Wouldn’t it be nice for companies to provide accurate & efficient pricing for products? Of course, it would be great if this is possible. That’s why Salesforce CPQ comes into play to make it possible for your sales representatives to spend more on selling so that your brand or company leaves less money on the table. 

In this article, you will learn Salesforce, Salesforce CPQ, and Salesforce training. However, we also like to provide you insights on how Salesforce CPQ works and how the standard and advanced features of CPQ help your business reach the next level. Moreover, you will also know about the best Salesforce jobs that could change your life.

What does Salesforce mean?

Marc Benioff founded Salesforce.com in 1999. And today, Salesforce is one of the most dominant CRM software on the planet. Do you know about CRM? It stands for customer relationship management. CRM is how you keep track of everything that you’re doing with your customers. However, we can say that CRM is a communication device.

Salesforce CRM has the aim to connect customers and companies. This cloud-based software allows your company to track analytics, customer success, customer complaints, and more. It also allows you to keep closely in touch with customers in a way that would be difficult if we were doing it with spreadsheets or email. 

Is this not super fun! Of course, it is. But one reason why we choose Salesforce? Because it’s easy and flexible, and it’ll change and grow with our process. Moreover, the Salesforce community is excellent when you’re stuck or want to try something new; Salesforce provides a lot of support. 

Do you know what Salesforce CPQ is? 

The two questions we get asked more often, what is CPQ and why I need it? We know you expect authentic answers to both questions. CPQ stands for: configure, price, and quote. It’s an extension of your CRM that allows you to create a structured and scalable sales process.

Furthermore, CPQ has the aim to make sure whether your sales representative is selling the right product combination or not. It also controls discounting and quickly automates approvals which means your sales representative spends more on marketing. 

In other words, CPQ is a sales tool that helps your company save time and provide accurate pricing for products in short. Above all, it gives your sales team easy-to-use software compatible with all operating systems and devices. 

Why I need Salesforce CPQ?

Let’s proceed to the second most frequently asked question why you need it. Here are three reasons. 

1. Helps sales Reps close deals fast

Many sales teams are stuck, relying on spreadsheets and email when it comes to the final stages of their sales cycle, which means instead of moving on to their next deal, they waste a lot of time trying to figure out how to price a product or chasing a contract approval. But CPQ changes all of that. Your sales representatives get their deal-making canvas to speed up even the most complex quote.

2.  Gives companies to control and visibility 

CPQ gives companies to control and visibility over what’s being offered and what’s being sold. Without Salesforce, many sales teams work under chaotic scenarios sending out pricing that is not approved and promising products that no longer exist. It becomes nearly impossible to accurately track, analyze or forecast when data is siloed in spreadsheets. CPQ puts guardrails in place moves sales teams away from all of that. 

3. Enables companies to launch new revenue models

Today’s customers demand more flexibility in how they buy, and companies across all industries responding by introducing new revenue models. But to do so, they need to implement technology platforms that support them and spoiler alerts. CPQ does all that.

Salesforce CPQ working process

How how does Salesforce CPQ work? CPQ uses the three ways in the whole process. Before proceeding further, let’s take an example of Lenovo company that manufactures laptops for their customers. 

There are two teams: The outside sales team and the inside sales team. Both have different tasks. The Outside team collects information and other essential requirements from customers. Once they collect requirements, they transfer them to the insides team sales. 

The other is insides team sales, which receives information from the outside sales team, coordinates with the company’s software & design developer and the manufacturer team to configure the custom product and create an accurate quote within a given time. 

Let’s see how the entire process of Salesforce CPQ works.

Configure

This is the first step that starts the entire process. In this section, customers contact the outside sales team to ask for a specific model. They provide their information and requirements to the outside sales team, entering this information in Salesforce CPQ. 

On the other hand, the inside team receives the information and then coordinates with the software developer team, designer team, and manufacturers team to produce the required model. After then, they can change the parts such as SDD, HDD, graphic card, storage, etc. 

