Boosting Sales with CPQ and Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the Age of Digital Transformation

CPQ solutions are indispensable tools for organizations dealing with complex product offerings. They empower sales teams to swiftly and accurately generate client quotations while minimizing revenue loss. By automating the creation of proposals and contracts, CPQ allows sales professionals to focus on finalizing deals and nurturing customer relationships.

Amid ongoing digital transformation, CPQ tools have assumed even greater importance. The advent of e-commerce, social media, and mobile technologies has brought about a revolution in the way companies conduct their operations. To optimize your team’s performance and formulate a successful strategy for 2023, staying informed about the latest tactics is essential. In this article, we will explore the evolution of CPQ in a post-digital transformation era and its impact on the future of sales.

Challenges in the past

Initially, CPQ was a manual process where sales professionals employed spreadsheets and their own expertise to tailor complex products and services to customer requirements, calculate prices, and generate customer quotes. However, that was just the beginning of the laborious process.

In the past, there were many additional challenges. Customer information was gathered manually. Product and pricing details were keyed into spreadsheets or templates by hand to create customized quotes. This manual process was time-consuming and error-prone, resulting in missed sales opportunities and eroding customer confidence. Sales professionals relied on their product knowledge and personal intuition to generate quotes, often making pricing mistakes or missing cross-sell opportunities.

Furthermore, standalone CPQ processes failed to draw critical information from other business systems or take advantage of automation, thus making it difficult to generate real-time quotes and creating sales bottlenecks. Additionally, the limited availability of CPQ tools on mobile devices kept sales teams from creating quotes while on the move. These challenges underscored the need for a more efficient approach to quote generation.

The following graphic highlights some of the difficulties that sales professionals faced before the era of digital transformation:

Sparking change with Dynamics 365 CRM and CPQ

Digital transformation – through solutions such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales and Dealhub CPQ – aimed to ease these pain points with streamlined processes, automation, and personalized customer experiences. The integration of digital technologies, data analytics, and automation opened the way to modernize CPQ solutions. With new tech, a rapidly evolving business landscape, and the drive to remain competitive, many companies began to rethink their sales processes.

How digital transformation has affected Dynamics 365 CRM and CPQ

Today, the way business is done has seen significant change, and CPQ has adapted accordingly. Today, CPQ solutions like DealHub seamlessly integrate with applications such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, marketing automation systems, and e-commerce platforms. This integration delivers deep customer insights and generates accurate pricing options. DealHub is an outstanding example of a CPQ solution that gives businesses the tools they need to streamline sales processes and improve customer engagement.

The rise of e-commerce has also transformed the CPQ landscape, elevating customer expectations for the purchase process. CPQ tools have risen to the occasion by delivering a superior, easy-to-navigate online buying experience. Now, customers can customize products online and receive instant quotes, guiding them toward an informed decision to purchase without the need for a salesperson. Seamlessly integrating CPQ with e-commerce platforms increases customer self-sufficiency and makes the entire purchasing experience more efficient.

CPQ tools have also gone mobile. Today, sales professionals use CPQ tools on their mobile devices for anytime, anywhere productivity. This flexibility enables sales teams to collaborate with customers and shorten the quote-to-buy journey.

Get the most from Microsoft Dynamics CRM and CPQ today

In a post-digital transformation world, CPQ is indispensable for sales representatives, streamlining sales processes and boosting productivity, even when already using a premier CRM solution such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales. Here are some key benefits that CPQ offers:

Fast Quotes. Automation is at the core of modern CPQ solutions, greatly assisting sales reps with the tedious work of configuring complex products, calculating prices, and discounting. This results in faster quote generation and shorter sales cycles which bring increased revenue.

Accurate Quotes. By automating the process, CPQ solutions eliminate errors and inconsistencies in pricing and configurations. This improves accuracy, reducing the risk of revenue loss due to incorrect pricing or configurations.

Improved Efficiency. With CPQ, sales professionals can focus on selling rather than time-consuming administrative tasks. This enhances sales efficiency, as teams can allocate more time to connecting with customers and closing deals.

Greater Visibility. With real-time sales pipeline visibility, sales managers are able to identify bottlenecks and adjust course accordingly. With a bird’s eye view of the whole process, they are in a better position to improve overall efficiency.

