Manufacturing companies see significant benefits from adopting Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software to simplify and automate their quoting and sales processes. With increased competitiveness and customer expectations, businesses need to bring more efficiency, transparency, and personalization into every customer interaction. Cloud-based CPQ delivers on these demands and brings sales workflows squarely into the future.
Cincom offers a cloud-native CPQ solution that handles any complexity while delivering value from quote to revenue. Our CPQ software empowers sales teams with the latest pricing and product details at their fingertips. In the next few sections, we’ll explore the features and functionality of CPQ cloud for your enterprise.
Related: What Is Configure Price Quote Software?
An Introduction to CPQ Software
CPQ stands for Configure, Price, Quote. CPQ software automates and streamlines the entire quoting process, from configuring complex products or services to pricing them accurately based on various rules and constraints. It is also used for automatically generating quotes, proposals, and other sales documents tailored to each customer’s needs.
The core components of any CPQ solution include:
- Product Configurator: A central hub that contains all rules, options, constraints, etc. to model products/services and guide the user to valid configurations.
- Pricing Engine: Applies pre-defined pricing rules, discounts, bundles, etc. to configured products/services.
- Proposal/Quote Generator: Produces polished, customized quotes and supporting sales documents.
A key functionality of CPQ software is the ability to integrate with existing enterprise platforms like enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), product lifecycle management (PLM), and e-commerce. This breaks down departmental silos to enable information sharing that drives efficiency and competitive advantage.
Related: Read about Microsoft Dynamics CRM CPQ integrations
What’s the Difference between Standard CPQ and Cloud-Based CPQ?
Traditionally, CPQ software had to be installed directly on a company’s own servers and hardware on premises. This model often involved high upfront costs for licenses and infrastructure as well as ongoing maintenance and upgrades handled internally.
With cloud-based CPQ solutions, the software runs on the vendor’s servers instead, which are accessed securely by users over the internet. This Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) approach delivers the same CPQ features on demand with a lower barrier to entry and speeds up deployment.
The Advantages of a Cloud-Based CPQ
Migrating CPQ capabilities to the cloud offers multiple advantages including:
- Cost & Accessibility: No expensive hardware to purchase and maintain. Quick to set up for any user with an internet connection. Faster realization of ROI.
- Agility & Innovation: Seamless and continuous delivery of the latest features. The CPQ vendor handles all hosting, updates, and maintenance in the background.
- Security: Reputable SaaS vendors employ robust cybersecurity measures far beyond what typical organizations can achieve internally.
- Scalability: Handles fluctuations in usage without compromising performance. No capacity planning is needed.
How Does CPQ Cloud Work?
CPQ cloud solutions function similarly to traditional CPQ software but with the entire platform hosted remotely. Users interact with a familiar web-based interface that is tightly integrated with backend business systems also running in the cloud or on-premises.
Strict access controls govern who can access data in the CPQ system. By using Cincom Open APIs, customers can extend and integrate other systems as needed. Overall, it’s the same powerful CPQ engine successful businesses rely on, abstracted to run seamlessly as a service.
Related: Learn more about enterprise CPQ
Using CPQ Cloud to Boost Sales
Future-oriented companies are turning to cloud-based CPQ platforms like Cincom CPQ™ to transform the buying experience and equip their sales teams to drive revenue in today’s omnichannel environment.
How Does Cincom’s Cloud-Based CPQ Improve Customer Relationships & Sales Processing?
For manufacturing brands, nothing is more important than service, transparency, and delivering positive customer experiences. Our cloud-based CPQ solution consolidates all relevant product, pricing, and client details onto a single platform to remove friction from the sales process.
Sales teams also benefit from guided-selling capabilities based on captured tribal knowledge that simplifies even the most complex configurations. Documentation and visual aids support customer education as well. The result is a consultative experience that increases satisfaction and lifetime value.
Behind the scenes, Cincom CPQ software seamlessly shares configured quote data with production, finance, and supply chain teams to boost accuracy in planning, forecasting, and improving quality and profitability. This ultimately benefits customers by improving your capacity to deliver.
How Does CPQ Cloud Streamline Pricing?
Pricing is among the most complex processes CPQ solutions aim to optimize. Manual approaches expose organizations to inaccurate quotes that erode margins or fail to capitalize on profit potential. Cloud-based CPQ centralizes pricing rules and logic to apply them automatically during configuration.
The software factors in list pricing, product bundles/options, approved discounts, fees, shipping, and anything else impacting the final price for complete accuracy and consistency across channels. Constraints help validate quotes financially before submission to avoid non-profitable orders.
Ongoing visibility into pricing performance allows managers to adjust strategies to meet revenue goals. By encoding proven practices into the system, sales teams spend less time calculating and seeking price approvals manually. The focus shifts to value-based conversations with customers.
How Cincom’s CPQ Cloud Facilitates Flexible & Efficient Pricing Strategies
Cincom offers pricing capabilities that are robust out of the box, yet uniquely customizable at an attribute level to achieve the necessary precision for your company’s unique needs. User-friendly tools help non-technical admins maintain pricing models independently without relying on IT or developers.
The software also allows the intelligent grouping of customers or products to apply tailored pricing treatments when needed. Cincom pricing integrates with leading ERPs and other enterprise systems, as well as dealer/distributor portals and e-commerce sites to ensure consistent application of current rates.
Enhance Your Quoting Process with Cincom’s Cloud-Based CPQ Software
With instant access to accurate pricing, valid product configurations, and supporting proposal documents, Cincom CPQ software empowers sales departments to drive quotes in minutes instead of days—all through an easy-to-use web interface.
Cincom’s cloud-based CPQ solution centralizes complex manufacturing tribal knowledge into an intuitive platform. This consolidates relevant systems and information while guiding sellers to standardize best practices. Seamless integrations facilitate real-time accuracy and automation to maximize deal value. The simplified interface also accelerates rep proficiency and productivity through configurable rules-based selling. Contact us to learn what we can do for your operations.
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FAQs
What is CPQ cloud?
CPQ cloud refers to Configure, Price, Quote software that is hosted remotely by the vendor and accessed by users as a web-based service. This model offers lower startup costs, greater accessibility, and other benefits, versus traditional on-premises CPQ software, which tends to be more expensive and less scalable.
How does cloud-based CPQ software work?
The end-user experience with CPQ cloud solutions is similar to legacy CPQ systems. The difference is the software components and data are housed in the vendor’s own data centers. Users interact through a web interface that accesses these cloud services through APIs.
What are some key benefits of CPQ cloud solutions?
CPQ cloud delivers all the productivity and efficiency gains CPQ offers without large hardware investments. The model enables quicker deployment, built-in backups/failover, easier access for distributed workforces, and continuous delivery of updates. It also scales seamlessly to handle usage spikes.
What industries benefit the most from CPQ cloud?
CPQ was originally developed to meet complex quoting requirements in manufacturing. Cloud-based solutions now also excel for medical devices, chemicals, and industrial equipment while spreading into managed services (IT, financial, insurance, and landscaping) and professional services (design, consulting, and building).