What is a CPQ Process?

Software systems for the CPQ quote customization process of complex product portfolios have become relatively new to the sales teams of many companies. This is because such offers, especially for B2B customers, require a wide variety of features and configurations, as well as the capability to provide competitive price offers in the shortest possible time frame. 

CPQ processes in business models where flexible consumption is present offer the ability to support a diverse set of product portfolios, complex offerings with many required features, and complex pricing structures. 

CPQ Process and Its Major Steps

Customize, Price, Quote means a CPQ process that applies to the sale of goods or services that require customization on many levels depending on each customer’s needs. The integration of software in online B2B commerce today provides the assurance that each customer will receive the customization they need without the direct involvement of a salesperson.

CPQ is an acronym for Configure, Price, Quote, which integrates the three modules into one product. The software enables sales teams to quickly and accurately create sales proposals and improve the customer buying experience.  It also upgrades the sales process, eliminating manual processes, and creating a more streamlined approach to selling complex products and services.  The entire process consists of three sequential steps.

Customization. Potential customers are always looking for products and services that will meet their individual needs. The CPQ customization process collects information about each customer and then develops appropriate solution recommendations.  

The value of the configuration is as follows:

• Accurate and functional product recommendations. 
• Self-service capabilities. 
• Increased customer satisfaction. 

At this stage, you can customize, and combine the products or services provided in order to create a product that takes into account all the needs and wishes of the customer.

Price. CPQ software helps sales teams create a price by automatically calculating it with all existing discounts and promotions, as well as streamlining approval processes and verifying bid information. It is a handy CPQ tool that makes the quote accurate and up-to-date. Optimizing pricing variability enables sales teams to focus as much as possible on building closer relationships with new and regular customers.

The importance of a rational approach to pricing is as follows

• Flexible pricing support: it enables each customer to get real-time, consistent pricing and discount data, taking into account promotions and regulatory requirements.
• Intelligent transaction management: it enables you to align trading activity with corporate objectives and focus on getting the right deals by deeply analyzing all metrics and parameters such as cost, discounts, margins, and profitability.
• Workflow agility: automated real-time review and approval process significantly speeds up document flow and responsiveness.  

Quote. CPQ software enables internal collaboration with all departments – sales, legal, customer service, and finance – to generate and send the most effective and accurate quotes.

The value of automating quotes

• Convenience. Customer service is improved by quickly providing a branded, comprehensive, and accurate offer.
• Complete contract management. It’s possible to create contracts independently or based on existing templates, compare or combine them, point out differences between versions, and track changes.
• Electronic Signatures. Full integration with electronic signature providers makes it easy to collect signatures.

Increased productivity is achieved by the automatic generation and consolidation of information to present a unique proposal tailored to all of each customer’s requirements. Switching to a single CPQ system across a variety of complex channels helps standardize the sales process across the organization and thus maintains accuracy and consistency. The CPQ solution handles complexity by creating a single source of reliable information or having one reliable source of data flow that can be relied upon. Full integration with other CRM systems enables companies to close deals faster and increase sales.

CPQ in the Panda Dock Software Suite

Pandadoc offers versatile business software that will significantly speed up the sales process and make it easier. Pandadoc CPQ has many tools such as e-signatures, payment gateways, document templates, role and user management, editing, and forwarding of documents to simplify price calculation, and order placement for your sales team and your customers.

CPQ makes it easy to import a flat catalog of items, add a catalog structure, templates and define business rules for product configuration.

Each product can have its own logic, configuration parameters, prices, and special conditions that are required for use.

It is also possible to analyze and control the entire process. It enables you to monitor what is going on in the sales departments and in the customer network, to analyze, the efficiency of each employee in the chain of labor relations. Thanks to detailed sales analytics, you can analyze and verify sales statistics, and therefore better plan for the future flow of materials and production.