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Why CPQ integration is the key to quoting success

Posted:
12/18/2023
| By:
Parker Trojanowski

Configure, price, and quote (CPQ) software can help MSPs quickly create and deliver customized quotes for potential clients, increasing sales efficiency and accelerating sales velocity.

Automation is at the root of CPQ success, ensuring that all relevant data is accurate and up to date across all systems to expedite the sales process. Automating tedious and manual tasks allows your sales team to focus on more critical projects, while getting quotes out the door and into clients’ hands faster. This simpler, more efficient sales process increases the chances of closing a sale, while more accurate, personalized quotes ensure your clients get the best pricing and value for your services.

By integrating CPQ into your sales tech stack, you are taking a step toward improving efficiency and increasing your MSP’s profitability. Continue reading to learn more about the benefits of CPQ integration, the most common CPQ software integrations, and how to choose the right software for your business.

What is CPQ?

CPQ software allows businesses to automate the process of creating, pricing, and generating quotes for their customized products or services. Implementing CPQ can reduce time-consuming processes like quote and proposal creation, giving your sales team more time to focus on selling. Here are some of the most common features of CPQ software: 

  • Quote and proposal features such as custom templates and real-time pricing.
  • Sales notifications to let you know when a client interacts with your quote.
  • Automated renewal reminders to provide timely, excellent customer service.
  • Pricing rules to help you secure product discounts and maximize profitability.

Learn more about the power of CPQ software by watching the video below.

While CPQ software can be a powerful tool on its own, its value grows exponentially when integrated with other elements of your tech stack. Modern CPQ tools include a variety of out-of-the-box CPQ integrations designed to get the most out of the tools you already use, making your sales process as efficient as possible. Let’s talk more about some of the potential integration options.

What is CPQ integration? 

CPQ integration refers to the process of integrating quote and proposal software with other software systems, such as your CRM (customer relationship management) or PSA (professional service automation), 

CPQ integration typically works by using APIs (application programming interfaces) to exchange data between the CPQ software and other systems. 

Here are just a few of the benefits CPQ integration can offer MSPs:

  • Integrating CPQ with your CRM software allows sales teams to access and leverage client data when preparing quotes, enabling more customization and personalization. Integration also provides your CRM with visibility into quoting stage, helping to keep opportunities up to date and improving pipeline accuracy. 
  • CPQ and PSA integration can help streamline the sales processes, improve your services delivery workflow, and allow you to manage your customer life cycle more efficiently. With a CPQ and PSA integration, you can optimize online ordering, automatically place orders with top distributors, and track the PO and order details in the PSA. Critical information, like product specs and SKUs, can be transferred between systems, allowing quotes to seamlessly transition in project delivery. 

It’s important to note that PSA software can offer many of the same sales and marketing features as a traditional CRM, but with extended applications for quoting, demand management, and order fulfillment. For more information on how PSA software can tie together your sales, marketing, and order management needs, check out our eBook, The Unparalleled Integration: ConnectWise PSA & ConnectWise CPQ.

How CPQ integration benefits your business

The use cases for adopting CPQ are plentiful, but it all boils down to using automation to improve your teams’ efficiency and accelerate the sales process. Here are some additional benefits of CPQ integration.

Increased efficiency

CPQ adoption means faster turnaround times for quotes and proposals and a reduction in the kind of mistakes attributable to human error. Access to custom templates, real-time-pricing, customer data, and eSignatures are just a few of the features designed to save sales reps time and accelerate the quote-to-cash process.

Improved accuracy

Legacy practices, like quoting with spreadsheets, can be riddled with outdated product and pricing information and don’t allow for customization. Integrating a CPQ system with other systems can help ensure that all systems have the same information, reducing the risk of errors due to data inaccuracies.

Greater visibility

CPQ integration can help keep your entire organization, including Marketing, Sales, Support, and Finance, up to date on opportunity status and closed deals. Automated features like renewal reminders and sales notifications can provide real-time updates, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to renew or close a deal.

Better decision making

With access to real-time data, businesses can make more informed decisions, such as identifying new sales opportunities, pricing strategies, and forecasting. Furthermore, the ability to set pricing rules can help protect your business against shrinking margins and better predict bottom-line revenue.  

Better customer experience 

By providing accurate and timely quotes and ensuring a smooth sales process, CPQ integration can help improve customer satisfaction and lead to increased sales. Customer expectations are only increasing, and delivering a speedy, personalized, and consistent buying experience can be what distinguishes you from the competition.    

Cost savings

A study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that quote and proposal templates in ConnectWise CPQ saved sales reps two hours per quote. CPQ integration can save your business time and money by automating manual processes and reducing the need for manual data entry, which can lead to reduced labor costs and increased productivity.   

