Your salespeople and accountants probably aren’t best buddies. But in Salesforce CPQ, sales and invoicing are soul mates. Selling and billing activities are integrated together in a seamless process, from start to finish.
Salesforce CPQ (configure price quote) is software that automates price quoting, standardizes options, controls pricing, and prevents errors in the invoicing process. In fact, accountants love Salesforce CPQ because of its reliability and consistency. And sales reps like that it shortens the sales cycle and allows them to close more deals.
The Old Way
Without Salesforce CPQ, many companies operate in traditional department silos, with each department having its own systems and habits.
In the old silo approach, misunderstandings and mistakes are common. Salespeople forget to gather every detail needed for the complex tasks of pricing, fulfillment, and billing.
The likelihood of customers receiving flawed quotes or incomplete deliveries is increased because there is too much room for human error.
The Salesforce CPQ Way
When companies implement Salesforce CPQ, the software setup creates rules and logic that are consistently applied to the process. There’s an opportunity to select required fields like industry type, business size, and payment terms.
Salesforce CPQ enforces guided selling, which keeps eliminates errors. Busy sales reps must enter required fields to proceed with quotes and orders. No longer do they overlook information that’s essential for the fulfillment and billing stages of the process.
The end result is consistent customer satisfaction and enhanced company profitability. Instead of apologizing to clients, you’re gathering happy testimonials.
Automated Payment Processing
As soon as a new order hits your Salesforce system, an invoice is ready to be triggered. It’s handled through billing automation. This eliminates the need for hand-entering of data and reduces the risk of human error.
Salesforce also gives your clients new payment options you might not have been able to offer before. Salesforce has 40 payment processing apps through the AppExchange, its online storefront. Each app on the AppExchange integrates with Salesforce for a smooth customer experience and eliminates having to build an integration with your payment processor.
For your billing department, invoicing is easier because every stage in the process is guided towards correct and efficient billing. It’s also flexible, due to advanced AR options that are built into the software.
When advanced AR options are enabled, these crucial billing features are available:
- Payment terms, including options from Net 15 to Net 90
- Partial payments and special payment arrangements
- Purchase orders that can show various levels of detail
- Refunds the client has received in the past
- Credit and debit notes specific to each client’s account
- Invoice late fees that have been applied, or will apply
- Payment re-allocations due to billing issues
- Collections statuses and write-offs
Stellar Customer Service
The Salesforce invoicing process makes it easy to track and handle any customer service issues related to billing. Refunds and adjustments take place smoothly as part of the automated process. Complaints trigger helpful FAQs or alerts to the appropriate customer service reps.
Salesforce handles invoicing and customer service issues so seamlessly, it’s now in use at many of the world’s top financial institutions. U.S. Bank implemented it to address its place in the banking industry’s struggling customer service reputation. For U.S. Bank customers, a money issue is a crisis.
“Salesforce allows us to serve our customers in the moments that matter most,” said Bill Hoffman, the bank’s chief analytics officer and head of CRM.
Impact on Cash and Profitability
With Salesforce CPQ, companies see a positive impact on cash flow and overall profitability. Lead-to-cash time can be reduced dramatically. Because the process is so efficient – and because your clients have the convenience of fast electronic payment – collecting is easy.
Salesforce’s billing app allows you to monitor prices and discounts across product lines and promotions. If past-due accounts are above acceptable levels, you’ll know it immediately. If your profitability or margins are below target, the company can use intelligence from the billing system to make informed business decisions.
And your CFO can breathe a sigh of relief about compliance. Salesforce stays up-to-date on all financial and legal compliance issues across the U.S. and around the globe.
Ready to Integrate?
Is your company ready for Salesforce CPQ, but struggling with the correct design and implementation?Or are you unsure on which is the best CPQ software for your business? Reach out to the experts at StarrData, the certified Salesforce professionals that are helping some of the world’s top companies maximize ROI from Salesforce technologies.
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