Managing Product Bundles Effectively with Salesforce CPQ

Salesforce has revolutionized itself in the last 20 years from being one of the SaaS-based products to one of the most preferred and Industry-standard CRM of today’s world. Its offerings cover multiple business functions like Marketing, Sales, Service, Commerce, Community, and many more. For organizations who are looking for more systematic, accurate and optimized sales delivery, the Salesforce CPQ will help in increasing the efficiency of the sales teams. Statistics reveal that the companies that deploy Salesforce CPQ have 17% higher lead conversion than those that do not.

Let Us Understand the Basics of the “Product Bundle”

Product bundling is a technique used by any company that is involved in sales in any capacity. In this several products are grouped logically and sold as a single unit for one price. A laptop sold with a charger and a laptop bag is an example of a product bundle. In absence of a product bundle, products will not be organized and customers will be offered a sea of products it may also end up combining non-compatible products.

The Salesforce CPQ effectively helps automate and manage the sales quote process for SaaS products. Product bundles can be easily and effectively managed by CPQ tools to enhance the user experience by providing them with compatible product options to be purchased together. This strategy encourages customers to buy more products, thus increasing the average order value and hence increasing sales.

Understanding Salesforce CPQ?

Salesforce Configure Price Quote (CPQ) is a cloud software provided by Salesforce that allows your business to provide your customer with accurate sales quotes by automating and managing the process of quoting. It helps sales representatives make more sales quickly and efficiently.  As the name suggests, a CPQ tool assists with the below options: configuring the best suitable product options, assigning the price automatically, adjusting the discount based on the conditions, and preparing the final sales quote.

  • Configure: Configuring the best mix of product options to form product bundles based on the requirements of each customer.
  • Price: Assigns the price of the product automatically and assures that accurate and optimized discounts are activated.
  • Quote: Prepares the final sales quote to be sent to the customer.

dont miss out iconDon't forget to check out: Product Rules in Salesforce CPQ - Learning Guide

 The Need for Salesforce CPQ

The final step of the sales process involves configuring product options, quoting prices, and completing contracts. In the traditional sales quoting process, spreadsheets or manual sheets were used. Since the process is complex and tedious, it is also prone to manual errors. Even a change in a single digit can affect the entire quote.

The process is so tedious and time-consuming that the prospects may get tired of moving back and forth, causing too many drop-offs before the deal is closed. Salesforce CPQ provides a solution with automated tools. Instead of shuffling through pages of the spreadsheet to find the correct product bundle, pricing, or discount, Salesforce CPQ generates automated and timely personalized sales quotes to meet customers' requirements. Salesforce CPQ creates multiple quotes quickly and efficiently, without a chance for any manual errors, thus resulting in better sales productivity and deal closing rate.

Creating Product Bundles using Salesforce CPQ?

  • To create product bundles using Salesforce CPQ, individual products first need to be created. For example, a laptop, a microprocessor chip, a charger, a solid-state device, etc. Products can be bundled using create product options. For example, a laptop along with a charger.
  • Salesforce CPQ also provides the option of linking a single component with multiple products. For example, a single microprocessor can be used for multiple laptops. Further bundle options can be customized for each component, relating the number of options to the number of bundles.
  • Pricing and discount features can also be customized for each product bundle. The tool can be configured to apply a certain discount whenever a product is purchased as a bundle. If the bundle parent has a percentage-based additional discount, Salesforce CPQ applies it to quote lines generated from this product as well.

Managing Product Bundles using Configurator

The Configurator can be used to add and remove particular options from the product bundles. Within the configurator options for each feature will be displayed in each bundle respectively.

Considering product fields, when you add a bundle product you can configure or re-configure the product bundles as required. The following functionalities can be managed in Salesforce CPQ for Product Bundles.

  • Control and choose when the sales teams can configure the Product Bundles

Change a product’s configuration event to control when Configurator will allow sales teams to configure a bundle. Additionally, a bundle product’s Configuration is changeable concerning the type field to control when sales teams are required to configure a bundle.

  • Visibility of the configurator

There are multiple product fields that will let control when users can edit bundles in the configurator. These fields can be used to ensure that the users have the relevant ability and limitations when configuring different bundle products.

  • Fixing the bundle layout and Navigation

Few product fields let you customize the appearance of product bundles in the configurator and how users toggle between product features. These fields can be used to determine the layout that makes the product bundle easy to navigate.

  • Enabling Large Configurations

In the event that Salesforce CPQ hits Salesforce governor limits at the time of configuring a large bundle, it times out and stops the configuration process. Enabling this option helps in decreasing the chances of hitting governor limits when the sales team configures the bundles.

dont miss out iconCheck out another amazing blog by GS Lab here: The Salesforce-Microsoft Partnership: Paving the Way for Win-Win Business Advantages

Summary

Salesforce CPQ makes the entire process of managing Product bundles manageable and efficient. It tailors the contract and sales quotes to individual customers and eliminates user error with its automated process. Salesforce CPQ enables the company to make better-informed decisions around pricing and discounts. Also, it eliminates the review period associated with approval since everything is automated and doesn't require manual approvals.

But Implementing Salesforce CPQ is challenging, as it is one complex tool to navigate. To use the Salesforce CPQ to its best an organization will need properly trained professionals. While having certified Salesforce CPQ experts, still there would be some nuances that will be tricky to decode. With GS Lab’s expertise in the Salesforce products, Salesforce Integrations, and customizations across multiple clouds, we have helped multiple organizations accelerate their digital transformation process with Salesforce towards higher ROI.

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