Updates

More and more manufacturers rely on CPQ or Configure Price Quote software to sell their complex products online, causing the CPQ market to exponentially grow in the past couple of years. There is now a wide variety of CPQ solutions available, but what are the must-haves in 2022? Which options are essential and will help you get the best ROI? Whether you’re already using CPQ software or still looking into buying one, our top 7 must-haves will help you select the right tool for you.

Configure Price Quote (CPQ) software simplifies the sales process for manufacturers by making it easy to configure complex products, calculate the correct price, and generate a quote. Working with a CPQ guarantees that all information is stored in one place and that all departments within a company are linked to one another. However, there are a lot of common misconceptions about CPQ software that need debunking. Let’s take a look at the most common myths and how CPQ software handles these.

“Time is money”, the famous words from Benjamin Franklin prove that time efficiency was even in 1748 a trending topic. Today, the pressure is higher than ever to not waste any time, which has in turn influenced customer behavior. Customers today are demanding a better and faster buying experience. How can you handle this growing difficulty as a company?

Over the last few years, digital technologies have had a major impact on our daily lives: we wake up reading the online newspaper on a tablet, work on our laptops throughout the day, host remote meetings, and go to bed scrolling through social media on our smartphones. These changes are forcing companies to reinvent their businesses and to make a digital leap. However, merely digitalizing the internal processes is not enough. Let’s take a look at why you should transform your sales process and how you can do so in today’s modernized world.

CPQ or Configure Price Quote platforms simplify the sales process for manufacturers. A visual configurator allows users to compose products, consult accurate prices and generate a quote instantly. To implement a CPQ, you need master data about the products and the customers. This information can manually be entered, or it can seamlessly be pulled from other systems, using integrations. Integrations are therefore incredibly important in every CPQ project. Why is that and how can you connect these systems? Read on to find out!

Manufacturers are often struggling with long and complex sales processes, making it hard to increase sales. This has to do with the complex nature of the goods, but also with the fact that B2B sales requires various stakeholders to work together. On top of that, the manufacturing market has had some intrusive changes: increasingly demanding B2B buyers and global competition continue to impact companies. Increasing sales in manufacturing is therefore not as straightforward as it often is in other industries. We are bundling some tips to increase your sales again. Read along!

Attracting customers is essential for the growth of your B2B or Business-to-Business company. The best way of doing so is by meeting their needs. For years, B2B customers have been distinguished from B2C target audiences. However, in the most recent years, we have been noticing a shift, initiated by the changing behavior and needs of B2B customers.

Are you losing sales because it takes too long to make a quote? Long sales cycles kill deals. It slows down your manufacturing business on its way to growth and holds sales back. Are you also looking out for a shorter sales cycle to be able to move faster and grow? A CPQ can assist you with this process. But what exactly is CPQ? And how does it drive sales? That’s what we will be figuring out in this article.

Quotes are formal documents sent to your clients to offer goods or services at the indicated price. A good and winning quote includes accurate prices and product information, and has proven to be a method to grow your business even further. However, if you are selling configurable products, writing quotes is usually a long and dreadful process. The complexity of the products and prices slows down the workflow, resulting in an enormous backlog of quote requests that are not followed up quickly enough to keep the customers interested.

The idea behind the job of a sales representative is simple: help your customer find the best solution that fits their needs. However this task is a lot harder in a B2B environment in which companies are often struggling to explain complex products. This is where guided selling comes into play, a powerful strategy to regain control over your solution offering.

The alignment of marketing and sales is a key component for your company’s growth. You can no longer afford a misalignment of the two departments to meet the buyer’s needs at every interaction. However, companies often forget to use sales as a marketing channel. Let’s take a look at why it pays off to get the teams to work together.

We are slowly but surely reaching the end of 2020, so it’s time to look back and look ahead! This year was not what anyone expected, but suffice to say it was a life changing year. Every aspect of our lives seems to be different, which means that customers will have a changed behavior too. How do you anticipate these changes as a sales representative? Let’s look at some of the trends we can expect in 2021 for B2B Sales in 5 fitting strategies.