Manage CPQ Permissions

Manage CPQ Permissions

CPQ Permissions

As is the case with several CRM functions, in order to manage CPQ settings, a user needs to have the required CPQ permissions enabled in their profile. 

The CPQ permissions are as follows:
  1. Product configurator
  2. Price rules
  3. Quick view Dashboard component
  4. Grouped View

Product configurator and Price Rules

This set of permissions determines if the user can Create, View, Edit or Delete the various product combinations and price rules that are configured in CPQ. 

Quick view dashboard component

This set of permissions determines if the user can create or edit the Quotes analytics component.
  1. To view this widget, you would have to enable View permission.
  2. To edit the criteria in the component, you would need the Edit permission.

Grouped View

An Administrator can decide if a particular profile needs the Grouped View in CPQ for their CRM usage. That is, as an administrator, you can decide if you want your inventory team gets to use the CPQ grouped view or not. 



What is Grouped View? 
When this setting is enabled, all the inventory modules, i.e Quotes, Sales Orders Purchase Orders, Invoice, Price Books and Products are grouped into a single parent module called CPQ. 

If this option is disabled, these modules are available individually as regular ungrouped modules. 

Points to remember: 
1. If the Grouped View setting is enabled in the CPQ settings, under Modules and Fields > Organize Modules, all the 6 clubbed modules (Quotes, Sales Orders Purchase Orders, Invoice, Price Books and Products ) would be displayed as grouped under the parent CPQ module. 



2. If you are creating a Tab Group with inventory modules while Grouped View is enabled for CPQ, you will need to add each module, that is Products, Quotes etc into the tab group one by one. This is because, there may be situations where you may want to group certain tabs, such as Quotes, Purchase Order, Sales Order and Invoice but leave out Price Books and Products in your tab group. If CPQ as an entire pre-clubbed group is added, you may not be able to exclude undesired modules even if you want to.  Therefore, to indicate that these modules are grouped, there is a stamp "(CPQ)" against each participating module so that you are aware that you are creating a Tab Group while Grouped View is enabled for your account.  


Note:
  1. If a user does not have the permissions for Analytics and has permission for Quick View Dashboard, then the Quick View Dashboard component will not be displayed to them.
  2. Only a CRM Administrator can enable/disable Grouped View for other profiles.
  3. An Administrator will have all Product Configurator, Price Rules and Quick View permissions on their profiles by default. They can decide if they want the Grouped View for themselves or not at any time. 
  4. If you do not want CPQ rules to be applied to your quotes, you may entirely skip creating them or deactivate your existing rules.

CPQ for Zoho CRM — How it works


Note: CPQ is in public Early Access mode and will be continually improved until final launch. 
Last Updated: 12th March 2023

CPQ explained with a scenario

CPQ is an effective tool to achieve line item automation in Zoho CRM. Consider the case of Zylker Apparel, which uses the CRM to maintain a database of their customers. They are often faced with situations such as annual clearance sale, special offers and so on. They wish to implement a better quote management system, and so they implement CPQ in Zoho CRM.  Following is a summary of their requirements. 
  1. Every time they add a certain product, a few other products need to be added to the quote automatically. These could be typically free products or accessories. 
  2. Depending on various factors such as the time of the year, the size of the deal, region and more, their prices vary. For instance, they have an annual clearance sale, where a few products are offered for free or at an impressive discount. This "conditional pricing" needs to be incorporated in the CRM system. 
Watch the following video to learn how CPQ achieves the requirements mentioned above.  When a sales rep adds a specific sweatshirt to a quote,
  1. Two other product line items (a couple of matching scarves) get added automatically. 
  2. A discount of 20% gets applied on the list price of the sweatshirt. 
  3. Two pairs of Jeans are suggested as a prompt for the sales rep, to add to the quote.



How it works

The CPQ system for Zoho CRM consists of the following building blocks.
  1. Product Configurator
  2. Price Rules
Note: Both Product Configurator and Price Rules can be set up for default as well as custom fields in Zoho CRM. 

Product Configurator

The Product Configurator is the section where you define the actions that need to be automated upon the selection of specific products. These automated actions could be any of the following:
  1. Add Product
  2. Suggest Product
  3. Quoted Item Field Update

1) Add/Suggest Product

Often when customers order a product, it's a common practice to add a related line item, be it free products or related accessories, depending on a specific context. 
Consider that Zylker Apparel has a year-end clearance sale in which, if a customer orders a specific sweatshirt, a matching scarf gets added to the line item for free. To make this a consistent practice across the organization so that the sales teams do not miss out on this action, this practice can be fed into the CPQ system under "Product Configurator".

