Salesforce CPQ Tutorial: A Beginners Guide to Salesforce CPQ

Introduction to Salesforce CPQ:

Salesforce CPQ stands for Configure, Quotes, and Pricing of your business data. The Salesforce CPQ is just an extension of CRM. This tool makes the sales process/billing easier, faster, and more organized. The primary purpose of Salesforce CPQ is to convert the sales cycle spreadsheet into an automated sales tool to deliver an error-free and accurate quote. This tool has developed many advanced features and apps that help users sell the correct product, have a discount control, and automate the approvals. Salesforce CPQ is just a part of the Salesforce software system founded in 2009. It pulls the inappropriate sales data into the configured mode to process and ensure consistency.

Why Salesforce CPQ?

As I said earlier, Salesforce CPQ has developed to overcome the sales hurdles for billing, quoting, and approval. Very importantly, business enterprises should wait until they get final approval and aren't able to take up the following business deal. So, Salesforce CPQ is helping most business enterprises overcome this issue.

Let me discuss the key features of Salesforce CPQ. The following features will help you produce revenue faster by closing deals well.

• It helps you configure tough business deals easily and quickly.
• Salesforce CPQ helps to automate the customer lifecycle.
• You can reduce your financial and compliance risks.
• It provides you with various business insights.
• It enables you to grow your customer base and support.

Let us know some other key features of Salesforce CPQ below:

Configuration features:

Salesforce CPQ configuration describes how product bundles help sales reps improve sales. It explains the difference between bundle components and customizable bundles. The following are the key points:

• It offers bundles, features, and options.
• It supports inclusion, exclusion, and cardinality rules.
• It allows us to work on real-time data with real-time rules.
• It also allows you to add configuration to the sales quotes.
• It will enable you to build product bundles through various features and options.
• Adding bundle component limits can customize this product bundle to your needs.

Pricing features & methods:

• It supports multiple sales scenarios: block-based, cost-plus, contract price, and account-based.
• The list price is the quote line's initial price.
• It allows you to perform real-time price simulations.
• Users can use custom formulae, such as margins and billing.
• The pricing method field in the product record is set to list by default, but you change the pricing method to cost or block pricing.
• When you quote a product, Salesforce CPQ pulls the quote's lines list price from
  your book's product list price entry.
• If you choose a product’s or quote lines' price editable field, you can override the list price in the quote lines editor.
• It also enables you to support real-time price processing to target a price to the solution bundles.

Some of the pricing methods are as follows:

• List price -> The product’s list price in the price book
• Contracted price -> Inherits the value of the contracted price records.
• Special price -> Inherits the value of the contracted price, or special price assumes the value of the list price.
• Prorated price -> This adds the Price for Salesforce CPQ products and applies the special price.
• Discount for products -> Salesforce CPQ applies the appropriate discount to the
  prorated price. The resulting value becomes the regular price.
• Regular price -> The regular price inherits the value of the prorated price.
• Additional discount -> Entered by the sales rep or through pricing guidance.

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Quoting features:

• Enables quote business sales templates and document generation.
• It can connect with automated E-signature tools.
• Salesforce CPQ quote is a presentation layer of opportunities and opportunity products.
• It allows you to create a PDF to represent the quotes. A page layout is available as a template covering some segments to help you manage the information you present to your client.
• It auto-generates a number every time you create a quote.

Further, you can then create the PDF and save it as an attachment against the quote. You can email this attachment document to your contact straight from the quote. When you make a Quote, it's a record in the database. You have a quote name that is free from the text, like an opportunity name.

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Let us know some essential features of Quotes as follows:

• Description Field: this is just like the other fields in other standard objects.
• Add custom fields: You can also add custom fields if you want to.
• Lead time: You can also add time to give the client an idea of fulfillment time.
• Contact name: When you create a quote, you have a contract role that has the primary checkbox.

Salesforce CPQ Productivity Features:

Salesforce CPQ offers exciting productivity features that produce valuable results. Let me explain a few points:

• Supports guided and adequate selling -> Sales reps can script questions and guide the sales team/customers from the basic to the advanced level.
• Offers to create Customizable products-> This helps the sales team create customized fields when customers search for the products.
• Provide renewable benefits -> Salesforce CPQ has a feature that automatically generates billing, drives pipeline projections, and follows up with sales teams.

Products are available in modern lighting for user experience scenarios.
This Salesforce CPQ is also available on the Salesforce1 Mobile device.

