Reduced quoting errors

Enhanced sales productivity

Increased customer satisfaction

These goals or objectives must be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound.

2. Choose Top CPQ Software with the Right Features

High-end CPQ software has a lot of powerful features, including but not limited to the following:

Visual product configuration

Pricing management

Automated quoting

Guided selling

Implementing all the available product features at once can be tempting, but this would be a mistake. For one thing, your team will struggle to master them all. Secondly, your business might only require a limited number of features–anything more will only increase complexity.

The best approach is to focus on the product features you need to meet your defined project goals. Once you are clear about what you want to achieve as an organization, it's easier to prioritize the CPQ software features that will help you get there faster.

Sticking to the stock features built into the product is also advisable instead of customizing your own. The best strategy would be to use the built-in features first and ensure everything runs smoothly and effectively before adding any customizations.

3. Collate Your Data

One of the most significant advantages of implementing CPQ tools into your organizational operations is that it helps to centralize your data. As such, the system you choose will require data from several different sources. 

To get this right, you must ensure that the CPQ system you implement integrates seamlessly with other organizational systems, such as ERP and CRM, whether on-prem or in the cloud. This will keep teams in sync and enable the automation of cross-functional workflows.

4. Configure the Approved Features

After collating the necessary data and installing the approved CPQ package, it's time to configure your chosen features. While these features will vary from one implementation process to another, a few are paramount to each CPQ system. These include:

Product and Pricing Rules: These rules determine how products can be configured, priced, and sold. The best CPQ systems, like Epicor CPQ, have a no-code rules engine, enabling non-technical business users to configure the solution.

Approvals: A complete and accurate quote may go through several departments, depending on your organization. It’s essential for every party involved to understand how the quote process progresses from one approval level to another and to automate approvals where possible.

Quote templates: Formatting your quote templates is one way to ensure uniformity throughout the process and enhance efficiency. You can customize your quote templates with your company name, logo, and terms and conditions. 

Properly configuring these features creates well-defined rules, making the right CPQ environment for your teams to output accurate quotes quickly and efficiently.

5. Proactively Manage the Change and Get Buy-In

The CPQ implementation process should involve the entire organization. Involving every stakeholder in the implementation process will help shed some light on the following:

The necessary features

User experience

Desired outcomes

Stakeholders should all agree on what is an essential part of the CPQ solution and what is considered non-essential and unnecessary for inclusion in the initial implementation phase. Remember to consult customer support. They may not use the CPQ system but interface with customers daily and understand their perspectives and pain points.

6. Test and Track Project Progress

One of the most critical parts of the implementation project is the "User Acceptance Testing" phase. This is where employees and customers are trained on the CPQ tool, test it out, and see if it meets spec and their expectations. Most issues are identified and corrected at this stage before the system is rolled out organization-wide.

Here are some steps you can follow when testing the implemented CPQ system:

Clearly define the testing schedule as well as the timelines 

Identify testing scenarios

Use a corresponding test case for each feature that needs to be explored

Confirm whether the system met business objectives

It's essential to set up a "sandbox" where you will be conducting all the necessary tests on the newly implemented CPQ system. This ensures data-to-day operations are unaffected and vital production data is safeguarded. You can also use this sandbox during demos and training sessions.

Finally, as part of the testing phase, it's necessary to conduct several user satisfaction surveys. These will show you whether or not the new CPQ tool has a positive impact.

You should note that the user adoption process is just as important an implementation step as any mentioned here. If the intended users find the CPQ system challenging, not only will it slow down the return on investment, but they may resist embracing the change altogether. To avoid this, ensure adequate user adoption support regarding training materials, real-life case studies on the positive impacts of CPQ adoption, and user involvement from the beginning.

The Bottom Line: Implementing CPQ Software Solutions Doesn’t Have to Be Challenging

The Complete CPQ Implementation Guide For Success

The Complete CPQ Implementation Guide For Success

Presentation is essential, no matter what you are presenting to customers. A proposal, product, or quote. Better-looking quotes and proposals aid in closing sales. Salespeople know the influence a well-written quotation or proposal may have on a deal. Many sellers dislike the time it takes to gather and prepare the document. They would instead concentrate on fostering relationships and selling. Before Configure Price Quote CPQ came into play, businesses would create a template to address the problem. The issue is that only a few salespeople make skilled designers.

Even if they possess these abilities, it takes time to put up a paper that is well-designed and effectively branded. Salespeople may take shortcuts when they have clients to visit and goals to achieve.

Out-of-date or low-resolution logos and photos, misspellings, uneven application of brand rules, and amateurish layouts are some of the top errors in customer-facing papers.

How can a salesperson create a tailor-made quote or proposal?

A detailed document composition tool that is part of the ideal configurator software allows users to build templates while receiving the necessary brand compliance guidelines. Salespeople may quickly create a proposal tailored to the offer and the client using this template. The content of a deal can toggle conditional template components on and off. The sales associate may also activate sections. The details of quotes or pricing summaries can be immediately entered.

Configure Price Quote CPQ manages parallel and serial approval chains, giving all parties involved visibility into the deal’s development. To save time, it also updates when a trade is accepted or denied at any stage.