As per this rule, whenever the product "Zylker Men Grey & Black Pure Cotton Colourblocked Hooded Sweatshirt"  is added to a price quote and the moment the quote is saved in CRM, this rule will be triggered. As a result, the CPQ engine will automatically "add" the scarf to the quote as per the product configuration. 
Line item 1 being added to the quote and saved
Mandatory products added on the quote via CPQ rules

2) Suggest Product 

When customers order a specific sweatshirt, they wish to cross sell their best pair of Jeans as well. To make this a consistent practice across the organization so that the sales teams do not miss out on this action, this practice can be fed into the CPQ system under "Product Configurator".

As per this rule, whenever the product "Zylker Men Grey & Black Pure Cotton Colourblocked Hooded Sweatshirt" is added to a price quote and the moment the quote is saved in CRM, this rule will be triggered. As a result, the CPQ engine will automatically "suggest" the pair of Jeans as per the product configuration. A sales rep can directly "Add Suggested Product" to the quote if they choose to.


3) Quoted Item Field Update

Quoted Item Field Update is an action that comes in handy when you want to auto-update the field value of the quoted item (s). Example, you may want to quickly add a note called "CPQ rules applied" against the quoted item, just for your reference to understand that automation was at play for this quote. This content would be updated in the Description column of the quoted line item. 


Price Rules

Price rules in CPQ allow you to implement variable pricing strategies in your organization. For instance, the price of Product A by default is Amount X. However, customers who come in via "employee referrals" are are eligible for a 10% discount on X. You can specify this in a price rule and CPQ will automatically implement this on your quote.


This variable or in other words, conditional pricing can be implemented either in the form of discount or list price, both of which could in turn be direct or volume based.

So, you have 4 options to choose from, when it comes to implementing price rules:
  1. Direct (static )
    1. Direct discount
    2. Direct list price
  2. Volume-based (dynamic)
    1. Volume-based discount
    2. Volume-based list price
Let's demonstrate these options with a simple example.If the price of Product A is $100, the following is an overview of how the pricing is implemented for each option.

DIRECT METHOD
You essentially mention the DIRECT discount value or the list price, whichever is suitable for your process. This is mentioned against a corresponding product and is static.
  1. Direct discount — if you enter 10% discount on $100, the final amount will be $90.
  2. Direct list price — You can also feed the same thing to the system in a different way. You can say that the list price is 90% of $100, which will yield the same result — $90.

VOLUME-BASED METHOD
Volume based method involves a tier-based model. That is, the discount or list price that you enter will vary based on a specified range.
  1. Volume-based discount
    1. If the quantity ordered ranges from 1-10 — give 10% discount
    2. If the quantity ordered ranges from 11-20 — give 20% discount
    3. If the quantity ordered ranges from 21-30 — give 30% discount and so on.
  2. Volume-based list price
    1. If the quantity ordered ranges from 1-10 — the list price is 90% of $100
    2. If the quantity ordered ranges from 11-20 — the list price is 80% of $100
    3. If the quantity ordered ranges from 21-30 — the list price is 70% of $100

For a product worth $100, the final price in both cases will be the following. It's just a preference — whether you want to enter the discount or the list price.

1-10$90
11-20$80
21-30$70

Volume-based discounts and list price could also be calculated as per two models — flat or slab-based, per your selection.

Here is an additional detail on the pricing options. When you enter the discount or the list price, you will be prompted to choose between "Percentage" value or an "Absolute" value. Here's an example of discounts and list prices entered in percentage and absolute values.

Percentage discount Vs Absolute discount

Percentage discount
You enter the percentage of deduction to be made on the original unit price. For instance say you enter a 10% discount on the unit price.

If the unit price is $100, the final price after discount will be (100 — 10% of $100),
which is $90
If the unit price is $500, the final price after discount will be (500 — 10% of $500),
which is $450.

Absolute discount
You enter the absolute amount to be deducted from the original price. For instance you enter a figure $10 here.