Other added features:

• It promotes guided selling.
• Also, it offers automated renewal opportunities.
• It supports lightning experience and other Salesforce scenarios.
• It supports developers as well as communities.

How does the Salesforce CPQ perform?

Salesforce CPQ performs in the following manner:

• Set up highly complex contracts
• Merge Revenue and Sales
• Handles Recurring Revenue

Advanced Features of Salesforce CPQ

The following are the advanced features of Salesforce CPQ:

1) Product Rules:

It helps you better understand product and price rules. It allows sales reps to combine their products each time and enhance their sales. There are various product rules available:

• Validation rules
• Filter rules
• Selection rules
• Alert rules

2) Price Rules:

Price rules in Salesforce align with product rules, and they help manage quotes and optimize them.

3) Advanced order management and approvals

Salesforce CPQ makes business activities simpler. The Salesforce CRM platform offers advanced approval features for approved workflows. Hence, it satisfies customers with instant approvals. Also, an advanced order management system helps businesses to create multiple orders for a single quote. It allows them to deliver orders with flexibility quickly.

4) Built-in Time

The Salesforce CPQ has built-in features that automate the quotes and renewal processes. Thus, CPQ helps to produce quotes with automation and renewals for sales executes.

Salesforce CPQ Architecture:

The Salesforce CPQ model consists of relational junctions that enable businesses to integrate their business data in the Salesforce model. These junctions provide better communication and effective data changes between multiple data sources. Adjacent enterprise systems like databases (SQL or RDBMS), ERP/CRM systems, and custom software applications. The primary functions, such as loading the business data to real-time data integration, these relational junctions modify the business process by creating customized data and continuously syncing the business data. This Salesforce CPQ model also supports hub-centric integration for better data flow. It also provides standard-based SQL interfaces to work with complex integration levels.

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What is the Salesforce CPQ process flow?

Salesforce CPQ process flow covers all the end-to-end sales activities of the business entities. This process includes sales details, account management data, customer order fulfillment, billing, and account section functionalities.
This figure explains the functionality of the Salesforce CPQ process flow,
Steps involved;

• Firstly, the sales team will configure the sales and order quotes and create a rough proposal draft so clients know when the service payment is received.
• This process is an entirely customer-centric operation, and all of them are independent. All these customer-centric activities will be tied together with a single business process.
• The CPQ process flow helps the sales team create a single platform to collect customer data, process it, and update it in the database to engage with clients more effectively; this also reduces errors and improves sales reporting capabilities.
• The Salesforce setup is listed as the first step in the process flow. Along with this process, some sales activities include cold calling, sales prospecting, inbound details, and invoice data.
• Regarding cash flow, the cash for the sales has been collected and allocated, and the end data will be analyzed to enhance the performance.
• Sometimes, a clash occurs between the sales reps and customers because, most of the time, the customer assumes that the sales process is over, and they again start to place a new order.
• Revenue will be recorded during this period, and cash will be applied. Again, the entire process cycle will be reported and analyzed.

Salesforce CPQ – QTC flow:

Salesforce QTC is nothing but a Quote-to-cash process. This process covers the end-to-end cash details for sales activities in an enterprise.
The steps included are:

• Firstly, you have the opportunity to deliver a quote to a prospect.
• Secondly, you will configure the sales offers using software, and the price of the offer will be automatically and accurately generated. You can then present the quote for the project to your prospect.
• Once the quote is approved, you draft the proposal and agreement.
• The prospect agrees to place an order.
• Then, the order will be processed.
• An invoice is created, and the new customer pays.
• The cash for the sale is collected and allocated.
• Keep additional values in mind for the customer in the form of cross-selling and upselling.
• The data for all points of the process is analyzed and reported.
• Your process is improved for the next sale.
• Integrated Salesforce QTC software can improve your sales and collection activities.

Salesforce CPQ system integration:

Salesforce CPQ is a flexible and easy-to-use software tool. Business entities widely use this tool to improve their sales activities. Most companies must still build their data process flow method and pricing details between the ERP system and Salesforce.com.

Methods included in this integration process are;

Creation of Product master data:

The product master data is created and maintained in the ERP system because the ERP system helps users insert additional data for the correct posting activities.

Product price/rate value:

ERP systems typically maintain These product price values. They contain information like discount structure on items/customers or sometimes both.

Product details:

Product details are included between the ERP and CRM systems. The data integration automatically converts Salesforce discount groups, which are transferred into Salesforce (CRM) price books.

