What’s CPQ (Configure, Worth, Quote)? Does your small business want it?

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Discovering the proper instruments to streamline your gross sales processes might be key to operating a extra profitable and worthwhile gross sales operation. One fashionable resolution for managing and automating components of the gross sales course of is by utilizing CPQ (Configure, Worth, Quote) Software program. Nonetheless, what’s a CPQ and what are its major advantages? And most significantly, does your small business want it? 

What’s a CPQ? What are its advantages?

CPQ (Configure Worth Quote) is a kind of gross sales software program that permits gross sales reps to shortly and simply configure services, generate correct pricing, and create quotes to be despatched to prospects. 

Listed below are a few of the key benefits of utilizing a CPQ:

1. Correct Product Configuration: It’s simpler for gross sales reps to construct a personalized package deal of services relying on a prospect’s particular wants and necessities. Since these are configured into the system, CPQs additionally cut back the possibilities for errors or misunderstandings. 
2. Automated Pricing: Gross sales reps don’t should manually calculate the pricing estimate every time they’re doing a quote as a result of pricing data is already constructed into the CPQ. This ensures that quotes have correct and up-to-date pricing.
3. Skilled-looking Quotes for Prospects: CPQs usually have customizable templates that may standardize the looks of quotes, making them simple to know for prospects and prospects. This improves your possibilities of closing offers sooner. 

When is it time to make use of a CPQ? 

Companies usually think about a CPQ system once they need to obtain the next, after hitting a sure level of development: 

1. Worth compliance and consistency amongst gross sales reps
2. Streamlining quote creation and administration 
3. Shortening general gross sales cycle

These are all particularly necessary for when your gross sales staff is getting caught up in additional administrative duties than they’ll tackle, and for if you need to implement scalable processes throughout the group. As well as, worth compliance and consistency is necessary for if you need to be certain that your gross sales staff isn’t making unauthorized modifications to pricing as a way to hit quotas. 

Nonetheless, what most individuals don’t know is that CPQs might be costly, advanced, and tough to implement and preserve. 

What are some disadvantages of utilizing a CPQ?

Listed below are some disadvantages in the case of utilizing CPQ techniques: 

1. It may be costly. There are upfront prices when selecting to implement a CPQ, in addition to ongoing subscription charges, which may result in it being a significant funding for organizations. 
2. Implementation can take months. Due to the complexities surrounding CPQ software program, it could actually take months to implement it and often requires particular consultants to get it off the bottom. 
3. Complicated to make use of and preserve. CPQs might be rigid and tough to customise, and infrequently requires a very robust RevOps / Operations staff to keep up it. It usually requires dramatic rework anytime pricing or packaging must be up to date. 

Though CPQs might be advantageous particularly when imposing worth compliance and consistency, the difficulties to implement and preserve the software is perhaps on the expense of your gross sales reps’ and operations groups’ productiveness. 

So, do you want it?

Usually, CPQs are designed for big enterprises with a extra advanced product catalog. Nonetheless, there are a number of components to think about, particularly for small-medium companies. 

1. Dimension and Complexity of Gross sales and Operations Groups 

• When you’ve got a small gross sales staff, implementing a CPQ will not be crucial. The system is perhaps an excessive amount of for what you’re attempting to do; all of the extra should you don’t have a powerful operations staff to again up your gross sales staff. The success of CPQ software program closely depends on its implementation and upkeep, usually accomplished by your Income Operations / Gross sales Operations staff. Having a powerful RevOps / Operations staff is vital to creating essentially the most out of an answer like CPQ. 

• Nonetheless, you probably have a big gross sales staff and a powerful RevOps staff to keep up your CPQ resolution, then it may doubtlessly make sense. 

2. Product and Service Catalog 

• In case you promote easy, standardized services or products, then a CPQ will not be crucial. A software like CPQ is finest utilized for advanced services or products that require customization and configuration per account. Nonetheless, there are different instruments that may present this profit with out going the total route of implementing a CPQ. 

What’s the choice? (Particularly for SMBs)

Relying on the use case, there are a whole lot of various instruments that you should utilize for your small business. 

Usually, SMBs can enormously profit from utilizing a devoted quoting software program, which may help in producing quotes shortly and precisely. A variety of these quoting softwares already supply many options equivalent to product and pricing databases, customizable templates, and the flexibility to deal with advanced configurations – that are largely the important thing stuff you’d need from a CPQ software program anyway. It’s oftentimes a extra scalable and environment friendly software in comparison with utilizing a guide spreadsheet program. For an inventory of complete quoting instruments, you’ll be able to take a look at HubSpot’s record right here.

Nonetheless, one software specifically that provides you a lot of the core advantages of a CPQ software is FastSpring IQ. 

FastSpring IQ (which stands for Interactive Quotes) is a light-weight CPQ various that’s particularly designed for small-medium companies. 

For gross sales reps, IQ supplies a simple technique to create, customise, and handle gross sales quotes, in addition to conserving monitor of offers and integrating every part into your CRM platforms. 

For RevOps and Operations groups, it’s a extra versatile resolution to implement worth compliance and consistency amongst your reps, and supplies a superb approval workflow in your quoting course of.

It additionally affords real-time analytics, eSignatures, and funds, for a less complicated and simpler quote-to-cash course of. 

The very best half is that you may get began straight away and check the platform out as a lot as you need – IQ is free for as much as 2 customers, core functionalities and limitless quotes included. Discover out extra data right here.

Ysa Gonzales

Ysa Gonzales is the Advertising and marketing Supervisor for FastSpring’s IQ (Interactive Quotes) Product.