CPQ in Salesforce (Salesforce CPQ) is a strong player among various CPQ solutions, thanks largely to its plethora of features, a strong reputation, and the overall quality of great products.
For people in the market searching for a good CPQ solution, even these reasons might be enough to influence their decision. And we agree as it is a great choice.
But there are two sides to every coin. When it does come to Salesforce CPQ though, there are
many issues to be aware of, and–therefore–its room for more improvement.
Keep reading if you want a breakdown of the best Salesforce CPQ features, including what it’s lacking and how to improve its performance for better results.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
- About Salesforce CPQ
- Salesforce CPQ Features: Configuration, Pricing, Quoting
- Issues with Salesforce CPQ
- How to Better Optimize Salesforce CPQ
Salesforce CPQ
Salesforce CPQ is the native CPQ software for Salesforce. It is housed within the platform’s Sales Cloud.
Like other CPQ solutions on the market, Salesforce CPQ looks to reduce the sales cycle, boost customer satisfaction and retention, while also helping to close more, bigger deals- thanks to the automation that the configure, price, quote process brings to the table.
With Salesforce CPQ, users can easily pull their data from the inventory management and customer relationship management (CRM) Salesforce systems. This smooth integration nixes the need to toggle between solutions for all your business needs.
Let’s break down the features in the CPQ in Salesforce according to each stage: configuration, pricing, and quoting.
Salesforce CPQ – Configuration Features
Below is the summary of some of the core features on the platform during product configuration:
Guided Selling
It makes use of carefully crafted prompts to “guide” the sales reps step-by-step on the path to making a purchase. Automation of the sales process ensures that the final purchase is in tune with customer needs with the ideal product configuration.
Guided selling also opens the way to increased deal sizes with the use of AI-driven recommendations (think: upsells, cross-sells, etc.) Sales reps lacking the experience or product knowledge can become top performers and trusted advisors. The hiring of new recruits is also quicker and much easier.
Configuration Rules
Configuring different products and orders in Salesforce CPQ is done by configuring rules–bits of logic coded within the software’s back-end. Configuration rules ensure a smooth configuration of large, complex orders and also eliminate the chances of non-viable selections.
Thanks to these configuration rules, every design passes downstream from sales to engineering, and then to the shop floor which then gets optimized for customer satisfaction as well as manufacturing efficiency.
Dynamic Pricing
Dynamic pricing calculates (and then recalculates) prices for configurable products in real-time. As reps continue to configure products, dynamic pricing allows them instant pricing feedback, which they can then pass on to potential customers if they choose to do so.
Product Catalog
Salesforce CPQ allows users to search, filter, sort, and then select items to be added in a quote. All of that with just a couple of clicks.
Salesforce CPQ – Pricing Features
CPQ for Salesforce has some powerful pricing features. Here is a summary of a few staple ones:
Flexibility
Salesforce CPQ boasts of the flexibility to include complex pricing models for both one-time and recurring purchase scenarios.
Discounting
The platform also lets users manage discounts, at the quote and line level, as per the pre-set customer arrangements.
Terms and Conditions
The Terms and Conditions feature ensures that sales reps are including the correct terms for every deal. This can then be customized from order to order.
Renewals
Moreover, the CPQ for Salesforce makes it super-easy to renew the contracts that were based on contracted pricing and customer histories.
Salesforce CPQ – Features in Quoting
Rounding our breakdown of Salesforce CPQ features are the ones that are used for quoting. They include but aren’t limited to
Document Generation
Once the user is prepared to finalize a configured product, the platform then auto-generates branded estimates, proposals, and even quotes. These outputs include product descriptions with pricing, their terms and conditions, as well as visuals in your format of choice (PDF, XLS, Word).
Customization
Users can customize standard quote documents with comments, cover letters, different supporting documents, and more, helping create customized quotes to every customers’ preferences and needs.
Contracts
Once a quote is created, it can then be converted into contracts as deemed necessary. Again, this also reduces the time required to deliver a personalized customer experience.
Version Control
It’s easy to get confused when users track changes, work in different versions, create new versions, or also revert to old versions of quotes. Salesforce CPQ’s Version Control feature makes all this supremely effortless.
Issues with Salesforce CPQ
CPQ in Salesforce is a great fit for many companies, mainly those already operating within a Salesforce environment. But it does have its own set of shortcomings. Here are some areas in which the platform has scope for improvement:
Visual product configuration. Product configuration with CPQ in Salesforce depends mostly on text. It’s a black box. Meanwhile, a lot of CPQ solutions do feature visual product configuration. Users configure their products by interacting with 3D product renderings for an in-depth understanding of every single choice they make. This then enhances the overall customer experience to boost the likelihood of better outcomes.
Self-serve. Salesforce CPQ is designed for use by sales reps. But we’re now entering the “self-serve” era where B2B buyers wish to configure, price, and then quote products themselves. This lack of a customer-ended visual configurator detracts from the Salesforce CPQ solution.
Integrations. For businesses making use of native Salesforce applications, integration with Salesforce CPQ is perfect. For those relying on software provided by other brands that do not have a partnership with Salesforce, it’s not easy always.
Page Load Speed. Sales reps generally complain of frustratingly slow page load speed. Every second is precious when your job is to generate as many accurate quotes for configurable products as possible.
Drag and drop. Users are unable to drag, drop, or rearrange line items on quotes, slowing things down. Reordering lines means starting from scratch.
How to Better Optimize Salesforce CPQ (with Epicor CPQ)
To get the most out of Salesforce CPQ, you can integrate it with Epicor CPQ.
For seven years, Salesforce and Epicor have been working together to enhance the CPQ experience for manufacturers of configurable products. Epicor CPQ works well with the strengths of Salesforce with robust options for rules, visualizations, eCommerce embedding (digital self-service), and more.
Together, they close the gap between sales, manufacturing, as well as engineering across B2B industries that are as diverse as biotech and building supplies.
