Why Many Variants of CPQ Platform are Required? Which Features are the Most Important?

CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) is a strategy and technology that helps companies automate and optimize the process of selling complex products and services.

CPQ applications use various tools to implement configuration, pricing, and quote functionality. Here are the main tools that are often used in such systems:

Product configurators are tools that allow customers or vendors to customize products or services to meet requirements. They can be interactive and support a selection of options, parameters, features and components to create unique features.

Pricing systems automate the process of determining the price of a product or service. They take into account a variety of factors: material costs, labor, taxes, discounts and margins to calculate the optimal price for a particular order.

Catalog management systems help manage a catalog of products or services, including their descriptions, images, features, prices and availability. They ensure that product information is up-to-date and accurate for use in the sales process.

Proposal generators automate the creation of quotations for customers based on product or service configuration, price, delivery time and other terms and conditions. Proposal generators provide professional paperwork and detailed descriptions of deal terms.

CPQ systems are often integrated with CRM systems to manage customer data, interaction history, sales records and other functions. It provides a deeper understanding of customer needs and improves the sales process.

Some include analytical tools to analyze sales performance, predict demand, optimize pricing and make strategic decisions based on sales and customer data.

CPQ tool works together to provide a comprehensive and efficient process for selling complex products and services based on individual customer needs.

These systems have advantages that allow companies to grow and generate greater profits. Here are some of them:

CPQ reduces proposal time and minimizes errors in price calculations, which improves accuracy and speed of sales.

Automating the CPQ process allows salespeople to focus on important tasks, such as communicating with customers and closing deals, instead of wasting time on routine operations.

With the ability to provide accurate and personalized offers quickly, CPQ improves the customer experience and contributes to increased satisfaction levels.

CPQ provides transparency into the pricing and product configuration process, which helps companies control their sales and manage margins.

Variety of Cpq Software

There are several CPQ platform options that may be appropriate for different business needs and usage scenarios:

Cloud platforms CPQ provide the ability to utilize CPQ through cloud services. They give you the flexibility, scalability and convenience of accessing CPQ functions from anywhere there is an internet connection.

Some companies prefer to use on-premises CPQ solutions that are hosted on their own servers or infrastructure. This can be useful for companies that have strict data security requirements or the need for customisable solutions.

Integrated CPQ to CRM platforms can provide a single space for managing customer data, sales and pricing.

There are specialized CPQ platforms that focus on specific industries or product types. For example, CPQ software for manufacturing companies, service companies, telecoms, medical devices, etc. These platforms usually have features and customisations to suit specific industry needs.

Some CPQ platforms offer open API and customisation options to meet the specific needs of the company. This allows for customized solutions that integrate with other company systems and infrastructure.

With the increasing use of mobile devices, some CPQ platforms are developing mobile applications to make it easy for salespeople and customers to work off-site.

How to Choose the Right CPQ Platform

The choice of CPQ platform depends on a company's specific requirements, business model, industry, infrastructure and development strategy.

All CPQ platforms share the goal of providing companies with an efficient and automated process for selling complex products and services, from product configuration, through price discovery, to the creation of professional commercial offers for customers. They also aim to improve customer experience, increase sales efficiency and boost a company's competitiveness in the marketplace. Despite the variety of platforms, there are some common features that are most important to most companies:

CPQ platforms should provide flexible tools to configure products or services according to customer requirements

An important feature is automated pricing that takes into account various factors: cost of materials, labor, taxes, discounts, etc.

CPQ platforms should create professional and accurate quotations for customers based on product or service configuration, price, delivery time and other transaction terms.

It is important that CPQ platforms are easily integrated with other systems such as CRM, ERP and others.

Analytics features allow you to analyze sales performance, predict demand, optimize pricing and make strategic decisions based on sales and customer data.

CPQ platforms need to be flexible and customisable to meet specific company, industry and business model needs. This includes customizing workflows, proposal templates, configuration and pricing rules.

These features are the foundation for the effective use of CPQ platforms and help companies automate and optimize their sales processes to achieve better results.

The integration of CPQ with PandaDoc can bring many benefits to companies in the process of creating and managing documents.The use of this service allows automating the process of creating documents, including commercial proposals, contracts, invoices and other documents that can be generated based on data from the CPQ platform.

PandaDoc also supports electronic signatures, which facilitates the process of concluding transactions and speeds up their finalization. Integration with CPQ allows the necessary data and transaction terms to be automatically inserted into documents before they are signed. In addition, PandaDoc provides convenient tools for document management, tracking and analytics. Integration with CPQ allows you to analyze the effectiveness of documents in a sales context, which helps you optimize your sales strategies.

In order to understand which cpq solution should be applied in a particular case, it is necessary to carefully study the possible variants and make an informed decision based on the made findings.