If the unit price is $100, the discounted price will be $100 — $10 = $90
If the unit price is $500, the discounted price will be $500 — $10 = $490

So, you have to be careful which option you choose, whether percentage or absolute, as the difference in results could be drastic.

Percentage list price Vs Absolute list price

Percentage list price
You directly enter the percentage of the original unit price that should be displayed for a selected product. For instance say you enter that the conditional list price should be 90% of the unit price.

If the unit price is $100, the conditional list price will be 90% of $100, which is $90.
If the unit price is $500, the conditional list price will be 90% of 500, which is $450.

Absolute list price:
If you enter an absolute list price, this is the final price that will show up on the quote and will be displayed as is, no calculations made. For instance, if you enter an absolute list price as $80, the price that shows up will be $80, no matter what the unit price is.

These are the various options available under the Price Rules. To sum up, you can offer discounts or state the list price to implement your variable pricing strategies. This discount or list price could be direct or volume based and can be entered as a percentage or absolute value based on your preferences. 
This slide show showcases the application of CPQ on the Quotes module in different scenarios and domains such as retail, manufacturing, insurance, education and so on. View this deck to learn more. 

CPQ for Zoho CRM — Scope, Purpose and Benefits


Note: CPQ is in public Early Access mode and will be continually improved until final launch. 
Last Updated: 12th March 2023


CPQ stands for Configure, Price, Quote. In simple words, CPQ is a software application designed to enable sales teams to create bespoke, accurate quotes for their customers, efficiently and quickly. CPQ is especially valuable when you have multiple product lines or service categories which involve dynamic pricing.

With a good CPQ system, you will be able to:
  1. CONFIGURE multiple product combinations and bundles, based on how you wish to sell them. This way, every possible configuration is already saved in the system, and so, when it's time for you to send a quote to a customer, you do not have to take the time and effort to manually put the combinations together. You can choose the products or bundles pre-configured, straight away, upfront — no hassles.
  2. Fix the PRICE for each product or product bundle, along with discounts and taxes as applicable. You can create price rules in the system, which facilitate dynamic pricing. That is, you can dictate the price of an item when sold as a single unit, or when sold in combination with other product bundles. You can also configure which products should be added as freebies depending on the product combinations selected, as applicable to your company. The CPQ system also provides different pricing models to choose from including flat or slab based pricing, direct discount and volume based discounts, among other options. This way, as you list products in your quote, the corresponding price values change dynamically based on your price configurations.
  3. Create an extensively customized, accurate QUOTE using the product and price configurations in the system. Quote creation is therefore made efficient, quick and free of mistakes.
There you go. That is precisely what Configure, Price, Quote refers to. It's literally a term coined after the primary actions that can be done using the CPQ application. In the grand scheme of things, the CPQ solution makes your sales process seamless, smooth and quick, ensuring that you don't lose a customer as they wait for an accurate quotation from you.

To learn more about what CPQ in Zoho CRM, watch this recorded webinar:

Why is CPQ required? What problems does a CPQ system solve?

One of the key factors that determines whether a company stays in business or not, is its adaptability. The needs and wants of customers are influenced by various dynamic factors — such as the cards played by competitors, improvements in technology, people's enhanced lifestyle and so on. At such a juncture, a company should also adapt to changing times and improve its processes based on what will help them meet these changing needs.

The CPQ application is an effective solution that will help you with exactly this — adaptability. It will not only help you stay in the race but ensure that you are able to thrive and move ahead of competition. The next question automatically is, how does it help you do that?

CPQ solves specific problems associated with creating quotes for customers. Often, when sales people nurture a prospect and are at the crucial stage of closing the deal with them, they end up losing the sale at the last minute. Why does that happen?

Consider the example of customers lining up in a queue at the billing counter of a departmental store. If the person behind the counter is taking too long to complete the billing process for each person, you'd probably notice people waiting at the far end breathing heavily in frustration, impatiently looking at their watches before eventually leaving the place to find better alternatives.

In this simple example, while the departmental store got it right with attracting prospects, they lost them just before a sale could be made—the reason being undue delays. Perhaps they could have made the billing software faster, or doubled the number of counters. Depending on what caused the delay, of course, the solution varies.

Similarly in your business, if you make your customers wait for their quotes, they are likely to get impatient and decline the deal. If that holds good in your case, it's imperative that you look at your quote management process and figure out what causes the delay. Some common reasons include the following:

  1. Manual efforts: If your sales teams are currently preparing quotes manually— that is, for every customer, they look up a template, fill the line items and fill the prices themselves, manually, then this is quite an obvious reason for delays. It's time to switch to a CPQ system.

