Manufacturers have enough to deal with as it is, and the digital age has only added to the list of things that need to be kept track of. Companies that sell essential items like hollow metal doors that require heavy manufacturing need to stay up to date on how salesforce CPQ training can affect their bottom line. Since the internet is an ever-changing landscape when it comes to market trends and customer preferences this can be a difficult endeavor, but there are still ways to go about it.
How to CPQ
CPQ stands for “Configure, Price Quote,” and it is used as an optimization process for supplying a market with goods that could potentially need to be different from each other on some level despite being approximately the same product. Accommodating this kind of scalability would be an extremely difficult prospect for traditional manufacturing methods as while they are extremely good at making a lot of products that have very little variation between them, they are often too overspecialized to fit the logistical requirements for a CPQ manufacturing structure. If you want to use CPQ tools and techniques, you will need to learn how to meet a customers expectations in real time, price the product appropriately, and quote it back to the customer in a timely manner.
Market Demand
Finding a market for your products will be easier if you can broaden their appeal and this can be achieved by having products that can be configured, so try to find a niche for your product that you can reasonably fill when you plan your business. The instant communication that comes with the internet also brings a shortened time frame in which manufacturers have to evaluate the market and its relation to their product line, but it also allows for similarly decisive solutions when it comes to market research. Before you can even begin to configure your product, though, you will need to at least be able to broadly estimate what you might expect a customer to want so you can fulfill their request.
Reasonable Pricing
The issue with entering a market that has to make significant use of CPQ is that there is more work being done to get the product right and this increases the number of work hours that need to be paid for. There is also a fair amount of customer service that needs to be involved as well, and giving a potential buyer a quote is not as simple as informally telling them how much your product costs. To this end, when you are planning out your CPQ quote process you will need to decide on how you want to formally discuss the matter of payment with your customer while also remaining as easy to understand as possible to prevent time-wasting repetition. One potential solution involves dedicated CPQ software, and while this can be an easy and prompt way to respond you will still need to have customer service staff on hand to answer any questions that might arise. Given that closing a deal with a prospective client can be an ordeal unto itself from time to time, you will need every edge you can get when it comes to quick and easy customer fulfillment.
Business planning is an incredibly important step in running a business, and sometimes you need to include CPQ strategies in that plan. That being said, you shouldn’t feel like you have to offer absolutely every possible option right off the bat but it would still be a good idea to consider leaving the door open for customized orders if possible. People will often lose interest quickly if they don’t find what they need in stock, so even if it takes more effort to make a custom product you might still be able to land a sale that you might not have otherwise.
