With a sales configuration system, you can configure engineer-to-order products faster and with fewer errors. Which, if you sell complex, configurable products with hundreds of product options, is a game-changer.
What is a sales configuration system? It’s a digital tool commonly referred to as a configure, price, quote (CPQ) solution (and sometimes configured software or quoting software.)
A sales configuration system not only automates a significant portion of your sales process but can streamline engineering and production too. The result: faster sales cycles, increased efficiency, and higher-margin orders. Read on to find out how it all works.
What is a Sales Configuration System?
Sales configuration systems help manufacturers configure products, price them, and generate quotes in real-time.
When a buyer selects a configuration, the CPQ system captures those details digitally. It runs them by a set of preconfigured guidelines (product and pricing rules) that automatically validate the design and calculate an instant price.
A CPQ empowers sales reps to speed up the sales process by quickly coming up with configuration options. It also assures manufacturers that all configurations buyers see are viable, and customers receive quotes without delay. Engineers and shop floor workers have to carry out fewer checks down the line.
3 Ways Configured Software Transforms Your Sales Process
Configured software can revolutionize your sales process, making it faster, more efficient, and enjoyable for customers. It reduces your costs while increasing customer satisfaction. Win-win.
The more buyer-centric your sales process is, the better. According to an HBR study, simplifying your buying process can make you 62% more likely to acquire a client for premium offerings. Still, according to Gartner, a whopping 77% of B2B buyers think their latest purchase was anything but simple.
Translation?
You can leverage sales configuration software and CPQ to transform your sales process and simplify your buyer’s journey, marking yourself out from the crowd. With a solution like KBMax CPQ, you can expect to see a 40% increase in conversion rate.
Here are three ways configured software helps transform your sales process:
1. Product Visualization Makes Your Products Easier to Understand
Product visualization allows you to display interactive visuals of your configurable products rather than relying on overly-long product descriptions or generic images. The technology transforms your sales process by enabling reps—even new hires—to show buyers viable configurations and tailor them to their exact needs.
Put yourself in your buyer’s shoes. You’re about to invest significant money in a complex product. You’ve spoken to a rep (who you may or may not fully trust), and you’ve read the specs multiple times. But how do you know what the finished product will look like? How do you know you haven’t made a monumental mistake?
Photos provide a significant improvement over descriptions, but they’re still inadequate for complex products. They offer little help in understanding designs at a granular level. The best sales configuration tools go a step further. They generate 3D configurations that buyers can interact with on-screen, which dramatically improves confidence in purchase decisions.
The best thing about visual product configurators is that they’re so easy to use customers can operate them independently. Manufacturers can embed their configurator into their website and let visitors self-learn and self-serve at their own pace. This flexibility is what today’s B2B buyers are looking for.
2. Dynamic Pricing Streamlines the Buyer’s Journey
Speed is a critical part of simplifying the sales process. If buyers have to wait days or even hours to get a price and quote, your competitors might swoop in and walk buyers to the next step in the buying journey before you can. This might just mean you lose that sale.
Sales configuration systems enable you to price products and generate quotes within seconds. They factor in a range of internal and external data sets (like supply and material costs) to optimize prices for conversions.
Your buyers will appreciate the speed and transparency, and you’ll do more deals in less time.
3. Ecommerce Integration for 24×7 Access
According to Gartner, B2B buyers typically discuss product options with a buying committee of six to 10 members before placing an order. Buyers need access to your product information and visual assets to make their case to the committee and get the necessary buy-in.
Sure, they can request the information via email. But wouldn’t it be better to visit your website whenever they wanted to see all the product options and prices without contacting a sales rep every time? To provide this degree of autonomy, you need to integrate your sales configuration system with your ecommerce website.
Ecommerce integration not only makes life easier for buyers but also creates a great first impression of your brand. It marks you out as a digital leader that uses best-in-class technology.
Other Features to Look for in Quoting Software
The CPQ industry is crowded with subpar tools. How do you find a quoting software solution that helps you with more than just quotes?
Here are the features to look for when evaluating vendors:
Document Automation
Automation is critical to fast-tracking your processes and freeing up your team’s time. In addition to automating pricing and quotes, the best CPQ solutions auto-generate production documentation, including CNC cut sheets, CAD drawings, assembly documentation, and bill of materials.
Integrations with ERP and CRM
Integrations eliminate the need to manually transfer data over to your ERP and CRM. A CPQ system that integrates with these solutions can automatically update the information in the ERP (such as inventory levels and sales) and the CRM (such as a new client’s contact details), keeping teams in sync.
Cloud-Based System
The cloud is gaining popularity because it makes your data accessible from anywhere as long as you have a device with an internet connection. A cloud-based CPQ is more scalable than the software you store on your own server. And it requires less maintenance. The vendor is responsible for upgrades, updates, and bug fixes, leaving your teams free to pursue higher-value tasks.
The Bottom Line
With the right sales configuration system, you can accelerate your sales cycle, provide an immersive buyer experience, increase conversion rates, improve sales rep performance, and, crucially, enable self-serve, giving a global customer base access to your products at any time.
As products become more complex and skilled labor harder to come by, engineer-to-order manufacturers without the right CPQ in their arsenal risk being left behind an advancing pack of digital-first competitors.
