5 Good Reasons – This is How Guided Selling with CPQ Increases Sales

Guided Selling with SAP CPQ

With the increasing digitalization of all business units, customers’ expectations are also increasing. This is a stable trend, one that has been clearly visible over the last few years. Here’s an example from the B2C market: Today, online shoppers are not willing to wait several days for the goods they have purchased; as a rule, delivery is expected on the day the order is placed, but at the latest on the following day. The same applies to the much more complex solution offerings of B2B business. Here too, the old slogan applies: The early bird gets the worm. That’s to say, is awarded the contract for the customer’s generally large investment projects.

SAP CPQ – the acronym stands for Configure, Price, Quote – helps salespeople create even complex quotations quickly and without errors in order to secure the speed bonus from the customer. The salesperson is guided by specific questions to a selected range of products, from which he/she selects the right product together with the customer – quickly and easily. As a result, both the company’s order volumes and overall sales increase.

There are five compelling reasons to use guided selling with SAP CPQ in sales:

1. Salespeople make the correct product selection 

The CPQ guided selling feature suggests correct product variants to salespeople based on customer requirements. CPQ’s combination logic knows all the dependencies between the individual components the customer wants. Configuration errors that can cause the customer to reject the quotation are avoided since the plausibility check immediately indicates errors or inconsistencies; if necessary, CPQ suggests alternatives or adapts components. The quotation is always 100% correct, absolutely functional, and optimally tailored to the individual customer. 

2. New salespeople can do productive work very quickly 

CPQ clearly defines what belongs together and how it can be combined, even for complex products such as machines. For new salespeople, this means that they don’t have to have all the combinations, product features, and combinations in mind from day one in order to do productive work and create quotations quickly. Errors are ruled out with 100% certainty, and the quality of the quotations increases.  

3. CPQ increases cross-selling potential and increases revenue 

Guided selling in CPQ enables product combinations, so-called bundles, to be saved and special offers to be displayed directly, tailored to the individual customer’s needs. Discounts, for example for regular customers, graduated prices, and lower-cost product bundles are taken into account. It is often difficult for salespeople to determine the right price with the greatest chance of success and to be up-to-date at all times. CPQ does this for them. As a result, the number of contracts concluded, customer satisfaction with the supplier, and sales increase.  

Usually SAP CPQ is connected to the ERP system. Base prices, the basis for price calculation with CPQ, are then drawn directly from the ERP. Before sending the quotation, CPQ also checks whether release requirements have been met and whether legal, credit, or export controls must be complied with. 

4. Quotations sent directly from CPQ 

Once the product configuration (Configure) and pricing (Price) have been completed, the quotation is created (Quote) and sent directly from SAP CPQ at the push of a button. The process is automated; CPQ takes into account the different purchasing and procurement processes on the customer side automatically. CPQ issues a quotation document, which can be sent either by e-mail or via DocuSign, complete with product data sheets and general terms and conditions in PDF format. This also saves time and money and provides companies with the often-decisive speed bonus in the competition. 

5. The three key benefits of CPQ 

Greater efficiency in sales: With SAP CPQ, salespeople create error-free, 100% correct quotations even for very complex products with a wide range of variants, even without in-depth specialist knowledge and years of experience. Time-consuming coordination and approval processes are no longer necessary, yet the quality of the quotations increases.

Greater customer satisfaction: CPQ accelerates the process of quoting. Special requests from customers are checked and calculated automatically. Pricing takes account of customer data, customer history, and customer-specific conditions. Salespeople can thus react very quickly to special requests.

Cost savings & security: The number of incorrectly configured products with prices that are either too high or too low drops sharply. The standardization and partial automation of the sales process creates immediate time savings and cost reductions. Nevertheless, salespeople can be sure to find the best product for the respective customer requirements at all times and offer it at the right price.