CPQ for Small Business: An Ultimate Guide

In the digital era, startups and small businesses working in the highly competitive B2B sector struggle to provide fast & accurate quotes, increase sales volumes, improve customer experience, and reduce costs. CPQ solutions help enterprises achieve their business goals through intelligent automation of operational processes. Below we will discuss what CPQ is and how small businesses benefit from this software implementation.

Why Does Small Business Need CPQ?

Configure Price Quote (CPQ) software has been designed specifically to streamline quote generation via automation of repetitive operational processes. CPQ software significantly shortens the sales cycle, increases quote quality and accuracy, reduces operational costs, and improves overall customer experience. Within the B2B sector, custom-tailored and fast quotes are crucial for lead generation and customer acquisition. Equipped with the right CPQ tool, enterprises can gain an edge in the competition for global trade.

Typical challenges of small businesses include limited resources, smaller teams, and time-consuming quote generation. In the customer-centered business landscape, delays and errors might result in loss of profits. Implementation of Configure Price Quote (CPQ) instruments streamlines the routine workflow automation of quoting — sales teams can respond to potential customers faster with accurate personalized quotes.

How Does CPQ Facilitate Business Processes?

While the impressive set of features and capabilities of CPQ software is understandable for IT pros, business owners want to know how a new instrument influences operational processes. So, let’s see what processes CPQ implementation improves:

• Accelerated Quoting Process: Sales reps spend up to 70% of their time on administrative matters and quote preparation. Automation of quoting helps to create and deliver even complex quotes almost instantly. Any further quote adjustments can be done swiftly resulting in higher customer satisfaction.
• Increased Accuracy: With all pricing data built into the system, quotes are generated fast with no errors. Sales teams just set the required configuration and almost instantly receive a ready-to-send quote, which is generated automatically. Additionally, the team can pre-set discount margins, so the generated offer would be within the pricing limits.
• Custom-Tailored Pricing: Customers benefit from custom-tailored catalogs and pricing generated exclusively for their companies. AI-driven technology ensures fast generation of personalized quotes and provides suggestions for further up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. This helps to improve customer experience and take relationships with clients to the entire new level.
• Seamless Integration: CPQ instruments are easy to implement and can be integrated seamlessly with various systems, including CRM software, to minimize the number of tools used within the sales cycle and streamline the workflow.

CPQ for Small Business: Benefits

• Enhances Sales Efficiency: With a built-in database and predetermined rules, quotes are generated and delivered faster. Any corrections to quotes can be done within seconds, so deals can be closed faster. AI-powered software offers suggestions and delivers insights to facilitate up-selling and decision-making processes.  
• Boosts Sales Growth: Fast and efficient quotes allow processing more sales. Built-in intelligent algorithms increase up-selling and cross-selling prospects and result in higher ROI and overall revenue growth.  
• Shortens The Sales Cycle: Automated quote generation streamlines the workflow and shortens the sales cycle by eliminating unnecessary steps and automatically synchronizing data with the existing CRM system.  
• Reduced Operational Costs: Automation of the quote generation process allows enterprises to save valuable human resources for more strategic tasks and eliminates the need for multiple separate systems and their integration.
• Improves Service Quality: Fast delivery of customized offers significantly improves customer experience and enhances client loyalty.    

How to Choose the Right CPQ Software for Small Business?

As of now, diverse Configure Price Quote (CPQ) solutions are offered at the market: from ready-to-use standard instruments to highly customizable cloud-based solutions that can be custom-tailored to address industry-specific tasks. In fact, not all offers are suitable for small businesses that need to be easy to use with required functionality and affordable.

Before searching for a CPQ solution and a provider, consider the following factors:

• Business Size: Some available solutions are designed for large corporations and might be too complex for smaller businesses. Look for a scalable solution that meets your requirements and isn’t too complex for your sales team.
• Product Complexity: If your company offers complex, highly customizable products/services, seek the solution to be a good fit; for products that do not require complex customization, you might not need an expensive solution with extended functionality. Just make sure you opt for a scalable instrument to support future business growth.
• Budget: The available budget might be a determinative factor as CPQ costs vary from several hundred to several thousand dollars. Hence, look for solutions that offer the required functionality and compare prices.  
• Specific Requirements: For complex products and specific industry requirements, try to find a vendor offering customizable CPQ that can adjust the instrument to address the unique requirements of your enterprise.

How to Choose the Right CPQ Provider?

The choice of the provider is crucial for long-term seamless performance: a reputable vendor will analyze the existing IT ecosystem, consider key requirements and industry-specific challenges, and develop a personalized tool with the required functionality.

While searching for a provider, follow the checklist:

• A vendor is fully licensed and certified
• Testimonials and customer reviews
• The support team is available 24/7 and responsive
• The team is knowledgeable about the software and provides details about the functionality, compatibility, and implementation.  

Why CLARITY?

With an extensive portfolio of success stories, CLARITY is the CPQ vendor that helps small businesses gain a competitive edge and stand out in the market.    

The CLARITY team offers:          

• Round-the-clock customer support          
• The highest qualification of specialists         
• Individual approach to every customer         
• Custom-developed solutions to address niche-specific challenges   

Guidance and training for sales teams Customized CPQ solutions from CLARITY ensure a streamlined and efficient sales cycle. Intelligent automation of quoting means more sales, greater sales volume, reduced risks, increased revenues, and data-driven insights for business growth.