Close more deals. Close more deals. This mantra runs on a loop in the minds of your sales staff. All day long, day after day, all they want is to find ways to close more deals.
That’s why it’s so frustrating when they constantly hit roadblocks in the CPQ (configure price quote) process. Cumbersome and out-of-date CPQ systems limit the maximum number of deals your reps can close, costing your company thousands of dollars in missed opportunities.
What Exactly is CPQ?
On a basic level, your CPQ is the solution your company uses to develop price quotes and get them to customers. Some small companies still do it on paper, or even purely within the minds of department managers and sales reps: Somebody comes up with a price, it’s communicated to the customer, and an order is placed and fulfilled.
Of course, this kind of old-fashioned CPQ process is full of mistakes. Bad math, bad assumptions, poor memory, and keystroke errors can quickly make creating a quote a mess. Sales reps send incorrect quotes, over and over again. Refunds and adjustments become standard procedure. Deals are lost that should have been won. Customers go away.
What’s New in CPQ
Enter modern sales software. Salesforce CPQ is a program that automates price quoting, standardizes options, controls pricing, generates invoices, and prevents errors all along the way. When companies implement Salesforce CPQ, software rules and logic immediately simplify the process.
Quoting options, like product grouping or bundling, make your quote easier to read and understand. Customer codes are automatically applied. Payment terms are built in. These features work in harmony to guide the process and support your sales staff.
Why Salespeople Love Salesforce CPQ
Companies are pleasantly surprised to find that their sales reps adore Salesforce CPQ. Sales managers watch as their staff welcomes it with open arms. Across the internet, there are stories titled, “Why Do Sales Reps Love Salesforce?”
Why all the love? Here are some of the top reasons:
SPEED. Salesforce CPQ speeds things up for busy reps, who no longer have to work out quotes by hand or by memory. Even if proposals need manager review, this can happen within minutes, not days.
ERROR REDUCTION. Mistakes are minimized through required fields and prompts, so reps come to view the software as a helpful personal assistant, always on hand with guidance.
FEWER APOLOGIES. Error reduction means your reps spend less time in the awkward position of apologizing to customers. Apologies are proven to damage business relationships.
GUIDED SELLING. Salesforce CPQ uses guided selling, a clear step-by-step process that coaches sales reps along the CPQ process. This is particularly helpful for new hires and reps who come from outside your industry.
TEMPLATES. Reps don’t have to do everything from scratch. The software offers templates – which your company can thoroughly customize – for all kinds of quotes and contracts. And it’s all kept in cloud-based storage, so they can access their documents from anywhere in the world, even from their smartphone.
TRIGGERED ALERTS. This is one of the features that take sales reps from liking Salesforce CPQ to loving it. The software reminds them of all kinds of important action points. When client contracts are due to expire, or when tempting new discounts are available, the system lets them know. It’s timely data they can use in selling.
BUILT-IN BILLING. Reps know the billing is a built-in part of the process. This makes them less reliant on the quirks of your in-house billing department.
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. It comes with a big boost to customer satisfaction. As Salesforce CPQ improves the quote-to-cash process, customers are happier and reps are happier in turn.
SHORTER SALES CYCLE. Salesforce’s own research shows that it shortens the sales cycle because of all the built-in features that are geared toward speed.
DEALS CLOSE FASTER. All of the benefits above combine to set sales reps up for success. With so much support, they can close deals faster than ever before.
RE-UPPING IS FASTER TOO. As an added bonus, renewals, and upsells are a built-in part of Salesforce CPQ. That means as soon as reps close one deal, they’re already set up to close the next.
The Bottom Line: More $$$
The theme here is that Salesforce CPQ helps your reps consistently reach that golden “last mile” of sales, where quotes become closed deals. Selling is no longer a painful marathon. It’s a quick sprint.
Are your sales reps sprinting to the finish line? StarrData helps struggling companies implement Salesforce CPQ solutions that close more deals, more quickly.