Close Deals Faster with Salesforce CPQ
Learning Objectives
After completing this module, you’ll be able to:
- Understand what configure, price, and quote mean.
- Explain the benefits of CPQ.
Meet CPQ
Let’s meet the second product that can enhance your team’s ability to close more deals, Salesforce CPQ. CPQ stands for configure, price, quote. Think of these essential questions reps ask when putting together a proposal.
- Configure: What products or services does the customer want to buy?
- Price: How much do they cost?
- Quote: How can we give the customer details about the sale?
CPQ for Whom?
Can CPQ help your sales team? Take this fun quiz to find out.
- Have you ever spent days on a quote, but accidentally included products that can’t go together? (Like if you spent all day shopping and wound up buying an iPhone® with an Android™ charger.)
- Is it hard for reps to remember all the latest pricing, discounts, and special promotions? (“But Joe at the next desk has a spreadsheet with all that in there!” But when was the last time Joe updated that spreadsheet?)
- Do your reps ever have typos in their quotes? (If the price is $92, and a rep accidentally quotes $29, you’ve got a real problem.)
- Do you get irritated when you have to use ordinary kitchen knives that can’t even cut through a pop can? (Oh good, you’re still paying attention.)
You don’t have to answer the last one, but if you identify with any of the first three, you can probably benefit from a little CPQ in your life (consider it the TLC of Sales Cloud). It makes everyone happy: Sales reps can now move quickly without worrying about errors. Managers can now see accuracy in forecasting. Renewal teams can automate renewal quotes, including midterm changes, and send them to customers. Sales operations can standardize closing methods. And finance and revenue appreciate the accurate data that works with their systems. So much happiness calls for a group hug.
CPQ, What Does It Do?
OK, we won’t keep you on the edge of your seat any longer. Let’s talk about how Salesforce CPQ works when you configure, price, and quote.
Configure
First, your rep answers a few simple questions about the prospect, tailored to your sales cycle. For example, what is their industry? How large of a company are they? Based on the rep's answers, they see a tailored list of products and services. Salesforce CPQ also uses smart rules to make sure your reps sell related products together and that incompatible products don’t end up on the same quote. (Remember the iPhone with an Android charger?)
Price
Once they’ve selected products or services, your reps can find the right prices. Goodbye, spreadsheet! Salesforce CPQ becomes the pricing source of truth. Your reps can even apply discretionary discounts, and Salesforce CPQ handles the rest, including the math. Yes, Salesforce CPQ does all the math, automatically. You focus on your customers, not your calculator.
Quote
In no time, your reps can generate a PDF with all the quote details and send it to their prospect with just one click. Because you can customize the look of your company’s quotes, they’re professional and consistent. The quote is dynamic too, so if your quote requires special terms, they appear automatically. Add e-signature integration, and you can close deals faster than ever.
See all the cool stuff CPQ can do for you? Not to mention it makes everyone happy, most importantly the customer.