For example, if the customer asks to replace an existing Lenovo laptop with advanced features, the representative can update the configuration in the software. 

Revenue Process

With Salesforce CPQ, you can use multilayered discounting logic. This is something that helps you to price the model that the customer selects accurately. CPQ allows sales representatives with multiple discount options, including volume and distributor discounts. 

You can put and update the discount expiration date on Salesforce CPQ. Moreover, CPQ allows you to update warranty information. Finally after doing all the essential steps, click the button and send it to the approval team to approve discounts. 

Streamlining the Quote-to-cash process

Once the discount is approved, the customer will review the quote before you create the final quote. After the final quote, it will be sent to the customer for electronically signing the order. After this, it’s immediately intimated to the following teams via portals;

• Internal sales representative
• QA team
• Fulfillment team
• Sales management team

This entire process leads to quicker-decision making with zero errors.

Features of Salesforce CPQ

Let’s take a quick overview of CPQ features. 

• Product configurator
• Price and quote
• Audit trail of quotes 
• Automatically generate renewal quotes
• Cross-sell and up-sell recommendations
• Customizable quote templates 
• Revenue recognition
• Electronic signature integrations
• Order and renewals
• Manage contracts
• Guided selling
• Salesforce Product Catalog sync 
• Supports product bundles, dependencies, and exclusions
• Unlimited tier volume discount schedules
• Manage sales tax and VAT
• Subscription billing
• Automate customer life cycle
• Provide insights

Here we will discuss some of its popular features;

Product Configuration features

• CPQ enables your sales representatives to choose the right products and services. 
• It allows you create the product bundles with components
• With CPQ, you can hide and reveal the options for the bundle which is under configuration. 

The Pricing & Quoting features

Here are three options for pricing; 

• Contract pricing cost + markup pricing_ support product costs
• Block pricing_ It provides multiple tier discount options

The quoting section includes the following features;

• It generates an integrated quote document
• Customer electronically signing order
• Customization of quote templates

Productivity features

• CPQ gives access to customization in the search process of products
• Ability to script questions. 

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Advanced Features of Salesforce CPQ

Let’s discuss the advanced features;

• Product and price rules
• Advance approvals and order management
• Salesforce CPQ and time

How do I learn Salesforce CPQ?

There are many Salesforce training courses available on YouTube that provide a complete overview of CPQ concepts, features, and use cases to make you enable to grow in the CPQ space. Some training providers offer gifts and prizes at the end of your Salesforce certification course.

Salesforce Jobs

It’s estimated that 4.2 million new jobs will be available in the Salesforce ecosystem. This means there is an excellent opportunity for you to start a new journey of life in one of the most profitable fields out there. Here are few Salesforce jobs;

• Sales Cloud Consultant
• Remote Salesforce CPQ Senior BSA
• Salesforce Business System Analyst
• CPQ Salesforce Manager
• Salesforce CPQ Architect
• CPQ Product Manager
• Salesforce CPQ SME
• Client Engagement Partner-…
• Salesforce CPQ Developer
• Remote Senior Apptus CPQ Salesforce developer
• Salesforce CPQ Business Analyst
• Salesforce Lead Developer with Vlocity CPQ

Benefits of Salesforce CPQ

CPQ can benefit your sales team and even the entire organization in many ways. Let’s discuss some of the most popular benefits;

• Improve accuracy and boost sales performance
• Create proposals and quotes in a quick and automated manner
• Increase up-sell and cross-sell to get more clients 
• Eliminate errors in pricing and contracts to speed up the process.
• Track your customers 
• Enable the sales team to deliver services with advanced order management. 

Conclusion

In this digital age, everyone prefers the right services with accurate pricing in a short time. This is what makes Salesforce CPQ feel needed. Salesforce enables you to spend more on selling your services instead of sticking with the traditional and lazy process. We recommend you Increase your productivity with Salesforce and attain your goals, whether these are short-term or long-term.

Finally, Please contact us if you are interested to learn Salesforce CPQ Training.