Logiciel CPQ

The growing market for customizable products has introduced additional complexity to sales and manufacturing processes.

C'est ici que CPQ (Configurer, Prix, Devis) solutions come into play, revolutionizing the sales process by streamlining customization, pricing, and quoting processes.

Solutions CPQ enable you to configure products to meet specific customer requirements, accurately price these customizations, and generate detailed quotes.

With a quality CPQ solution, you can offer a wider range of customized products without the fear of quoting errors or production delays–key for seizing a competitive edge in a world where people want custom products and are willing to pay a premium for them.

This article delves into everything you need to know about CPQ software, how it works, and how to choose the best solution for your needs.

The Components of CPQ

CPQ software targets common sales challenges around configuration, calculating pricing, and creating error-free quotes.

One of the most important things to understand about CPQ is that it’s uniquely positioned to support both customer experiences and production environments.

• CAD files with detailed product designs
• BOMs listing all required materials and components
• Additional documentation like instructions and cut sheets

So, CPQ bridges the customer experience with manufacturing, ensuring configurations are produced accurately and efficiently.

Let’s move on to take a close look at the C, P, and Q in CPQ:

Configuration: Precision in Customization

The configuration phase is foundational in CPQ, allowing customers and sales reps to design products for individual customer requirements. This stage involves:

• Selection Process: Users can select from a variety of options for each product feature, ensuring the final configuration meets their specific needs.
• Dynamic Interface: The CPQ system provides a dynamic, interactive interface that updates in real-time, offering immediate visual or descriptive feedback to confirm that the choices align with the user's expectations.
• Complexity Management: For products with multiple interdependent options, the system intelligently guides the user, ensuring that incompatible choices are restricted, thus preventing configuration errors.

Price: Accuracy and Transparency

Once the product is configured, the CPQ system calculates the price, considering the various customizations selected. This process includes:

• Parts Selected: The system evaluates how each selected feature impacts the overall price, ensuring that any adjustments based on customer choices are accurately reflected.
• Volume and Discounts: CPQ automatically applies any relevant discounts or adjusts pricing based on order volume, providing transparent and fair pricing to the customer.
• Real-Time Updates: As options are selected or modified, the pricing adjusts in real-time, allowing users to understand how each choice affects the final cost, fostering transparency and trust.

Quote: Finalizing the Offer

The quotation process consolidates the configuration and pricing details into a comprehensive proposal. Key aspects of this phase include:

• Detailed Breakdown: The quote includes a detailed breakdown of the configured product, listing all selected options and associated costs, ensuring the customer understands what they are being offered.
• Professional Presentation: CPQ generates a professional, easy-to-understand quote that can be readily shared with the customer, assisting their decision-making process.
• Revision and Approval: The system allows for easy revisions, accommodating any changes the customer wishes to make, and supports an approval workflow to ensure all quotes meet company standards before being sent out.

After completing the above three steps, the CPQ system generates CAD files, BOMs, and other manufacturing assets. This simplifies the manufacturing process, resulting in a tightly orchestrated order-to-cash (O2C) process.

Several CPQ systems on the market perform these core functions, but how do you choose the right one for your needs? And what other features do you need to look out for?

What to Look For in a CPQ Solution

CPQ software has evolved, offering features for building smart, interconnected sales and production pipelines.

Let’s take a look at how CPQ solutions like Epicor CPQ are pushing the limits of what can be achieved with product configuration.

Visual Configuration: Enhance Product Engagement and Increase Sales

Visual configuration is the mainstay of CPQ’s front-end experience. This is what users come into contact with when they configure their products.

The best CPQ systems enable users to customize products precisely to their needs with interactive 2D and 3D visualization, empowering customers and sales representatives. This delivers:

• Immersive 2D and 3D Experiences: Engage customers with dynamic visual experiences, boosting conversions by up to 40%, according to Epicor data.
• Reduced Rework: The ability to see a product come together into its final form reduces design and engineering work by aligning products with buyer expectations.

No-Code Rules Engine: Support Advanced Logic for Configurations

Offering lots of custom products is one thing, but you need a way to build these out in your CPQ. That can be extremely laborious when you have thousands–even millions–of product options and permutations.

It’s vital to seek out a CPQ solution that makes your products easy to set up and manage. Otherwise, you won’t be able to use it to its fullest.

Epicor CPQ offers the no-code Snap rules engine, which vastly simplifies the process of quickly and accurately configuring products, selecting features, and determining accurate pricing.

