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

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Discovering the best instruments to streamline your gross sales processes might be key to working a extra profitable and worthwhile gross sales operation. One fashionable resolution for managing and automating components of the gross sales course of is through the use of CPQ (Configure, Worth, Quote) Software program. Nevertheless, 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 rapidly and simply configure services and products, generate correct pricing, and create quotes to be despatched to prospects. 

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

1. Correct Product Configuration: It’s simpler for gross sales reps to construct a personalized bundle of services and products relying on a prospect’s particular wants and necessities. Since these are configured into the system, CPQs additionally cut back the probabilities for errors or misunderstandings. 
2. Automated Pricing: Gross sales reps don’t need to 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 typically 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 take into account a CPQ system after they wish 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 crew is getting caught up in additional administrative duties than they’ll tackle, and for whenever you wish to implement scalable processes inside the group. As well as, value compliance and consistency is necessary for whenever you wish to be certain that your gross sales crew isn’t making unauthorized modifications to pricing with a view to hit quotas. 

Nevertheless, 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 relating to 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 might result in it being a serious funding for organizations. 
2. Implementation can take months. Due to the complexities surrounding CPQ software program, it may possibly 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 sometimes requires a very robust RevOps / Operations crew to take care of it. It typically requires dramatic rework anytime pricing or packaging must be up to date. 

Though CPQs might be advantageous particularly when imposing value compliance and consistency, the difficulties to implement and preserve the instrument may be 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. Nevertheless, there are a number of elements to think about, particularly for small-medium companies. 

1. Dimension and Complexity of Gross sales and Operations Groups 

• If in case you have a small gross sales crew, implementing a CPQ is probably not obligatory. The system may be an excessive amount of for what you’re attempting to do; all of the extra if you happen to don’t have a powerful operations crew to again up your gross sales crew. The success of CPQ software program closely depends on its implementation and upkeep, typically completed by your Income Operations / Gross sales Operations crew. Having a powerful RevOps / Operations crew is essential to creating essentially the most out of an answer like CPQ. 

• Nevertheless, if in case you have a big gross sales crew and a powerful RevOps crew to take care of your CPQ resolution, then it may doubtlessly make sense. 

2. Product and Service Catalog 

• Should you promote easy, standardized services or products, then a CPQ is probably not obligatory. A instrument like CPQ is greatest utilized for advanced services or products that require customization and configuration per account. Nevertheless, there are different instruments that may present this profit with out going the complete route of implementing a CPQ. 

What’s the choice? (Particularly for SMBs)

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

Usually, SMBs can drastically profit from utilizing a devoted quoting software program, which can assist in producing quotes rapidly and precisely. Quite a lot of these quoting softwares already supply many options corresponding to product and pricing databases, customizable templates, and the flexibility to deal with advanced configurations – that are principally the important thing belongings you’d need from a CPQ software program anyway. It’s oftentimes a extra scalable and environment friendly instrument in comparison with utilizing a handbook spreadsheet program. For an inventory of complete quoting instruments, you possibly can take a look at HubSpot’s listing right here.

Nevertheless, one instrument specifically that offers you a lot of the core advantages of a CPQ instrument is FastSpring IQ. 

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

For gross sales reps, IQ supplies a straightforward strategy to create, customise, and handle gross sales quotes, in addition to protecting monitor of offers and integrating all the things into your CRM platforms. 

For RevOps and Operations groups, it’s a extra versatile resolution to implement value compliance and consistency amongst your reps, and supplies a very good approval workflow on your quoting course of.

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

The perfect half is which you can get began immediately and take a look at 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.