How CPQ Can Simplify and Optimize the B2B Sales Process

More commonly known by its acronym CPQ, configure price quote software is a powerful system of integrated sales tools that together are radically shaping how sales teams close deals. As a detail-oriented system that provides automated sales quotes and can streamline paperwork, CPQ tools can help to increase the speed of sales in a business.

Especially in markets where sales cycles have to be as quick as possible, CPQ tools have become a go-to solution. Research shows that sales teams which use CPQ software can close deals 28% faster than teams that don’t. Additionally, the average deal size of CPQ users and the average number of proposals sent out is equally larger.

Let’s explore the power of CPQ systems, looking at what they’re all about and how exactly they deliver value to sales teams.

Discovering CPQ 

CPQ solutions date back all the way to the 1980s, when configuring price quote technology would help to facilitate the production of customer quotes. At this initial stage, CPQ tools were rudimentary, only ensuring that quotes didn’t conflict with any resource and stock allocations a business had made. 

In the digital era, more sales teams around the world began to integrate these tools into their workflows. But what exactly is CPQ software? To borrow from DealHub’s definition of CPQ, “This technology helps sales organizations configure product offerings, set up pricing rules and discounts, and generate error-free quotes and professional proposals customized to buyers’ needs.”

For businesses that don’t use a CPQ solution, each sales agent will spend around 73% more time developing quotes and sending proposals. Even if your team were to achieve an impossible 100% proposal success rate, you’d still be leaving money on the table by not using a CPQ, because you’d be compromising the potential of your sales agents.

By enabling increased revenue, error-free quotes, and operational efficiencies, CPQ software provides a comprehensive advantage for modern B2B sales teams.

How CPQ Streamlines the Sales Process

CPQ software streamlines the sales process by automating any monotonous or time-consuming processes and then optimizing all customer-facing tasks. For example, instead of having to manually search and compare potential quote strategies, and then wait for the approvals of internal stakeholders, CPQ tools can rapidly generate an accurate and precise quote for that specific client.

At the heart of CPQ software is a wealth of company, customer, and market data. By collating data from across these sources, CPQ tools are able to generate quotes instantly, dynamically price products based on competitors, and even provide guided sales experiences for customers. As CPQ systems typically integrate into sales CRM platforms, it also provides a seamless overview of the entire sales experience.

Beyond just consuming data, CPQ tools also produce a great deal of customer-oriented information that businesses can use. In order to streamline sales nurture operations, sales teams need to identify areas in which they can further optimize. CPQ systems do exactly that, providing a comprehensive suite of analytics and reporting tools for sales teams to make use of.

By pinpointing real-time insights that relate to win rates, team member-specific sales performance, revenue projects, and more, sales teams can take a data-driven approach to optimizing their sales cycles. Over time, small optimizations in terms of sales strategy or pricing rules will allow sales teams to micro-engineer more effective approaches.

Part of the magic of CPQ systems is that they seamlessly integrate into the majority of sales processes. Beyond just creating quotes, they can construct and manage an entire ecosystem of sales data that constantly changes and evolves.

CPQ software offers a number of advantages for sales teams:

• Neutralizes Errors – Even the best sales agents in the world make a mistake from time to time when creating quotes. By using an automated CPQ sales system instead of calculating manual quotes, your business can eradicate errors in the quotation process and create more accurate initial quote scopes. 
• Identify Unique Opportunities – With the full scope of product catalogs and discount rule scenarios in their systems, CPQ tools are able to identify unique cross-sell or up-sell opportunities. Over time, the repeated offering of these additional products and services can drive revenues and increase profitability.
• Less Admin – According to Hubspot, salespeople spend over 60% of their time on admin tasks. Whether it is reading emails, finding sales catalogs, or searching for specific information, all this time spent doing administrative tasks decreases the total time they have for selling and engaging with clients. CPQ software can automate a great number of these tasks, letting salespeople get back to what they do best.
• Improved Response Time – With more time available for customer communications, salespeople can get back to prospective clients more rapidly. Small response time windows are vital in sales and can lead to a higher proportion of deals that move beyond the initial contact.

While not an exhaustive list of benefits, CPQ software is able to optimize almost every area of the sales cycle. With the power to increase revenue, boost productivity, and decrease the number of monotonous tasks that salespeople have to complete, CPQ tools are vital in the current era of sales. 

Growing Adoption for CPQ

Configure price quote software is now absolutely everywhere in the world of B2B sales. By increasing operational efficiencies, streamlining the sales cycle, and providing a comprehensive level of support for sales agents, CPQ tools can do a lot. Regardless of the size of a business or the industry they work in, integrating a CPQ system is an effective way of boosting efficiency and driving profit.