As ecommerce selling takes over the B2B market, the need for an updated B2B commerce solution for sales processes, especially CPQ billing, becomes more and more apparent.
Accenture Interactive reports that 83% of all sales operatives already use one or the other CPQ and billing software application today.
The CPQ sales market will only continue to grow throughout 2020, at a CAGR of the compound annual growth rate of about 20%, according to the Market Guide for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites by Gartner.
The same study also confirms that there is a steady shift towards cloud-based CPQ platforms, with a growth rate in double-digit million-dollar figures throughout 2020.
The global adoption of cloud technology has also given rise to a new trend – omnichannel B2B commerce CPQ. Interconnected cloud systems have allowed B2B e-commerce platforms to provide consistency in catalogue display, pricing, quoting, and billing processes no matter how the client chooses to buy.
However, while uniformity and consistency among various sales channels have been established quickly, what remains a challenge is the ability to provide client-specific pricing, tailored quoting, and usage-based discounts to customers on B2B commerce platforms.
The customizability of pricing and quoting of products for specific customers is one of the most valued B2B ecommerce features today.
However, very few B2B CRM and ecommerce platforms provide this feature internally. Sales teams often have to rely on and pay for third-party solutions to impart this functionality to them.
However, with Salesforce CPQ and Billing, this feature is built into the Salesforce billing system.
This makes Salesforce the perfect CPQ software for small businesses and large enterprises alike, as they do not have to spend extra money or effort to take advantage of customized CPQ features.
Salesforce CPQ Features for Customer-Specific Pricing and Services
Salesforce CPQ solutions have already taken the B2B market by storm. In terms of CRM and B2B commerce, Salesforce has already established itself as a market leader.
The Salesforce.com or SFDC billing and CPQ solution is based on the Steelbrick billing and Q2C software.
Given below are the different ways you can use Configure Price Quote Salesforce software to empower your sales team in providing customized options to your clients.
Product Catalogue Optimization
One of the most useful features you get is the Salesforce CPQ configuration of products and product catalogues. Salesforce CPQ allows sales reps to handle complex product catalogues to put together the most set up for the client.
Creating customized offerings is often a headache for the sales team because it requires them to navigate complicated pricing charts and rules. It can lead to discrepancies in the final invoice or inconsistent quotes.
If your clients find out that you do not have command over your product details, they will never have the confidence to buy from you.
The CPQ billing Salesforce software takes this possibility out of the equation to allow you to market and suggest custom solutions with conviction.
Pre-Configured Bundles
One of the pros of CPQ Salesforce is that it allows sales representatives to create and configure product bundles beforehand for their customers.
Based on your knowledge about a customer or the latest market trends, you can have customized or even static bundles pre-configured and ready to present to a suitable opportunity with the Salesforce billing integration. It has several advantages.
Firstly, you save a lot of time when dealing with a customer, thus streamlining the customer journey management.
You also get the opportunity to upsell and cross-sell intelligently based on analytics instead of intuition only.
Moreover, you might be reusing a bundle for several use cases, thus reducing the wastage of resources and time on the same process every time.
Product Rule Compliance
One of the main reasons for client attrition in the B2B market is the scope for human errors when it comes to multiple and complex product rules.
B2B products are different from B2C. They are not one-off purchases of a countable number of products; these are deals for large consignments.
It is but natural that pricing structures and rules, in this case, work differently. These rules are complex and many. One miss can skew the quote entirely.
Whether the salesperson charges higher or lower, it will result in a loss for the company. In the former case, the client will churn or demand compensation when they find out, and the reputation of the business will be destroyed.
In the latter, the client will refuse to pay more even after knowing the truth, as they forged the deal based on the initial proposal and are not responsible for the employees’ mistakes.
The Salesforce billing platform eliminates this risk by ensuring that at each step of the sales process, from product configuration to price description to quoting to invoicing, every applicable rule is complied with.
Usage-Based Discounts and Offers
It is quite common for B2B companies to offer usage-based offers and discounts to their customers, usually to the loyal and major ones. Questions like, how much value will be provided and what additional product can be supplied as an incentive, or
What kind of deal for future transactions would be most lucrative to a customer, must be decided based on several factors like buying history, market trends, the client’s business outlook, etc.
The Salesforce billing software incorporates all relevant elements to help sales representatives make discount offer decisions better and in a more intelligent manner.
Salesforce billing also makes it easy to suggest better add-ons and drive effective cross-sells and upsells during the negotiation stage.
Subscription Transactions
There has been a significant swell in the usage of subscription models by companies to buy and sell products and services.
If the client base of a company consists of customers who are interested in or prefer to engage in subscriptions, the provider or vendor must offer the same.
The Salesforce subscription billing feature provides powerful capabilities to enable CPQ for B2B subscriptions.
With the help of Salesforce recurring billing features, automated renewals, and the chance to push for upsells and cross-sells at the time of renewal allows businesses to scale smoothly even in this sales model.
Contract Amendments
When a client requests amendments in their contract, it indicates that the current terms and conditions are no longer suiting them.
While this can be due to the evolving needs of the client, there is also an equal chance that it could be because your business is no longer able to satisfy them or fulfil their requirements.
Invoice Configurations
The Salesforce billing module allows your sales team to create custom invoices according to the demands of the client.
You can segregate lines based on different shipping or billing addresses, separate departments or branches of a company, or additional concerns under the same name.
You can unify invoices from other purchases when all are being paid via the duplicate accounts payable department.
Moreover, you can decide to split a bill based on what method it is being spent. The Salesforce invoice generation feature consists of numerous such customization features to suit your client.
Ecommerce Connectivity
You can link the CPQ software in real-time with the Salesforce B2B Commerce Cloud using connectors to sync B2B commerce platform pricing with billing in Salesforce.
This way, if your client accesses your ecommerce storefront for self-service instead of or alongside guided buying, they will not find discrepancies between the Salesforce B2B commerce pricing and the Salesforce CPQ pricing structures.
It helps implement valid omnichannel properties in your Salesforce billing procedures.
Salesforce CPQ pricing
There are four Salesforce billing packages that you can choose from. These packages, along with the corresponding Salesforce billing pricing, are:
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CPQ – $75/user/month billed annually
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CPQ Plus – $150/user/month billed annually
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CPQ & Billing Growth and CPQ & Billing Plus – enterprise pricing available on request
Salesforce CPQ Integration
Not every company will be able to have a smooth ride that integrates the Salesforce CPQ and Billing software to their system, especially the smaller ones.
If the Salesforce CPQ implementation guide is not doing it for you, it is wiser to consult a Salesforce CPQ specialist to get the job done. Docmation is the premier Salesforce CRM, Commerce Cloud, and CPQ expert to help you set up your Salesforce CPQ system.
