Unless you're living under a rock, you're already encouraging your sales teams to use the latest technology. As buyers become more tech-savvy and demand self-service functionality in sales, it's become crucial to embrace digitized marketing and selling models.
That, in turn, emphasizes the need to build a robust sales tech stack. Because it's so useful for creating proposals at scale algorithmically, using guided selling parameters and automated formulas, CPQ (configure-price-quote) has earned a place in the digital-first sales team's tech stack.
Indeed, a feature-packed CPQ solution can help organizations streamline and automate the process of creating accurate, customized quotes for their products or services.
Tech in Sales: A Closer Look
As long ago as 2021, 77% of sales professionals indicated that their organizations planned to increase investment in sales intelligence tech, which is just one subcategory of many tools you might include in a sales tech stack. Other commonly used solutions include CRM platforms, prospecting databases, price quote platforms, email marketing software, and appointment scheduling tools.
The right tech stack can help sales teams automate repetitive tasks, streamline processes, and delight buyers with a tailored purchase experience. It also plays a crucial role in boosting efficiency and maximizing revenue.
What tools should you use to build a powerful tech stack for sales teams? There's no simple way to answer this, given that the wider sales platforms market as a whole is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.4% between 2022 and 2032.
But if there's one solution that's becoming indispensable to new-age sales processes, it's CPQ software. As the sales landscape continues evolving, driven by shifting buyer preferences, complex product offerings, and growing competition, CPQ solutions are becoming indispensable. They can be instrumental in helping sales teams meet buyer expectations while maintaining operational efficiency.
What Does CPQ Software Do?
A CPQ solution is designed to help sales teams manage pricing for complex or customizable product and service configurations. It helps automate the process of generating accurate and personalized quotes that align with your organization's offering and pricing rules.
CPQ software will let you:
Use a graphical interface to customize and configure products or services according to a buyer's needs.
Automatically calculate accurate prices based on configurations, discounts, markups, real-time availability data, and other parameters.
Create professional, error-free, and detailed quotes or proposals.
Additionally, next-generation CPQ software solutions integrate with other components of your sales tech stack, such as ERP and CRM systems. They even let you monitor buyer engagement with quotes and overall deal progress. That, in turn, provides deeper insight into the sales process and helps identify bottlenecks.
CPQ software comes in handy for any organization that offers customizable products or services. However, it's particularly helpful for companies in the manufacturing, software, and IT industries.
The Role of CPQ in Your Sales Tech Stack
CPQ solutions offer several benefits for sales teams, including reduced pricing errors, improved conversion rates, and increased revenue. If you're wondering whether you should add it to your existing tech stack, here are a few compelling reasons:
Improved Accuracy and Efficiency
Did you know that 71% of sales professionals believe AI and automation tools have influenced their selling tactics in 2023? Additionally, 60% believe these tools are crucial to their sales strategies. Judicious use of automation can help boost your sales team's efficiency and productivity - and if you're looking for a way to automate sales processes, CPQ solutions are the way to go.
The traditional process of configuring products, calculating prices, and generating quotes is usually time-consuming. You have to refer to multiple documents to identify product/service configurations that are compliant with your offerings. Similarly, you have to scroll through several spreadsheets for pricing calculations, and often, sales reps are required to obtain manager approvals before sending proposals to clients.
With CPQ, these tasks are automated, allowing sales teams to create accurate quotes in minutes, not hours or weeks. It also calculates prices dynamically, based on supply availability and predefined rules and factors like seasonal discounts and promotions.
This helps minimize the risk of human errors. Ultimately, it frees up valuable time and ensures sales reps can focus on selling rather than administrative tasks.
Shorter Sales Cycles
CPQ software can be instrumental in minimizing delays in the sales pipeline. The automation of processes like product configuration and real-time pricing calculation helps accelerate quote generation. Sales representatives can produce professional, detailed, and error-free quotes with just a few clicks.
Additionally, CPQ software can automate approval workflows for pricing and quotes. It eliminates the need for lengthy email chains between sales reps and managers before a proposal is ready to be sent to a lead.
This means you can delight active leads by delivering quotes at lightning-fast speed. It can make all the difference in today's competitive, buyer-driven sales landscape. Plus, it'll help you win a prospect's trust and close deals faster.
Increased Customer Satisfaction
A recent survey found that 76% of consumers will stop doing business with a company following a single negative experience. This emphasizes the importance of providing customers with a frictionless experience at every stage, from initial contact to post-purchase.
CPQ software can be instrumental in improving the customer experience with error-free and personalized quotes. It helps maintain transparency in pricing, fostering a buyer's trust in your organization. The quick generation and delivery of proposals take things up a notch, ultimately driving customer satisfaction levels higher, which paves the way for better retention and higher customer lifetime value.
The best part is that you can offer accurate, customized, and transparent quotes at scale. In other words, you can continue to maintain customer satisfaction as your company grows and sales reps have to deal with more buyers.
Harnessing Additional Revenue Opportunities
A CPQ solution doesn't just let you impress buyers with error-free and professional professionals. It also helps sales reps identify the right upsells and cross-sells for each client.
The integration with CRM platforms helps personalize these recommendations further based on a client's unique needs.
That, moreover, can be instrumental in maximizing deal sizes and revenue.
Final Thoughts
Incorporating technology into sales processes is no longer an option. It's becoming crucial to improving conversion rates and revenue. While your sales tech stack should comprise several tools, CPQ solutions are among the most crucial components.
CPQ software simplifies the complex process of managing pricing for customizable products and services. It automates the generation of accurate, personalized quotes that adhere to your company's offerings and pricing rules. As a result, it helps speed up sales cycles, drive upsells and cross-sells, and improve customer satisfaction.
