Mission Three: Multi-Dimensional Quoting (MDQ) and Quote Line Groups | Salesforce CPQ

Video 3: Managing Subscription Products with Salesforce CPQ

Mission Three: Multi-Dimensional Quoting (MDQ) & Quote Line Groups

Hey, Salesforce enthusiasts! As promised, we are back with our Managing Your Subscription Products with Salesforce CPQ series. In our previous blog, we discussed setting up subscription products in Salesforce CPQ and some of the essential configuration decisions. Here is the link to our previous blog, in case you have missed it.  

In this blog, we will talk about Multi-Dimensional Products (MDQ) and Quote Line Groups in Salesforce CPQ today. We will begin with the definition of MDQ, then learn in detail about Price Dimensions, Standard vs. Segmented Products, and Quote Line Groups. Since everyone is going to outer space these days, we will continue with our fictional out of this world movie streaming service called Spaceflix and discuss some examples of setting up an MDQ quote for Spaceflix in the later part of this blog. In the end, we will also cover some facts related to Salesforce MDQ Products 

Let’s Start With Defining MDQ

You can show a fixed-price subscription product in the quote line editor as one quote line broken into multiple segments. Each segment represents a unit of time (it could be a month, quarter, year, or it can even be custom). We call these products multi-dimensional quoting (MDQ) products​. Each segment has its own start and end date; it can be discounted or marked up independently. It has its own pricing and a quantity independent of the line’s other segments. They’re useful if you want your sales reps to have detailed control over pricing specific units of time within one subscription. ​  

Price Dimensions:

All you have to do is add a Price Dimension for the product.​ They let you control if cost, quantity, or discount is editable by the sales reps or inherited from the parent product.

Segmented Vs. Standard Products

 The Quote lines for MDQ Products appear by default in the Segment Products table in a Multi-Dimensional or Matrix format on the quote line editor, whereas the other subscription products appear in the Standard Products Section.  

 You can toggle between the two sections to see the different types of Products.​ In the end, each segment is represented by its own quote line. ​So, if you have an MDQ product with four segments – one for each year and a standard subscription Product, you will end up with five quote lines on the quote.​ MDQ Products can be represented in the same Multi-Dimensional Matrix format on the Quote line Templates in Salesforce. 

Quote Line​ Groups

Quote lines groups is another CPQ Option that can be used to Group Quote lines together on a Quote.​ So, for example, if you wanted to group quote lines by location or even add a common discount to the entire set of quote lines for that group, you could do so by enabling Quote Line Groups.​ So essentially, they are the parent of Quote lines.​

Quote Line Groups can group both standard and MDQ Products.

dont miss out iconDon't forget to check out: What are Quote Line Items in Salesforce

MDQ in Action

spacefix journey

To showcase the abilities of Multi-Dimensional Quoting, we are going to get a bit creative by offering our customers a trip to Mars with our Spaceflix entertainment package, which comes in two flavours. First is the Spaceflix journey product, which we have priced for multiple quarters as each segment, and we show the pricing for over three quarters for our Mars Traveler.

In our second example, we are showcasing custom segments for our product, Spaceflix Journey plus. Here (in the image below) you can see the related list called price dimensions for our product Spaceflix Journey.

trip setup

We have set up a one-time setup fee called Trip Setup, given the Dimension name, the type, added a pricebook, and the editable quantity as 1 (default). Along with these, we also added a recurring segment called Quarterly Space Travel subscription as the dimension.

Quarterly Space Travel

As you can see, there are various types of dimensions on the screen. There is a year, quarter, month, one-time, and even a custom option available. For this product, we have selected the quarter option, which means, when this product is added to a quote, it will divide the start and end date of a quote into quarters. This will automatically show the price rising for the different quarters as a segment.

custom option

Now, you can see the quote for MDQ in the above image. You can see the Quote Line Group, on which you can see the start date, and the subscription term is nine months. An additional discount can also be added to the entire set of quote lines. We have chosen the Spaceflix Journey as a product. Depending on the number of connections, you can manipulate the quantities and add additional discounts for each segment.

We have an original 500 dollar list unit price for the trip set up and have added a 5% discount, which means the total amount is now 475 dollars. As you can see, for each subscription after this, the subscription fee was originally 20 dollars, but we have given different discounts for each segment. We have given a 5% discount for the first quarter, 7% for the second quarter, and 10% discount for the third quarter. So, the final subscription pricing for each quarter is 19 dollars, 18.6 dollars, and 18 dollars, respectively. In the end, the quote line has added up to 530.6 dollars.

price dimension

For the second example, we have chosen Spaceflix Journey Plus. This has custom segments for lightspeed space travel and a setup fee for a trip set up. Adding this product to the quote lets you add the dates for the custom segment and also add more segments. And it’s important to note that these segments don’t have to be consecutive.

custom segments

MDQ format

dont miss out iconCheck out another amazing blog by Demandblue here: Salesforce CPQ Quickstart – Implement Salesforce CPQ in Weeks, not Months!

Once you adjust these segments, you can see them in the MDQ format on the quote and also play with the discounted rates for other pricing as required.

So, now let’s wrap up this blog with a quick MDQ fact check:

    • The Quote Start and End Date automatically become the First Segment Start date and the Last Segment End date.
    • The First segment End date needs to be defined to break the segments appropriately.​
    • You can only define monthly subscription items as Multi-Dimensional. ​
    • You can tweak the CPQ Settings for Pricing and Calculation in case you need to Configure Non-Consecutive Segments.
    • MDQ Products do not support usage-based pricing.
    • An MDQ Product cannot be a bundle itself, which means you cannot have Product options associated with them.
    • However, an MDQ Product can be part of a bundle, although the quantity for the MDQ segments is independent of the Parent Bundle’s quantity.
    • For multi-currency Orgs, you need to have separate Price Dimensions for each Currency defined.

That’s all about Multi-Dimensional Quoting! We hope this blog offered you better insights on the basics of multi-dimensional products and quote line groups in Salesforce CPQ. In our next blog, we will discuss Proration in Salesforce CPQ.

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