Although the entire customer relationship management (CRM) software category has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years, Salesforce has consistently stayed ahead of the pack, especially due to its comprehensive array of tools and AppExchange integrations. These include native modules and third-party tools for lead enrichment, financial modeling, human resources, presales prospecting, and configure price quote (CPQ).

In 2023, Salesforce’s projected revenue is $31.4 billion, representing 18% in year-over-year growth and more than twice the company’s 2018 figures. 

CRM platforms act as a type of ground zero for sales workflows, creating an effective and concise springboard for researching, contacting, analyzing, sorting, and prioritizing sales leads. Over 150,000 clients, many of them of an enterprise scale, choose Salesforce as their go-to CRM solution. Since 2021, Salesforce has claimed well over 20% of the entire CRM category’s market share, with this percentage increasing each year.

As more companies make Salesforce a central part of their sales workflow, teams are discovering the useful systems it has in place to support the sales pipeline. Of these, CPQ software is rapidly becoming essential for companies looking to optimize sales and automate quoting services. Using a CPQ in Salesforce can be a major efficiency booster for revenue teams. 

Let’s discover just how effective CPQ software is in the world of Salesforce-based sales workflows.

Introduction to CPQ and CRM-Integrated Workflows

The sales performance management sector, which aims to optimize sales processes to maximize revenue velocity, is rapidly expanding across the globe. Within this sector, CPQ is a popular tool that helps to improve quoting accuracy and efficiency.

CPQ software is a dynamic system of tools that allow businesses to configure products and services, adapt prices based on guidance margins, and rapidly generate precise sales quotes for new potential customers. As the complexity of sales has increased, with more moving factors integrating into daily workflows, CPQ tools have become essential in the world of sales.

Salespeople can rapidly create accurate quotes by using CPQ software. These tools take information from current price margins, stock levels, potential discounts, and even market data to generate competitive deals for both businesses and customers. Beyond increasing accuracy and maximizing potential profit margins, CPQ software also saves sales teams huge amounts of time by streamlining closing paperwork in line with its automatically generated quote.

Although CPQ tools can convert into the forefront of an effective and optimized sales system, they are not out-of-the-box solutions. They sometimes require a great deal of initial data collection, collation, and tinkering before they can deliver personalized quotes to your audience.

Understanding Requirements and Gathering Data

The sales tech stack is already notoriously complicated, with several tools, systems, and software packs that salespeople must be brought up to speed with. Before deciding to integrate CPQ into a workflow, it’s important to define your objectives, pain points, and desired outcomes. Not only does this reduce the likelihood of adopting a redundant system, but the clear objectives outlined will help to streamline integration.

A business may decide to use a CPQ tool to close more deals, reduce internal communication friction or boost sales cycle velocity. Whatever the reason, clearly outlining motivations will help to facilitate an easy adoption process.

For your CPQ system to work effectively, it must have access to all product pricing parameters, shipping and customization options, and discounting guardrails. When it comes to formula effectiveness, CPQ tools work best with structured data that’s organized and standardized.

Configuring CPQ and Optimization Feedback Loops

Whether you are using your CPQ from within your CRM or via a standalone app, you need to configure two-way data sharing between these platforms.

Considering how vital a CRM platform is to the sales process, pairing this with a comprehensive CPQ tool can work wonders. While many salespeople have experience using CPQ tools, there are always a few individuals in each organization who need a helping hand. Instead of overwhelming your team with another new tech integration, providing structured user training can help to bridge any technological gaps.

What’s more, ongoing training sessions allow your team to stay up to date with any new updates and launches that your CPQ system may publish. By testing and refining your usage of CPQ tools over time, your team will be able to continually push for further efficiencies, providing even more benefits to your company. 

Final Thoughts

By integrating with CPQ systems, alongside a plethora of other sales-oriented tools, Salesforce has managed to gain and retain an impressive segment of the CRM industry. By radically improving the sales process by decreasing the time it takes to generate a quote, complete the necessary sales paperwork, and move through the sales pipeline, CPQ tools have become integral to this sector.

The integration of CPQ optimizes the sales process, helping to reduce back-and-forth discussions per sale, increase proposals per month, and even boost the average deal size that each agent covers.