What does this all mean for manufacturers? It means it’s time to embrace lean operations and efficiency to maintain a competitive edge. Companies can then channel cost savings into offering better prices, funding research and development, and bolstering sales and marketing, improving their prospects.
Configure price quote software (CPQ) presents a powerful solution for cost reduction, optimizing processes, and minimizing expenses across your business, from sales to engineering and production.
Read on to discover how CPQ software paves the way for greater profitability in a rapidly evolving market.
12 Ways to Cut Costs with Configure Price Quote Software
1. Minimize Errors and Waste to Boost Efficiency
Configure Price Quote (CPQ) software helps companies save costs by reducing order inaccuracies and waste. Product rules ensure only valid product configurations are presented to customers, decreasing the chances of mistakes, subsequent production delays, and squandered materials.
Furthermore, visual product configuration enables customers to preview finished products before production. This transparency not only increases the likelihood of satisfaction but also reduces the risk of returns and refunds. This is crucial for configure-to-order and engineer-to-order companies that cannot simply add returned products to stock.
It’s time to streamline your sales to manufacturing processes with a solution made just for you.
Learn how manufacturers are gaining a competitive advantage by introducing CPQ to complex product ordering and manufacturing.
2. Enhance Sales Productivity and Streamline Approvals with Quoting Software
CPQ software streamlines and automates quoting and approval processes, saving time and reducing errors. Sales reps can generate quotes faster, leading to quicker sales cycles and more customers served, while increased quote accuracy minimizes the risk of costly mistakes and rework.
3. Simplify Onboarding
Configure price quote software simplifies new hires’ training and onboarding process with a user-friendly, highly intuitive interface and guided selling features. New team members can become productive more quickly, spending less time on confusing administrative tasks and more time building relationships and closing deals. Companies can also cut training costs.
4. Empower Engineering and Manufacturing with Automation
Robust CPQ solutions bring the power of automation to engineering and manufacturing processes. By automatically generating CAD files, Bills of Materials (BOMs), CNC cut sheets, and other files based on configurations, CPQ systems minimize errors and reduce the need for skilled labor.
Automation helps cut costs and allows engineering and manufacturing teams to allocate more time to innovation and improvements, directly contributing to your company’s growth and efficiency.
5. Simplify Product Management with No-Code Rules Engines
CPQ solutions featuring no-code rules engines make it easier for non-technical team members to create and manage product configuration, pricing, and sales process rules. Companies can save costs by reducing reliance on specialized IT staff while fostering engagement, cross-functional collaboration, and efficiency.
6. Integrate Seamlessly and Reduce IT Maintenance Costs
CPQ solutions can be easily integrated with other enterprise systems, such as ERP, CRM, and PLM, allowing seamless data exchange and improved collaboration between departments. Integration leads to more efficient workflows and reduced operational costs.
Cloud-based CPQ solutions like Epicor CPQ provide a lower TCO (total cost of ownership) than on-premises solutions because vendors handle implementation, updates, and maintenance. Up-front fees are minimal with a subscription pricing model.
7. Scale Without Significant Additional Investment
Cloud CPQ solutions also offer greater scalability, allowing companies to adapt to market changes and customer trends without investing in a complete system overhaul. APIs make adding and removing capacity and solutions to the tech stack easy, keeping your business agile and flexible.
As your business inevitably grows, cloud-based CPQ solutions can grow with you, supporting an increasing number of products, customers, territories, and sales channels without downtime or upheaval. This adaptability helps control costs and maintain efficiency as your organization expands.
8. Gain Better Insights and Optimize Inventory Management
Real-time analytics and reporting provided by CPQ software give companies valuable insights into sales performance, pricing trends, and other KPIs. Managers can leverage these insights to pinpoint areas for improvement, support strategic decision-making, and lead to more efficient operations.
CPQ solutions (integrated with ERP if required) also help manufacturers optimize their inventory management by providing real-time insights into product demand and inventory levels. This visibility enables companies to reduce carrying costs and minimize the risk of stockouts or overstock situations.
9. Enhance Customer Experience and Boost Conversions with a CPQ Quote
CPQ systems help manufacturers deliver a superior customer experience by providing personalized, accurate quotes and product configurations lightning-fast. Greater customer-centricity leads to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty, which drives revenue growth and reduces customer acquisition costs.
Furthermore, the speed and clarity provided by visual product configuration increase the likelihood of making a sale. Companies using 3D, AR, and VR solutions report higher conversion rates, which means fewer resources are wasted on customers and deals that do not materialize.
10. Leverage B2B eCommerce and Product Customization for Competitive Advantage
CPQ enables manufacturers to create visual product configurators and embeds them on their websites, allowing customers worldwide to configure, price, and quote products independently. This self-serve approach improves the customer experience, attracts new buyers, and lowers labor costs by eliminating manual sales and engineering work.
11. Centralize Product and Pricing Information for Improved Collaboration
By storing product and pricing information in a central repository, CPQ solutions simplify management and maintenance, resulting in data accuracy and consistency, and reduced administrative costs.
Centralized information not only enhances collaboration among diverse departments, including sales, engineering, and production but also streamlines workflows and mitigates the risk of costly errors and reputational damage arising from miscommunications.
12. Implement Dynamic Pricing Strategies for Profit Maximization
CPQ systems empower manufacturers to implement dynamic pricing strategies that take into account various factors, including market conditions, customer segments, and competitive pressures. This capability allows companies to optimize their pricing approach and achieve maximum margins, thereby minimizing revenue left on the table.
By leveraging the ability to adjust pricing strategies in real-time, manufacturers can proactively respond to market trends and competitor actions, enabling them to remain competitive and highly profitable.
In Conclusion
Manufacturers must stay lean to survive as the business landscape grows increasingly competitive and the world more complex. Configure price quote software offers a powerful solution to achieve cost savings and maintain a competitive edge.
By minimizing errors, automating time-consuming tasks, accelerating onboarding, simplifying product management, and seamlessly integrating all of your disparate people, processes, and systems, CPQ solutions can revolutionize your business and help you sustain rapid growth.
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