  2. Legacy systems: You may be using a Legacy CPQ system, which cannot meet your current changing needs. You are likely run into delays because of an application that is most likely outdated— in that case it's time to switch to a cloud-based efficient CPQ application. This new application would be intuitive, user-friendly and designed to solve current as well as future challenges, so you are sorted.

  3. Erroneous details and misinformation: When a company has just started out, everyone knows everyone else and people multi-task. At such a juncture, some practices may have worked, because the size of the company, the volume of sales and the products offered — all of these could be small. However, as a company evolves, so should their processes. While the company has expanded, but the processes have not improved, it leads to inefficiency and gives room for errors. For instance, information about addition of products, increase in prices, and discount details should be transparent across the organization. If, like during "old times", an email regarding revision of prices for a product is sent to only the "key people", then there is no efficient process in place. Sales people are bound to make mistakes because the details may or may not have reached them on time. It's very important to put an efficient process in place and document it. Otherwise it could lead to inaccuracy in quotes– because of which it goes back and forth and needs to be reviewed multiple times, which in turn causes undue delays.

  4. Red-tape: Stringent rules introduced to improve the quote management process are ironically at risk of becoming road blocks instead. For instance, there could be a rule that orders have to be approved by the manufacturing department to ensure stock availability. Or that multiple sales managers must sign off on the quote. While these rules are created with the intention of ensuring accuracy of quotes, the fact that it involves too many pairs of eyes invariably delays the whole process, and in the end, companies run the risk of losing the customers they tried hard to secure.

  5. Making promises that cannot be kept: If the sales teams are not kept in the loop of key factors such as changing trends across the organization, addition or removal of products, acceptable discounts and the like, they are likely to make elaborate claims to customers in order to win a deal. When a sales person sends the customer a quote that promises claims way beyond what a company can offer, it costs them dearly. So it's important that sales teams are kept abreast of the latest prices, product lines, acceptable discounts and order availability so that they quote only what is realistically possible.
When you invest in an efficient, intelligent cloud-based CPQ system, it helps you overcome all of the problems stated above. 
  1. A CPQ system allows you to configure product bundles, so that all the possible combinations are pre-set.
  2. Price rules in a CPQ system helps you accommodate dynamic pricing, which is the order of the day in product sale.
  3. There are several templates to choose from, so you can make a highly customized quote.
Therefore with the help of a CPQ system, it's guaranteed that you will be able to create tailor-made quotes, that are also error-free, in a quick and efficient manner.

Who is the CPQ solution ideal for?

A CPQ system is ideal if:
  1. You deal with the sale of a wide range of products.
  2. You offer products in combination with services. Example, mobile phone sales and repair.
  3. You would like to accelerate the generation of quotes in your business, regardless of products or services.
  4. You are using a CRM system, however, the options for bespoke quote creation are limited.

How does a CPQ system fit with a CRM?

If you look at the big picture, both CRM and CPQ are systems designed to address different challenges in a single sales process. While a CRM is effective in helping you with generating leads, following up with them, nurturing them and monitoring the sales pipeline among many other possibilities, a CRM may not have extensive quote management functionalities. The primary objective of a CRM is customer engagement and retention. So the features in a CRM are designed to achieve that end.

However, the next crucial step in the sales process, after converting a prospect into a customer, is sending the actual price quote to them. This needs to be accepted by a customer, then converted to a sales order and finally an invoice. In this relay race of sorts, the CRM now passes the baton to a CPQ system. 

















If while creating this quote, the CRM is not able to help you with factors such as dynamic pricing for a range of product categories and combinations, that is when you can consider a tight integration between the CPQ and CRM systems. One cannot blame a CRM for not being a CPQ application — because the primary challenges that a CRM intends to solve are different.

That said, both customer engagement as well as quote management are both part of the sales process and need to be handled by the sales teams. Therefore, for an overall smooth sales process, it's best recommended that you use a CPQ system within your CRM application. This way, you never have to leave a window or switch applications. Right from acquiring a lead, to nurturing them and qualifying them, to interacting with them to make a sale and creating an accurate, error-free quote for them, your sales process is truly seamless. That will be the day you thank technology.

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