CPQ for Midsize Business

What is CPQ For Midsize Business?

CPQ, or Configure Price Quote, is a software application that automates the quoting process, making it faster and easier to send accurate price quotes and sales proposals to customers. CPQ helps growing midsize businesses keep track of inventory to ensure you have the products or services your customers need in stock.

CPQ also enables sales teams to manage discounts and pricing strategies, so companies get the best possible price for their products and services. CPQ software can help take the guesswork out of pricing and make it easier to run a successful midsize business.

Synonyms

• CPQ for mid-market business
• configure price quote for medium-size business

Midsize Business Challenges and Growth Strategies 

There are a number of challenges that midsize (or middle market) businesses face. One of the biggest is finding the right mix of products and services to offer. Midsize businesses need to be able to differentiate themselves from their competition in order to succeed. They also need to be able to appeal to a a large enough customer base, which can be a challenge in itself.

Another big challenge for midsize businesses is managing growth. As they become more successful, they need to be able to scale up their operations in order to meet customer demand. This can often be difficult, as they need to maintain the same level of quality and service that got them to where they are in the first place.

Inconsistent data across departments is another challenge facing growing companies. Without integrated systems, there will inevitably be data blind spots or poor data hygiene which makes it difficult for leaders to make decisions and forecast business trends.

Finally, midsize businesses also need to be aware of the ever-changing landscape of the business world. They need to stay up-to-date on new technologies and market trends in order to stay relevant and competitive. 

A report from The Economist Intelligence Unit lists the most important ways in which midsize (or mid-market) companies can overcome these challenges and implement their growth strategies, including:

• Cost reduction via improved operating efficiency
• Expansion of their customer base
• Further penetration of existing accounts

Though they face unique challenges, midsize businesses do have advantages over small and enterprise businesses, including: 

• Better able to execute changes in strategy quickly
• Better pricing flexibility
• Deeper customer relationships
• Lower cost of inputs and/or operations

CPQ software can help mid-market businesses with their growth strategies by enabling their sales organizations to improve sales efficiency and productivity, expand their customer base by responding to buyers’ requests for quotes quickly, and expand existing accounts by improving renewals rates through subscription management. In addition, using a CPQ integrated with their CRM enables businesses to have one source of truth for all customer data.

How CPQ Solves Pricing and Quoting Challenges for Midsize Businesses

Modern B2B buyers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and expect customized quotes. These customers often buy multiple products at once. They may have specific requirements for every product they purchase, and they might want to see pricing information for a product before committing to purchase. As a result, salespeople need the ability to create custom quotes for every customer and sometimes multiple customizations for the same customer.

Manual management of these personalized configurations is a logistical nightmare, especially when you consider the number of options available. Salespeople have to spend more time completing the quote. They also need an organized system that requires less manual effort.

Automate Sales Processes and Drive More Value

An automated quoting solution helps salespeople focus on selling instead of configuring quotes. There are so many components to the quote process; entering everything manually leaves a lot of room for errors. CPQ eliminates time wasted on administrative tasks and ensures accurate quotes are delivered to customers. 

Using CPQ, salespeople can focus on serving customers during the various opportunity stages of the sales pipeline. It enables sales teams to concentrate on building relationships with buyers instead of spending time entering quotes, working around errors, and chasing managers for approvals. Sales reps can customize pricing, apply approved discounts, and even add sales collateral to educate decision-makers. Additionally, it frees them up to create high-quality proposals and presentations that are tailored to each customer’s unique needs.

Simplify Approval Workflows

Automated approval workflows keep deals moving forward. For growing midsize businesses trying to scale their sales processes, approval automation enables sales teams to send accurate quotes that adhere to pricing and discounting rules built into the CPQ. When managers don’t need to manually approve deals, it speeds up the sales cycle and results in higher customer satisfaction.

