The Configure Price Quote (CPQ) Process Flow

If you’re making the decision to adopt CPQ software at your services organizations, you probably have questions about how it works within your organization.

The CPQ process streamlines many daily activities that can regularly cause bottlenecks or delay customer service, including:

• Management of the array of details involved in a services delivery project including bill rates, expenses, availability, skills sets, and more.
• Making the most up-to-date information available to the sales team so they can provide accurate service delivery estimates and upsell or cross-sell products.
• Providing quick and accurate pricing data to dozens or hundreds of stores on a global scale.

Services CPQ Whiteboard – Watch Video

Once you’ve adopted CPQ software, you’re also adopting a new process for accessing and providing price quote information to prospects and customers.

Here’s what that process looks like:

• Once a prospect is in the funnel, or you have an existing customer looking to make another purchase or upgrade, the CPQ process truly begins. The first step is configuring an estimate for that customer or prospect, which is done automatically using your services CPQ software.
• Once you have accurately and automatically generated an estimate, you can present the data to the customer or prospect.
• After the prospect or customer approves the estimate, you’re able to craft the proposal and agreement. We should note: a study by Aberdeen Group found that companies using CPQ software experience a 17% higher lead conversion rate compared with non-users.
• You’ll then create an invoice, and collect and allocate money from the sale. Your prospect is now a customer!
• CPQ software now helps you keep additional value-add cross-sells or upsells in mind to continue delivering an exceptional customer experience. Your CPQ software also analyzes and tracks all data associated with sales, including discounts and approvals, so you can easily access revenue reports and see how your profit margins continue to grow.

When is the CPQ Process Flow Over within a Services Organization?

You might think the CPQ process flow ends once the prospect or customer has agreed to place an order. However, while this action signifies that a deal has been closed and revenue can be recorded, the process is not truly over (from a CPQ perspective) until the cash has been applied and the transaction can be recorded and analyzed.

Once a CPQ process has ended, it is approved for the next sale. You will see the increasing benefits of this streamlined process as sales become more efficient and customers enjoy an enhanced buying experience. And with better data recording and accessibility, future transactions will be highly accurate, more professional, and easier to execute, even if they involve complex services delivery configurations.

CPQ software for services helps accelerate the front-end of the sales process, taking the guesswork out of the mountains of key data and information salespeople would otherwise have to sift through, and impose controls to ensure accuracy and quality.