Address supply chain issues

CPQ and PSA integration, specifically, can help MSPs overcome supply chain challenges by centralizing product sourcing and inventory management into a single UI. CPQ enables sales reps to compare pricing and availability across vendors in one place, while PSA can help track your on-hand inventory and ensure you have what you need to fulfill client orders. Eliminating the gap between sales and fulfillment allows MSPs to stay ahead of inventory issues and truly streamline end-to-end business operations. 

 

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Using CPQ tools to support integration 

There are several ways to use CPQ tools to support integration:

  • API-based integration: Most modern CPQ systems include APIs that allow for easy integration with other systems. These APIs can be used to exchange data between the CPQ system and other systems, such as CRM or PSA software.
  • Data mapping: Data mapping is the process of defining how data from different systems will be mapped to the corresponding fields in the CPQ system. This is important for ensuring that data is accurately transferred between systems and that the information in the CPQ system is up to date.
  • Workflow automation: Many CPQ systems include tools for automating workflows, such as rules-based pricing and discounting. These tools can be used to automate tasks and reduce the need for manual intervention. CPQ automation helps improve efficiency and accuracy.
  • Reporting and analytics: Some CPQ systems include reporting and analytics tools that can be used to gain insights into the sales process. This information can be used to identify areas for improvement and make more informed decisions.
  • Customization: Some CPQ systems can be customized to meet the specific needs of your business. This can include customizing the user interface, adding new fields, or creating custom reports.
  • Third-party integrations: Many CPQ solutions offer pre-built CPQ integrations with common e-commerce platforms and marketing automation systems. By being better able to integrate with vendors and distributors, these third-party options make it easier to centralize product sourcing efforts. Cutting down the struggles of product sourcing can help MSPs navigate difficulties in the supply chain.

When executed properly, CPQ integration can help improve your sales process and sales velocity, while increasing the value you are getting out of your existing tech stack. And a more efficient sales process can impact your bottom line, improving profitability and increasing revenue. Watch an on-demand demo of ConnectWise CPQ to see the features and benefits for MSPs in action today.

FAQs

CPQ refers to the process of connecting CPQ software with other systems in an organization, such as a CRM, PSA or e-commerce platform. The goal of integration is to provide a seamless experience for sales representatives and clients and to ensure that data is accurate and up-to-date across all systems.

Integrating CPQ and CRM systems provides several benefits for businesses:

  • Improved data quality: Integrating CPQ and CRM can help ensure that all systems have the same information, reducing the risk of errors due to data inconsistencies. This can improve the accuracy of quotes and proposals, and make it easier to track customer interactions.
  • Increased efficiency: Integrating CPQ and CRM can automate the sales process, reducing the need for manual data entry and making it faster to create quotes and proposals. This can lead to faster turnaround times and improved customer satisfaction.
  • Greater visibility: Having all data in one place can provide businesses with a better understanding of the sales process, making it easier to identify areas for improvement and make more informed decisions.
  • Better decision making: With access to real-time data, businesses can make more informed decisions, such as identifying new sales opportunities, pricing strategies, and forecasting.
  • Improved customer service: Integrating CPQ and CRM can make it easier to track customer interactions, which can help businesses provide better customer service.
  • Personalization: Integrating CPQ and CRM allows for a more personalized approach to the sales process, with a better understanding of customer interactions and needs.

CPQ and CRM are two distinct types of software, but they are often used together to streamline the sales process.

CRM is a type of software that helps businesses manage their interactions with customers and prospects, while CPQ is software that helps businesses manage the process of creating, pricing, and generating quotes for customized products or services.

CPQ allows companies to streamline their sales process by automating the configuration of products or services, the calculation of prices, and the generation of quotes. This can help sales teams to quickly and accurately generate quotes for customers, which can lead to faster sales cycles and increased efficiency.

CPQ tools are software applications that help companies automate the process of creating and sending sales quotes to customers. These tools typically include a product or service configurator, a pricing engine, and a quote generation module. These tools help you select the best product and service options, calculate the most accurate price, and generate easy-to-follow quotes for your clients.

CPQ integration centralizes information to expedite collaboration and pricing, reduces errors through automation, and increases team visibility into the sales process.

CPQ-CRM integration helps you:

  • Identify sales, cross-sell, and upgrade opportunities.
  • Reduce time on routine administrative tasks.
  • Match the right products and services with your clients.
  • Accelerate the pricing and quoting process to close deals quickly.
  • Get important data and analytics to help with sales forecasting and business planning.

The ability to integrate CPQ with a CRM system will depend on the CPQ software you choose and its capabilities. The availability of connectors or APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that allow data to flow between the two systems is a key factor. When choosing a CPQ solution, it's important to consider your existing CRM system and assess the integration options available to make sure they meet your business requirements and your clients’ needs.

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