How does configurator software help provide error-free quotes?

Configurator software frequently claims that the solution can provide error-free quotes. What does that actually imply, and why should a business be concerned?

It is a vital responsibility of a Configure Price Quote CPQ to transmit data to a system downstream that will carry out the instruction. The ordering system needs inputs such as product specifications, customer details, billing information, and more to fulfill the order.

Configure: The configuration engine, which directs users to create proper, legitimate product configurations, is a crucial component of CPQ processes. Users can choose from a list of permitted features to develop reliable parts or service combinations. The configured product can only add to the order at that point.

Price: The commercial and legal terms of an agreement are often discussed concerning the pricing component of CPQ. At this point, rules are upheld to ensure that all crucial data is recorded and shared with other systems. Every customer data may be required or even connected with a CRM system. Prices can be determined, and billing terms can be specified.

Every workflow component can be pre-populated with the necessary information using configured software. Accepting pricing levels and other non-standard parts of the transaction is one of the most crucial facets of commercial terms. Discounts can be monitored and authorized by corporate policies. Before the quote is completed with the customer, variables like expedited delivery or terms specific to the customer can be reviewed and approved.

Quote: In most Configure Price Quote CPQ, a quotation gathers all necessary data and displays it via customer-facing documents like proposals, quotes, and contracts in the most appropriate way. CPQ solutions organize the transaction data to seamlessly connect with or flow into your downstream systems, minimizing the need for manual order re-entry.

Summing up:

Accurate data may be obtained, added, and updated quickly and easily with configured software. The potential format conflict between word processors and spreadsheets is no longer a concern. The ability of the salesman to completely alter some elements of the proposal is the final and, arguably, most effective option. This gives them the ability to contribute rich language to proposals, including cover letters, executive summaries, and any other content where their unique style, connection, and intimate understanding of a customer’s circumstance cannot be duplicated by a computer.

Being an owner of a startup brings many challenges, especially when you want to compete with big industry giants. Usually, this entails investing in sales technology that increases agility and allows for simple scaling as you pursue long-term success. Satisfactory documentation is a necessary but frequently disregarded requirement, mainly when writing sales quotes.

It can be pretty simple for CPQ companies to quickly create customized sales quotes when your company is just starting and serving a limited customer base. It gets harder to maintain both quality and speed as you develop and increase your market and sales team. To remain competitive, you should invest in configure, price, and quote (CPQ) software.

Integrating the CPQ process into your company might enhance sales, result in long-term cost savings, and improve team collaboration; choosing the incorrect solution could cost you more time and money than you can afford.

You must evaluate a potential solution's benefits and drawbacks and ensure it advances your organization's objectives. Quoting software can be the first thing you need to consider if you've noticed that your sales are taking longer to process and that you're losing customers to more significant competition. Here are a few ways it can simplify your company's operations to lead growth.

1.Enhance customer experience:

The purchasing experience is crucial in today's digitally driven society. It means more than friendships, fidelity, preference, and even cost. Customers will only go to your competition if they like some components of your company's path to purchase.

While some manufacturing businesses have found it difficult to accept, it is true that in today's B2B sales climate, clients aren't only comparing one supplier to another. They anticipate transactions as simple as those they make on Amazon.

Top CPQ solutions assist in producing those exceptional experiences. The flexible performance and smooth digital interactions that today's clients need are made possible by more alternatives, quick and simple quotations, and seamless buying methods.

Additionally, sales teams can focus on providing more significant service levels by avoiding the frequent back-and-forth discussion of quotes for various scenarios. They have more time to ask clients how they may be better served, which is a crucial question.

2. CPQ makes customization easy:

Regardless of industry, people's increased expectations for digital experiences are directly related to their growing presumptions about customization and personalization. Buyers anticipate being able to tailor every part of their orders, no matter how big or small, to precisely suit their unique business requirements.

You must be able to fulfill this client's expectations in this emerging market, even if it means overcoming ongoing disruptions in your labor, inventory, and shipping workflows. Top CPQ solutions will help your company overcome these persistent difficulties so you can constantly provide the specialized purchasing experiences your clients demand.

Here, consistency is the key concept. Many of your rivals will only be able to offer these personalized purchasing experiences occasionally. By doing this, you will be able to differentiate your company from the competition, win over clients' trust, and create more prospects for future sales.

3. Allow teams to think differently

With a cloud-based CPQ process in place, manual pricing procedures prone to error will become extinct. Your team will be free to think and work in new ways thanks to CPQ, which will eliminate thousands of hours of non-value-added work. Your team can concentrate on the broader picture by paying closer attention to consumers and coming up with innovative solutions to help them grow if they have the assurance that quotes are accurate and error-free. Finding innovative ways to service your consumers is a logical outcome of this customer-aware strategy.

Because of CPQ, your team will not only have more time to develop innovative ways to serve and sell to your customers, but automatically suggest related or complementary goods and services. It will open up new upsell and cross-sell opportunities for your sales representatives. Your reps will have the necessary information to expand accounts and offer proactive customer support by integrating CPQ with your CRM system and setting parameters that define these opportunities.