In the fast-paced Australian business landscape, speed is often the deciding factor in winning a deal. Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) systems eliminate the manual bottleneck of spreadsheets and Word templates, ensuring your sales team delivers accurate, professional quotes in minutes rather than days.
Implementing CPQ isn't just about software; it’s about refining your entire revenue operation to ensure consistency, protect your margins, and improve the customer experience. This guide will walk you through the transition from manual quoting to automated excellence.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, ensure you have the following ready:- A Clean Product Catalogue: A list of all products, SKUs, and current pricing.
- Defined Pricing Logic: Clarity on volume discounts, seasonal promotions, and regional pricing (e.g., GST considerations).
- Sales Process Map: A clear understanding of who approves discounts and when.
- CRM Access: Administrative access to your CRM (like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive).
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Step 1: Audit Your Current Quoting Workflow
Before touching any software, you need to understand where the friction lies. Shadow your top sales rep and watch them build a quote. What to look for: Are they searching through old emails for pricing? Are they manually calculating GST? Note every manual step and every 'check' they have to perform. This audit creates the blueprint for your CPQ automation.Step 2: Standardise Your Product Data
CPQ systems rely on clean data structures. If your product names vary across different departments, now is the time to standardise them. Screenshot Description: You should see a spreadsheet with columns for Product Name, SKU, Base Price, Category, and 'Bundling Rules' (which products must be sold together).Step 3: Define Your Pricing Rules and Logic
This is the 'Price' part of CPQ. You need to translate your business intuition into logic.- List Pricing: The standard price.
- Cost-Plus Pricing: Ensuring a specific margin is maintained.
- Volume Discounts: E.g., 5% off for 10+ units, 10% off for 50+ units.
- Australian Context: Ensure your system handles GST correctly—decide if you are quoting 'GST inclusive' or 'plus GST' as the default for your templates.
Step 4: Map Your Approval Matrix
One of the biggest time-wasters in sales is waiting for manager approval. Define your thresholds clearly:- Level 1: Sales rep can discount up to 10%.
- Level 2: Sales Manager must approve 11-20%.
- Level 3: CFO/Director must approve anything over 20%.
Step 5: Select and Integrate Your CPQ Software
Choose a CPQ tool that integrates natively with your CRM. Popular options for Australian SMEs include HubSpot Quotes, PandaDoc, or Salesforce CPQ for larger enterprises. Pro Tip: Look for a tool that supports Australian Dollar (AUD) natively and allows for easy adjustment of tax rates if you deal with international clients.Step 6: Build Your Quote Templates
Your quote is a reflection of your brand. Design a template that is clean, professional, and mobile-responsive. Screenshot Description: In the template editor, you should see 'Merge Tags' (like[Client_Name] or [Total_Price]) which automatically pull data from your CRM into the document.
Step 7: Configure Product Bundles (The 'Configure' Part)
Prevent sales reps from selling incompatible products. For example, if a customer buys a specific piece of machinery, the CPQ should automatically suggest or require the correct installation kit and maintenance plan. This ensures the 'Quote' is technically viable.Step 8: Set Up Automated Workflows
Configure the system so that once a quote is generated, it triggers the next step. If a discount exceeds the threshold, the system should automatically email the manager with an 'Approve' or 'Reject' button. No more chasing people down the hallway.Step 9: Pilot with a 'Champion' Group
Don't roll this out to 50 people at once. Pick two of your most tech-savvy sales reps to test the system for two weeks. Gather their feedback on the user interface and any logic errors in the pricing.Step 10: Training and Launch
Conduct a hands-on workshop. Show your team how the CPQ saves them time—focus on the fact that they can spend more time selling and less time doing admin. Provide a 'Cheat Sheet' for common scenarios.Step 11: Monitor and Optimise
After 30 days, review the data. Are quotes being sent faster? Is the 'Quote-to-Close' ratio improving? Use these insights to tweak your pricing rules or simplify the template further.---
Pro Tips for Success
- Keep it Simple Early: Don't try to automate every single edge case in month one. Start with your top 80% of products.
- Mobile First: Ensure your quotes look great on a smartphone. Many Australian business owners will review and sign your quote while on-site or commuting.
- Legals Matter: Include your Standard Terms and Conditions as a non-editable section of the CPQ template.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Garbage In, Garbage Out: If your CRM data is messy, your quotes will be too. Clean your contact and company records before launching.
- Over-Complicating Approvals: Too many layers of approval will kill the speed benefit of CPQ. Empower your reps where possible.
- Ignoring the 'User Experience': If the CPQ tool is harder to use than an Excel sheet, your sales team will find workarounds and stop using it.
Troubleshooting
- Prices aren't updating: Check if you have 'Price Book' syncing enabled. Sometimes a manual refresh is required between the CRM and the CPQ module.
- Taxes are calculating incorrectly: Ensure your 'Tax Rules' are set to the correct Australian region and that the 'Inclusive/Exclusive' toggle is set correctly at the product level.
- Approvals are stuck: Check your 'User Hierarchy' in the CRM. If a rep doesn't have a designated manager in the system, the approval request has nowhere to go.
Next Steps
Now that your quoting is automated, it’s time to look at the rest of your sales funnel. Consider implementing automated lead scoring or an e-signature integration to further reduce friction.Need help technicality setting up your CRM or CPQ logic? The team at Local Marketing Group can help you streamline your revenue operations. Contact us today for a strategy session.