Maximize Deal Size and Cultivate Repeat Buyers

Sales models have evolved, especially for businesses selling SaaS or subscription packages. Customer lifetime value is the name of the game these days, as more traditional solution providers embrace or seek to implement subscription models. It’s no longer about catching one big contract. Salespeople and sales teams are judged on their long-term customer retention abilities. 

Your sales force must be kept up to date on cross-selling and upselling possibilities in order to consistently provide value. Your sales enablement program must inform your sales team about which solutions to sell, when to sell them, and how to effectively showcase their value. During the selling process, CPQ will automatically recommend up-sell and cross-sell opportunities based on the customer profile and solutions already implemented.

Support Complex Pricing Models

CPQ helps simplify the process of creating and managing complex pricing models. CPQ can help businesses keep track of customer demand and make changes to their pricing models in real-time so they can always stay ahead of the competition.

CPQ supports complex pricing options, including subscriptions, leases, add-ons, and bundled pricing. For companies that need to configure complex pricing and quotes, such as those in the services, finance, manufacturing, and telecommunications industries, CPQ enables a faster quote-to-cash process.

Consistent Data Across Business Operations

As a business scales, data consistency across business operations can be a huge growing pain. A CPQ pushes and pulls data from your CRM, which helps maintain data hygiene. Everyone from sales ops to finance to legal will be working from the same source of data.

How to Find the Best CPQ for Your Midsize Business

CPQ integration can help you take your midsize business to the next level by streamlining your quoting process, improving win rates, and increasing your deal size. If you’re not already using CPQ, now is the time to get started! Here’s what you need to know to find the best CPQ for your needs.

• The size of your business. Some CPQs are designed for enterprise businesses and may not be a good fit for a midsize business. Choose one that will scale with your business but is not too complex for your sales operations team to manage.
  
• The complexity of your products. If you sell simple products that don’t require a lot of customization, a scaled-back CPQ may be suitable for your needs. But keep in mind your business’s growth plan. You may need a CPQ that can scale with your business.
  
• Your budget. The price of CPQ software can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, so it’s important to find one that fits within your budget and will not become too costly as you add additional seats to your plan.
  
• Your needs. Make sure you find the CPQ that has capabilities and features that best match your industry and pricing model. Be sure to find a CPQ vendor that will work with you to customize the software if needed.

Why a No-Code CPQ Solution is Best for Midsize Businesses

According to Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Configure, Price and Quote Application Suites, 71% of organizations usually upgrade from a less advanced and feature-loaded, basic solution to a dedicated CPQ platform. As a company grows, so does its need for a robust CPQ that can do more than produce a simple price quote in a Word doc. 

However, IT project managers frequently complain about huge projects that they are unable to complete due to financial limitations and staff shortages. They don’t want to work on another large project. So, when you select a CPQ solution, choose one with a no-code environment such as DealHub so sales operations can implement it easily and get their team up and running quickly.

Which CPQ Should You Choose for Your Midsize Business?

Most midsize businesses lack the budget and technical staff to build a complex CPQ system in-house or implement a heavy code system. The key to a successful transition from a basic CPQ to an all-in-one CPQ is to implement a no-code solution that doesn’t strain your resources and technical capabilities.

With DealHub, sales ops teams can update pricing and product configuration changes and handle the day-to-day management of the software without IT assistance. Even novice sales reps can create professional quotes without the need for IT to be involved in training or troubleshooting, thanks to the simple design of this CPQ solution.

DealHub replaces the need to use many different tools by putting sales quote production, contract administration, subscription management, and e-Signature all in one place. Furthermore, automated alerts ensure that every team (Sales, Finance, and Legal) can collaborate quickly to finish the agreement. 

With DealHub CPQ, your sales team will be able to:

• Automate your sales processes from quote to close
• Configure custom error-free quotes based on your customers’ needs
• Generate quotes in any branded format (e.g., DealRoom, PDF, Word, Excel)
• Easily change quantities and apply discounts
• Automate the quote approval process
• Sync data with your CRM automatically
• Use one software solution for generating quotes and sales documents, contract management, subscription management, and ESignature

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