As Configure/Price/Quote (CPQ) tools get more and more popular it becomes important to learn some lessons from companies who already implemented a CPQ solution. Check the points below BEFORE you start your CPQ Transformation and save some time and money!  While the list below is not complete it is a good starting point

1.Data Integration Problems

• Detail: Your CPQ system sits right between your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System and your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System and hence will at least need to be integrated with these systems. But there may be more systems that you need to integrate it with like e.g. Contract Management, Product Data Management, CAD, Product Lifecycle Management, other legacy systems.
• Tip: Determine how much custom integration is needed and how much integration comes out of the box. These interface costs can be considerable so make sure to look at them before you start your CPQ Transformation.

2. Trying to do too much in the first release(s)

• Detail: Know your current CPQ process and tool maturity and plan accordingly. Example: If you currently work with Spreadsheets (manual process) it doesn’t make sense to try and automate the complete CPQ process in your first release. The functionality will overwhelm your users and they will be very slow in adopting your solution. Hence you should plan multiple releases to introduce the functionality you need to reach your business goals.
• Tip: While many CPQ tools provide a lot of functionality, determine what is really critical to reach your business goals. This will not be every corner case! Go with a general 80/20 assumption meaning 80% of your business goals can be achieved with 20% of the available functionality. Your users will thank you for it by adopting your CPQ solution faster

3. CPQ Tool Out of the box functionality does not cover the majority of your business cases

• Detail: It doesn’t matter if you have too much functionality or not enough because both cases don’t give you what you need. While it may sound safe to have a solution that can do more than you need (which in general is good since it means the solution is scalable) it won’t necessarily help you to reach your business goals. Let’s look at two general examples: If you have to transport a couple of boxes and ladders for work you don’t buy a Porsche but a Pickup Truck. If you never transport anything and like to drive fast and impress your friends the Porsche is the better option. It is the same idea with CPQ Tools.
• Tip: Do a thorough evaluation of the CPQ capabilities you need to reach your business objectives. You can check the Novus CPQ Tool Selection Guide for more information.

4. CPQ related Business Processes are not clear

• Detail: Setup a CPQ Transformation Team consisting of a Business Analyst and members from the following business teams: Sales, Sales Operations, Marketing, Product Management, Legal, Finance and IT and determine your high priority goals. Develop detailed business process flows (e.g. Level 1 – x) that show what you expect from the CPQ tool. Do not try to automate every process step but keep in mind what you need to optimize to get what you expect.
• Tip: Think about how your Business Processes need to change to achieve your business goals. Your goal is probably to simplify your processes and not just to transfer them from the old process & tool to the new process & tool.

5. Performance problems 

• Detail: Keep in mind how you want to scale the CPQ process and tool in the future! Will there be more products? Will there be more users? Will there be different users like Channel Sales Reps? Do you expect to get more data from other systems (meaning more integrations)? Do you expect that the complexity of your products and services will increase?
• Tip: Know your requirements regarding CPQ tool scalability. Check with your CPQ Vendor and your IT Team to understand what you should expect.

6. Change Management is not given the correct priority 

• Detail: I’ve mentioned this in a number of previous posts and hence keep this short here. It may be that your executive team does not really believe in the CPQ Transformation or thousand other reasons
• Tip: In my experience every CPQ Transformation with inappropriate Change Management has had a number of issues like slow User Adoption, confusion regarding Roles & Responsibilities etc. This means you most likely won’t achieve the change you need to transform your business. Plan for it and make it critical! Use a senior internal person to lead this effort and provide them some consulting support to ensure you use the latest Change Management Knowledge.

7. Maintenance Process for CPQ Tool is not setup

• Detail: A simple and often forgotten step is that the CPQ tool needs to be maintained since you add and remove products and services. For the first release a CPQ advisor probably helps you but your team needs to do the daily maintenance. Plan for it!
• Tip: Discuss and setup a Maintenance Process at the beginning of the CPQ Transformation