Salesforce CPQ – Empowering Companies to Sell More, Faster and Cheaper

Read this blog post to know about the benefits of using an effective Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) application and why Salesforce is one of the most widely used CPQ systems in the world.

The world of business is undergoing a major transformation – the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had (and continues to have) a profound impact on companies, as they grapple with volatile demand and disruptions to supply chains.

To overcome these problems, many organizations are trying to make their business processes more effective. A key area most firms are focusing on is making their Quote-to-Order (QTO) cycles shorter and more robust. An efficient QTO cycle goes a long way in helping companies improve their selling efficiencies and increase margins.

Several businesses are using state-of-the-art Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software tools to enhance and automate their QTO processes. One of the most popular tools used to enhance QTO efficiencies is Salesforce CPQ. Today, we’ll learn how this innovative application helps firms sell with high levels of efficacy and increase their profits.

This Post Will Help You Find Answers to the Following

How does a traditional QTO cycle looks like and what are its limitations?
How does Salesforce CPQ empower businesses to create the best value?
How can firms implement Salesforce CPQ in an efficacious manner?

Let’s now examine the 5 steps of a typical QTO process that companies followed to close deals.

The above-mentioned process proved its efficacy and allowed firms to sell efficiently for many years. However, with the advent of the digital age, this process is creating problems for businesses due to its 3 key limitations.

3 Major Limitations of the Traditional QTO Process

Considerable amounts of time and money are consumed due to manual execution of tasks
Significant challenges in scaling the process to cater to ever-evolving needs
Serious problems in using data effectively

1. Considerable Amounts of Time and Money Are Consumed Due to Manual Execution of Tasks

This is inarguably the biggest limitation of the traditional QTO process. Most firms use MS-Excel workbooks for storing information pertaining to prices of products; salespeople often find it very hard to go through the spreadsheets to prepare quotes in a timely manner. Needless to say, it severely impacts their ability to sell effectively.

2. Significant Challenges in Scaling the Process to Cater to Ever-evolving Needs

We all know businesses need to scale up their processes to cater to their ever-changing requirements. Companies that implement the traditional QTO process face difficulties in adopting new sales models; this is because considerable amount of time must be spent to make changes to the process, and this badly affects the ability of the business to respond to rapidly-evolving needs of clients efficaciously. Consider the following scenario.

An emerging logistics company that delivers medicines to druggists experienced a sudden increase in demand for its services, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm wanted to switch over to a new, highly flexible pricing model that would enable it to provide higher discounts based on rapidly-changing levels of demand. But it couldn’t implement the model due to its inability to scale its QTO process, resulting in it missing a major revenue generation opportunity.