Gone are the days of enduring error-prone spreadsheets to manually etch a business quote. Today, sales representatives are working with configure-price-quote (CPQ) tools to prepare sophisticated, error-free business quotes. Leveraging CPQ tools, sales forces are able to automatically configure their products and services for their clients. Likewise, they are also able to automate the product pricing and quotes swiftly. This is saving sales reps’ considerable amount of time and energy and increases the company’s revenue. Advancing beyond product configuration and making sure the orders sold by sales teams are reliably built, CPQ today is the substratum kindling an entirely new era of sales effectiveness possible.
Possessing such abilities, CPQ tools have become inevitable and are used by almost every organization. However, businesses may fail to build on the momentum if they are oblivious to the current trends and technological incorporation in CPQ tools.
Having said this, CPQ solutions are undergoing incessant evolution in parallel with technological advancements. Evidently, cloud-based CPQ solutions are enabling easy integration between in-house ERP and CRM systems. Alongside, artificial intelligence and machine learning are helping in better price optimization. Automated pricing had always been a popular function of CPQ solutions and with the sophistication of AI in CPQ systems, experts believe that it would allow sales reps to sell faster and give them the ability present customers with quote and order prices that are completely accurate. In addition, it saves time on pricing and quoting, increases close rates, and provides up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. The likes of big data are also empowering CPQ software to provide accurate, actionable information to an organization, which is helping in providing customized discounts and offers to its clients. Moreover, CPQ with IoT strategies is transforming the way organizations structured the clients’ data. User interface design, intuitive workflow, and mobile-first applications are the three additional factors, driving the highest level of sales team adoption for the latest generation of CPQ applications.
Alongside, with the increased use of mobile devices, modern-age CPQs possess the ability to function on multiple mobile platforms, enabling sales reps to build quotes, work proposals, and configure products whenever and wherever they are. This is also allowing businesses and sales people to be increasingly mobile-ready, especially as sales reps rely more on mobile devices for quotes over desktop devices. While technologies are shaping the CPQ tools to such an extent, sales leaders are seeking appropriate CPQ solution providers who offer robust solutions pertaining to the company goals. As there are numerous solution providers in the market calling themselves the best in the domain, it becomes cumbersome for companies to tie-up with the appropriate and accomplished solution provider. In order to mitigate this complication, a prominent team of CIOs, CEOs, VCs, and analysts along with the CIO Applications’ editorial board has analyzed the strength and capabilities of the top players in this field. This edition of the CIO Applications features companies with in-depth expertise in providing exemplary CPQ solutions that help clients in tackling the various challenges in the business arena.
We present to you CIO Applications’ “Top 10 CPQ Solution Providers – 2019.”