Enhanced Collaboration. CPQ solutions facilitate better collaboration among sales teams by providing a centralized source of information. This enhances collaboration, thereby increasing efficiency and maximizing the impact of the sales process. Additionally, there are other effective sales tools available for team collaboration.

Personalized Customer Experiences. Sales teams can customize quotes and proposals for each customer with ease. Doing so personalizes the customer experience, enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing your conversion rate.

CPQ solutions provide many benefits for sales teams that use Dynamics 365 for Sales in today’s post-digital transformation era. From quicker quote generation to personalized customer experiences, CPQ solutions streamline sales processes and increase productivity.

Be on the lookout for coming CPQ trends

Sales teams and customers are driving change by taking advantage of the shift to digital selling and the productivity, efficiency, and customer experience improvements that CPQ provides. The latest CPQ trends revolve around continuously improving efficiency and reducing friction points between initial contact and finalizing the deal while delivering exceptional customer experiences through the utilization of modern technology. Let’s delve into what is shaping CPQ in a post-digital transformation era:

1. Artificial intelligence

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing about revolutionary change in the CPQ landscape. AI-powered CPQ solutions leverage the power of customer data analysis, pattern identification, and intelligent decision-making. Through such solutions, sales teams can personalize customer interactions, fostering greater engagement and increasing conversion rates. This technological advantage underscores the importance of employing AI in sales, helping teams to achieve ever-greater success.

2. Augmented reality

With the advancements in augmented reality (AR) technology, leveraging AR within CPQ solutions is the next wave in enhanced customer experiences. Imagine your customers immersing themselves in real-world environments and trying your products virtually, allowing them to form a deeper connection with the product and make more informed purchasing decisions.

3. Cloud-based CPQ

As remote and hybrid work scenarios gain increased adoption, the importance of cloud-based CPQs continues to rise. Not constrained by a company’s internal hardware and IT concerns, cloud solutions provide greater flexibility and scalability compared to traditional on-premises alternatives. Moreover, cloud-based CPQ solutions are not only more cost-effective but also much more secure, ensuring sensitive data stays private.

4. Integration with Microsoft Dynamics CRM and ERP systems

Customer and inventory data are crucial components for creating accurate quotes and proposals. Integration with Dynamics CRM and ERP systems gives sales reps real-time access to the information they need to be efficient and deliver accurate quotes in record time.

5. Increased personalization

As customers come to expect more personalized experiences, CPQ solutions are rising to the challenge. With CPQ, sales teams are now delivering highly personalized quotes and proposals, giving them exactly what they need and avoiding the cookie-cutter feel of yesterday’s sales processes. This level of personalization not only dazzles customers but also increases conversions and cements long-term relationships.

6. Voice activation

Soon, voice assistants will help you with more than answering common questions and turning on your IoT devices. CPQ solutions like Dealhub are moving to integrate voice activation technology. This will give sales teams the power to generate quotes and access information hands-free, using voice commands.

The promising future of CPQ and Microsoft Dynamics CRM

The future of CPQ is bright, with exciting innovations on the horizon. You can count on continued innovation to assist sales teams so they can achieve even greater efficiency, accuracy, and customer satisfaction in their sales processes.

Looking ahead, CPQ will continue to transform, incorporating artificial intelligence, leveraging more capabilities of the cloud, and integrating with emerging technologies. The future holds immense potential for further transformation of the way we sell today.

As businesses adopt these newer technologies, including Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Sales, making a CPQ solution part of their transformation is crucial to keep their competitive edge and pleasing the next generation of customers. Efficiently prepared, accurate quotes along with personalized customer experiences are the wave of the future, made possible today with CPQ.

Reflect on how your business can incorporate these advancements in the near future. How could a CPQ solution take your organization to the next level of sales success? How will you harness the power of automation, data analytics, and personalization to drive growth and surpass customer expectations?

The future of CPQ is bright, and by adopting new technology now, you’ll open the door of opportunity for reaching ever-higher sales and revenue goals for your company.

Contact us at DealHub to learn how you can seamlessly integrate a first-class CPQ solution with Dynamics CRM or Dynamics 365 for Sales.

 

By DealHub | dealhub.io

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