Product and pricing:

This information helps source the logic that you have already configured in the Salesforce CPQ. So, the Salesforce CPQ system guides you all in selecting the right products. Further, you can also optimize the commercial price setup and price rules.

Finally, the salesforce quote and the pricing will be converted and transferred into the ERP system and product configuration or selected in the Salesforce CPQ system.

The Salesforce CPQ software tool can easily be used with software platforms like Microsoft Dynamics (AX, CRM, Azure, MS Office 365) and many non-programming platforms. These building concepts, process automation, and integration improve performance and scalability.

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Salesforce CPQ tools

Salesforce CPQ is software that brings all the product pricing and customer data into a centralized, accessible platform that runs in a real-time environment.

There are three essential tools of Salesforce CPQ software:

1. Configurator
2. Pricing
3. Quoting

Features of Configurator:

• It enables the creation of product bundles with advanced features and options. Features are the bundle categories, and options are the bundle components.
• Options can also make an integral part of bundles, accessories, or related products that support up-sell and cross-sell methods.
• Support for cardinality functions, inclusion, and exclusion sales rules.

Features of Pricing:

Pricing can be divided into two types:

1) Cost-plus-based pricing -> This pricing type supports the product cost or price.

2) Contracted pricing option -> This supports account-based contracts.
The real-time pricing method supports using the case target price for configurator bundles.
Custom pricing formulae are used for margin calculation and pricing or discounts.

Features of Quoting:

• This quoting integrates document generation.
• Quote templates: In this case, different sections such as header, footer, and quote terms can be configured.
• It also integrates the automatic E-signature tools.

How does the Salesforce CPQ tool work?

As I said earlier, Salesforce CPQ system tools help to improve sales performance, reduce errors and scalability, and produce accurate data.

Steps:

1. Buy the CPQ software tool.
2. The sales team will help you to select the product structure.
3. Orders and invoice management will be defined by product structure.
4. Once the implementation is completed, they go live.
5. The sales team helps the customers use the tool and, through the selling process, win deals in a shorter time.

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Salesforce CPQ API model:

The attributes used in Salesforce CPQ API models are;

• Record -> This represents the model.
• ParentGroupKey -> The unique key of this line’s parent if this line is part of a bundle.
• Key -> Each quote line and group has a unique key amongst all other keys in the exact quote.
• AmountDiscountprorated -> It gives pricing and discount information.
• Configuration Type -> indicates the configuration type of the product that this line represents.
• Upliftable -> True if this line is an MDQ segment that can be uplifted from a previous segment.
• ConfigurationEvent -> Indicates the configuration event of the product that this line represents.
• ProductQuantityEditable -> the number of decimal places used for rounding this line’s quantity.
• NetNonsegmenttotal -> the net total for all the non-dimensional quote lines.
• ReconfigurationDisabled -> This line cannot be reconfigured if the condition is true.
• QuantityEditable -> indicates whether the quantity is editable. Editability is determined by the amount and bundled fields on the option record.
• ReconfigureDimensionWarning -> Reconfigures the warning label for an option with segments.
• IsUpgarde -> indicates whether the product option is related to an upgrade product.
• ProductQuanityScale -> Returns the value of the quantity scale field for the product being configured.
• HasDimension -> Indicates whether this option has dimensions or segments.

Guidelines for setting up Salesforce CPQ software:

The following are the essential procedures to set up your Salesforce CPQ software in your company:

1) Approval process:

Ensure that the org chart diagram flows so that each person agrees on how a cash quote moves from one approval level to another and that quote attributes move into each decision tree.

2) Discount schedule:

You can also create volume discounts based on the quantity of the product when you add these products to your Salesforce quotes; CPQ applies a proportional discount to the total.

3) Company logo:

Design the company logo you want to show in your quote document and add it to a folder in the Salesforce document.

Multi-lingual considerations:

• Determine the best plan for your non-English speaking users. You can also install Salesforce CPQ in a multilingual instance.
• Package settings.
• Basic page layout setup.
• Product and price list.
• Quote template and status.
• Sandbox setup.

Advantages of Salesforce CPQ:

The following are the key benefits that CPQ brings to the sales team:

• It streamlines the sales process.
• Automated creation of sales quotes.
• Helps manage complex product mix and pricing rules.
• It helps to create a guided selling.
• Boost the productivity of sales reps.
• It drives customer satisfaction.
• Offers enhanced and rapid implementation without wasting time on any other relevant things.
• It helps an individual create much more accurate and better price quotes.
• Business entities can quickly analyze the percentage of profits or losses.
• It has improved accuracy and area of perfection.
• It supports the most personalized experience.
• It reduces sales turn-around time.