AR/VR Experience: Revolutionize Buyer Engagement

Immerse your customers in a fully interactive buying experience with AR and VR.

Only 16% of businesses use AR and VR in their purchasing experiences despite AR experiences being 200% more engaging. Revenue from AR and VR is expected to rocket in the years ahead.

Leading CPQ solutions like Epicor CPQ use AR and VR to allow buyers to explore products in virtual environments before manufacturing, providing a new level of engagement.

Aligning expectations with reality through AR and VR also helps decision-making and minimizes returns and rework. This results in:

• Fully Immersive Buying Experience: Allow customers to visualize products in real-world environments, enhancing their understanding and attachment to the product.
• Future-Proof Selling: Stay ahead of the curve with cutting-edge AR and VR technologies, signaling your commitment to innovation and customer experience.

Manufacturing Automation: Close the Loop Between Sales and Production

CPQ systems are perfectly positioned to align sales and manufacturing– departments that too often exist in isolation.

Top CPQ solutions automate the creation of CAD drawings, BOMs, and cut sheets, providing the shop floor with the information they need to meet customer demands.

This closes the loop between sales, engineering, and production teams, ensuring that configured products are efficiently manufactured with minimal friction or delay.

Integrations: Seamlessly Connect Critical Business Systems

CPQ solutions should integrate with the enterprise software ecosystem.

Cloud-native CPQ, like Epicor CPQ, seamlessly integrates with ERP systems, CRM platforms, CAD systems, eCommerce systems, and more, offering organization-wide benefits, leading to:

• Seamless Data Flow: Ensure that data flows between departments, eliminating silos and improving collaboration.
• Integration with ERP Systems: Integrate Epicor CPQ with your ERP system, allowing for real-time updates and accurate data synchronization.

Summing Up

CPQ software enables businesses to transform their customized and personalized product offerings.

By offering a comprehensive suite of features, including immersive 2D and 3D visual configuration, augmented reality experiences, dynamic pricing strategies, and seamless integration with existing systems, Epicor CPQ goes beyond traditional CPQ solutions.

Bridging the gap between sales and production through the automated generation of CAD drawings, BOMs, etc., ensures that products are sold efficiently and produced accurately and on time.

Embrace the future of sales with Epicor CPQ and transform your business's approach to customized product offerings.

CPQ FAQ

How do you choose the best CPQ tool?

When considering Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) solutions, the market offers a variety of options, including Salesforce CPQ, Tacton CPQ, Oracle CPQ, Prosmart CPQ, IBM CPQ, Connectwise CPQ, Prosmart CPQ, Infor CPQ, Experlogix CPQ, Powertrak CPQ, pros Smart CPQ, SAP CPQ, Conga CPQ, DealHub CPQ, Configure One CPQ, and Cincom CPQ, among others. Each of these CPQ applications brings basic features and capabilities to the table.

However, Epicor CPQ sets itself apart in the CPQ market with its distinctive combination of features, offering a superior solution for businesses:

• Advanced Visualization and User-Friendly Interface: Epicor CPQ combines immersive 2D and 3D visualization with an intuitive user interface, enhancing customer engagement and simplifying the configuration process for users of all skill levels.
• Integrated Manufacturing and ERP Solutions: Epicor CPQ seamlessly integrates with manufacturing processes and Epicor ERP systems, ensuring accurate production and real-time data synchronization across departments, which improves operational efficiency.
• Scalable and Flexible Platform: Epicor CPQ is designed for scalability within a single platform, accommodating the needs of businesses of all sizes and industries without reliance on third-party solutions.
• Comprehensive Self-Service and Integration Capabilities: The CPQ platform supports omnichannel self-service and can be fully embedded into existing websites headlessly, offering universal business system integration without needing custom coding.
• Optimized Cloud Environment: Hosted on the Azure platform, Epicor CPQ provides a secure and scalable native cloud environment optimized for performance without visual bloatware.
• Trusted and Proven Solution: With over 538,000 unique users per month across 36 countries, Epicor CPQ is trusted by businesses worldwide across a wide range of sectors.

How can I configure Oracle CPQ Cloud with Salesforce CRM?

Follow Oracle's integration guidelines to seamlessly connect CPQ with Salesforce CRM, enabling sales teams to access customer data and generate quotes within Salesforce.

Can Oracle CPQ Cloud help expedite commerce processes within Salesforce CRM?

Yes, CPQ automates tasks like configuration and pricing, empowering sales reps to respond quickly to customer requests and close deals faster. An enhanced CPQ process boosts sales and customer retention. This enhances business processes within a sales organization.