Do I Really Need Salesforce CPQ?
The Salesforce CPQ Journey Series
CPQ is an additional cost on top of Salesforce. But it offers positive, disruptive change — if you’re ready for it.
If you’re reading this, you’re likely trying to understand whether it’s the right time to consider a CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) system for your business.
Salesforce CPQ is a great choice for businesses already using or considering Salesforce who have growing pains around their sales process and pricing. It’s also a significant cost on top of your basic Salesforce license. So how do you know if Salesforce CPQ is right for your needs? When is the investment worthwhile? And what can you expect?
Sound familiar?
If any of these scenarios strike a chord, you’re ready to look at CPQ:
Quote Process. It takes frustratingly-long to build a quote. Doing so involves some spreadsheets and the input of managers in the sales, finance, and product teams. Even after this, you’re never certain if the price is right, the product set is complete, or the terms and conditions leave you exposed.
Fast growth. Whether you’ve grown organically or by acquisition, moving fast is messy. Your client base is larger and more diverse, but the big accounts want special terms and pricing. The product catalog is large and complicated, pricing isn’t consistent, and it’s too much to automate using your current system.
Complex Products & Pricing. Using subscription pricing or looking to migrate to that model? Do you sell multi-year offers with ramped pricing? Volume pricing? What if you need a consumption model? Do you need a cost-based model with different upcharges per product family?
Sales through partners or distributors. If your growing business is being helped by partners and distributors, keeping track of discounts is a nightmare. The more you have, the worse it gets. Can you look at a quote and quickly tell what percentage your partner is getting?
Yeah, sounds like us. But what else?
Cross-selling is key, but it’s impossible to see where those opportunities are.
It takes forever to rebuild a quote for every renewal.
The Sales and Product teams are never in sync on how to price/sell products.
Legal is frustrated that quotes get through with incorrect terms and conditions.
There are multiple versions of the same product for different configuration or pricing scenarios.
Getting approvals for special pricing holds up the sales process.
Clients want all their existing contracts to coterminate.
There are rules to how certain products can be configured and sold.
A single order has products that start at different times or are delivered to multiple locations.
So what’s the hold up?
Let’s first pump the brakes, because CPQ is not for everybody. Despite the horsepower under the hood, there are factors to consider before jumping in:
Licensing. Any user who needs access to CPQ functionality — quotes, product configuration, subscriptions, etc. — will need both a Salesforce license and a CPQ license. Make sure you’ve budgeted for both.
Process Definition. In an ideal world, process dictates how you design the system, not the other way around. While the real world doesn’t always work that way, if you’re still figuring out your sales process, or you have glaring unknowns about your product mechanics, it’s better to start there first.
Corporate Culture. This is perhaps the biggest misread we at Cloud Giants see take place. Are you, or do you aspire to be, a technology-enabled organization? Do you have a tech-savvy user base that can digest change and acclimate to a new system? Is the business bought into the long-term value that up-front investment will create? Or will skepticism eventually undermine its success? Make sure everyone sees the vision, and is willing and able to learn it.
Timeline & Competing Priorities. Implementing and adopting CPQ takes months, not weeks, and doing so correctly involves input from business teams. Do they currently have the space for that?
Platform Complexity. Standard Salesforce comes out of the box with 59 (primary) objects — CPQ alone adds an additional 76. New automation tools work very differently than traditional ones. There are more in-system pieces for which users are accountable. All this makes CPQ harder to get right on the front end, and more difficult to clean up if you don’t.
Conclusion
It’s a lot to consider, but there’s no need to get discouraged. If CPQ is right for you, the results can transform how you do business. We’ve helped our CPQ clients achieve dramatic digital transformation of their quote to cash process, reaching their goals and eliminating headaches.
Think about what your end state could be. Do any of these sound appealing?
Quotes that once took 1–2 hours can now be generated — accurately! — in only ten minutes.
Spreadsheets become a thing of the past. CPQ now dynamically prices based on volume, bundles, product attributes, and contract terms.
Discounting happens within pre-set guardrails, allowing sales the freedom to sweeten quotes while protecting margins.
Product catalog reduction by 50% or more reduces complexity while using features and options to maximize flexibility.
Dynamic quote terms display or hide terms and conditions based on products selected.
Automation of the approval process for special deals. One client went from an entirely manual approval process to automation of 98% of approvals — all handled through CPQ.
Need more information?
Stay tuned: in later blog posts we’ll talk about timing, implementation pitfalls, and selecting the right consultant (naturally we have a few ideas on that).
Be sure to check out the Salesforce CPQ Overview and Demo.
Feeling ready for the next step? Give us a call! We’re here to help you weigh the pros and cons and determine the right solution for your needs. We’re happy to jump on a call and offer free expertise to help with your CPQ journey.
Kim F. is a 5x certified Salesforce professional who has worked with some of the fastest growing SaaS businesses in the nation on their Sales Cloud processes as well as CPQ implementations and optimization efforts.
She is a Salesforce Certified Administrator, CPQ Specialist, Platform App Builder, Sales Cloud Consultant, and Service Cloud Consultant.