Product management has come a long way in Salesforce. First, products and price book entries were used in standard quotes. Discounts could be applied to quote lines, but there was no product configuration capability. Next came CPQ, offering a range of configuration options. If you’re familiar with CPQ, you’re familiar with bundles, features, and options. With other configuration options, these allowed predefining product structures with rules to ensure quotes were configured accurately the first time. Now, there is the new Salesforce Revenue Cloud platform, also known as RLM or RLMA.Â
The whole concept of product configuration has been redefined, as has the complete Quote to Case process. This article introduces high-level product configuration concepts in the new revenue cloud platform. The new model has been built to focus on scalability, reusability, and flexibility. This isn’t a rebuild of CPQ. It completely restores the core configuration model with new terminology and applications.
There are still products and price book entries. While some product options have changed, they are the same products that Salesforce admins are used to. So are price books and price book entries, though now there are cost books and cost book entries as well, with a similar structure.
Top level concepts include Product Catalogs and Categories. A catalog can contain one or more categories and subcategories to group products offered in a logical manner. Think of a car dealership offering different makes and models of cars.
Related to products are attributes. Attributes define specific similar options available for one or more products. Think about the exterior color, tire size, and stereo options for a car. Attributes are defined separately, can be organized into one or more attribute categories, and then can be applied when new products are configured as needed. They can also be configured to have a pricing impact for a given selection within an attribute.
Classifications are predefined products with specific attributes. These are used to streamline the creation of new product variations, where the new product is based on a classification and then adjusted for a new product’s characteristics.
Once the core configuration is completed, bundles can be configured containing applicable subproducts.
Beyond product configuration are qualification rules (whether a product or service is eligible for specific circumstances) and configuration (when certain bundle components are or are not available). Of course, there is a comprehensive model for pricing logic built on the same concepts of scalability and flexibility.
All this is brought together in a new visual interface for both the administrator and user, providing a seamless configuration and application experience. Contact us for help with the new Salesforce Revenue Cloud Platform!