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Hence, Salesforce CPQ has multiple benefits for business enterprises. Let us move further in this tutorial and understand the basics of the Salesforce platform and its other key aspects.

About Salesforce

Using Salesforce, developers can create an application on the cloud and share it with multiple companies across multiple domains. Find out How Salesforce Helps boost your career offers and success.
For more detailed information on Salesforce, its advantages, the purpose of using it from a business perspective, and the services and products it offers, click on What is Salesforce?

Salesforce Certifications:

A Salesforce Certification is a credential that proves one’s abilities and skills and helps cloud masters achieve real-time success. You may be an execution expert who ensures that Salesforce runs quickly or a Developer who develops the latest apps to alter and enhance abilities. The Salesforce credentials will build your resume and feature the skills and abilities that will improve your career. It will prove your real-time hands-on skills in Salesforce and help you take advantage of new career options.

Salesforce Service Cloud:

It is a popular CRM application that helps you provide superior customer service. It is based on its Sales Cloud product, a popular CRM platform for sales experts.
Also, Service Cloud allows businesses to optimize service processes, streamline workflows, and identify critical posts, topics, and experts to help customer service providers. The goal is cultivating one-to-one marketing relationships with customers through multiple platforms and devices.

Service for Apps allows the inclusion of tech support tools into apps. In-app mobile support can include live video chat, screen sharing, and on-screen-driven support. The platform is also integrated with the Salesforce Group Cloud, which offers further contact channels for agents and customers.

As per Salesforce, Service Cloud is the world's top customer service tool. To learn more details on the Salesforce service cloud, like why it is used, services, and implementation details, go through the Salesforce service cloud in depth here.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Business communications have transformed today. AI has made this easier with automation in every business communication. Have you ever wondered how modern businesses connect with their customers at the right time in the right way? It is through AI-driven marketing automation.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud is an initiative that assists businesses with efficient and effortless marketing. It is taken up by Salesforce, one of the world's most trusted CRM platforms. They offer various marketing tools that enable you to personalize your marketing strategies. No matter whether you handle a B2B or B2C firm, this tool has a solution for marketing automation for all types of businesses.

The tools allow you to analyze your market with a 360-degree perspective and create a strategy to give your business higher organic leads.

Let's look at the tools and services that Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers by clicking the link.

Salesforce CRM:

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is "a system for managing all the business relations with customers and potential clients. The plan is simple: to enhance business connections. A CRM framework helps businesses stay connected to customers, optimize efficiency, and increase profitability," according to Salesforce.

At the grassroots level, CRM helps businesses understand consumer expectations and data and promotes more profound customer growth and retention.
Salesforce was the first company to introduce cloud-based CRM apps successfully. As a cloud-based service, this platform capitalizes on the advantages of data storage and connectivity from anywhere to create a customer base.

Cloud-based software enables businesses to monitor live data and group conversations, manage insights from anywhere, and keep pace and accuracy up-to-date.

Salesforce Architecture:

Salesforce provides highly personalized service to its clients, staff, and partners. This framework customizes the standard functionality and builds custom websites, components, applications, etc. It's also achieved quicker, primarily because of the superb architecture on which it's designed. The image below depicts the briefing of the Salesforce's architecture.

For more information on the Salesforce Architecture, click here.

Salesforce Components:

• In the TAB menu, all tabs are arranged in a row.
• In the All TAB menu, all the tabs are available on Salesforce.com.
• In the "More TAB" menu, you can find more tabs on the portal.
• In the user menu, one can easily change the profile settings.
• In the sidebar menu, you can find sections such as build, monitor, jobs, logs, etc.
• The application menu allows shuffling between apps.
• The search menu helps you perform a search in Salesforce.

Conclusion:

In this Salesforce CPQ tutorial, you have gone through various topics and modules. These include the benefits and features of Salesforce CPQ, CRM, Salesforce cloud, Lightning, Triggers, Controllers, Visualforce, etc. We hope you now have enough skills in the Salesforce platform. The sales team uses the Salesforce CPQ software tool to reduce errors and produce accurate sales reports. Moreover, many CRM-based companies have adopted the CPQ platform to overcome sales issues. This article may help a few Salesforce developers and community forums. Further, to gain hands-on expertise in Salesforce CPQ, explore the related training programs offered by HKR Trainings.

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• Salesforce Lightning
• Salesforce Service Cloud