Custom manufacturing has become increasingly prevalent as organizations strive to develop products tailored to their specific customer needs. This trend is poised to continue, with the global custom manufacturing market projected to reach $1.35 trillion by 2031, boasting an annual average growth rate of 4.6 percent.
In response to this shift, businesses are turning to configure, price, quote (CPQ) software to streamline the customization process, allowing for real-time pricing updates and addressing potential supply chain challenges. The benefits of CPQ implementation go beyond product configuration with the automation of processes and systems. Manufacturers like Nucor Warehouse Systems, are seeing a huge difference in their sales and design processes with the power of automation and configuration using a CPQ solution.
“All the ways this tool can help us are so exciting,” said Eric. “Our designers can turn around a quote much more quickly, while the automation expedites the steps to put the system together. The simplicity and efficiency widens the net on who can participate in our design process.”
Manufacturers like Tomra Fresh Foods | Compac have utilized CPQ software solutions to be able to quickly assemble complex 3D models in real time that can be pitched to customers with visuals and pricing, accelerating the sales cycle with CPQ features.
Let’s explore five key CPQ benefits as organizations seek a competitive edge through custom manufacturing.
- A More Consistent Approach: CPQ software provides the necessary data to adopt and implement best practices from the start. This ensures a more consistent approach across the team and promotes unified practices. This consistency helps protect deal margin with this sophisticated engine that considers all customer requests, making sure they align with individual needs and protects the deal margin by having accurate front-end quoting. With a more enhanced quoting capacity, CPQ boosts conversion rates, lowers the cost of sales, and eliminates quoting errors, benefitting the sales team. As a result, an increasing number of companies are investing in CPQ, with 83 percent of sales professionals currently utilizing some form of automation software, highlighting its compelling benefits.
- Enhanced Sales Efficiency and Training:
Addressing the challenge of slow sales quoting processes, a CPQ application provides sales representatives with instant access to crucial data for accurate quoting. This not only improves the sales process but also fosters consistency by making the same data accessible to all relevant staff members. This also allows the creation of a complex product and customer solutions to be automated, reducing the need for extensive training. This results in an intuitive user experience, enabling easy upselling and cross-selling, enhancing efficiency, and minimizing training demands with the CPQ process. - Improved Order Accuracy: Quoting errors can lead to customer dissatisfaction and can be financially detrimental, costing a business significantly and increasing problems for sales reps. CPQ software eliminates human errors in the quoting process, ensuring the consistent and reliable delivery of accurate sales quotes, thereby enhancing sales productivity, customer experience, and preserving brand reputation using CPQ technology.
- Heightened Customer Satisfaction: Organizations leveraging CPQ software experience a 17 percent increase in lead conversion rates. This customer success is attributed to more accurate pricing and faster quotes, self-service purchasing facilitation, expedited contracting processes, 3D visualizations of orders, and a personalized ordering and service experience for the best possible customer experience.
- Streamlined Quoting: A CPQ software solution enables customer success by allowing instant access to quotes through predefined rules and price adjustments based on order choices and customer data. This efficiency expands overall quoting capacity as sales teams can avoid meetings and manual data input, focusing on nurturing relationships and attracting new business opportunities allowing for smooth-flowing sales operations.
In the manufacturing realm, the traditional quoting process involves lengthy delays as sales teams coordinate with different departments. CPQ technology addresses this challenge by enabling rapid generation and sharing of sales quotes, significantly reducing wait times. Businesses that fully harness the benefits of a CPQ system position themselves for top-notch customer experiences, aiding in retention, brand reputation, and ultimately, increased sales.
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