The B2B sales process is experiencing massive change. Whereas buyers used to appreciate a long-term relationship with a trusted sales rep, today, 100% of B2B buyers want to self-serve. That’s according to a recent survey by TrustRadius. In short, you can no longer expect to sustain growth with traditional high-touch sales techniques.
The modern sales process is automated and self-serve, which is a win-win for sales departments and buyers too. Buyers no longer have to interact with sales reps unless they want to. And sales reps can work on more strategic areas of their job. Overall, by bringing your sales process up-to-date with modern preferences, your business can benefit from
Is your sales team a relic of the past? Does it need an overhaul? If so, fear not. With a robust sales configuration system, you can embrace automation, boost efficiency, and future-proof your sales process. It’s time for digital transformation.
Sales configuration systems, or configure, price, quote (CPQ) systems, are software solutions that help streamline various tasks, including configuration selection, pricing, and quote generation.
The best sales configurator CPQ systems provide additional functionality too. They let users configure products in 3D using a visual product configurator, generate CAD files and BOMs, and automate shop floor processes like CNC and additive manufacturing.
CPQ systems help improve customer experience by making your sales process more buyer-focused. It simplifies the sales process, gives customers all the information they need in real-time, and makes it easier to make buying decisions.
The reality is that B2B buying journeys could be much, much better. At least when compared to comparable journeys in the B2C world. 77% of B2B buyers found their latest purchase to be complex. So simplifying your customer experience–as you can with a sales configuration system–serves as an excellent differentiator.
Read on for more detail on how sales configurator CPQ systems can overhaul your sales process.
When first introduced, CPQs were mostly a backend tool. Sales reps used CPQ solutions to shorten the time between an inquiry and conversion by speeding up pricing and quoting.
However, since today’s B2B buyers want to self-serve, you’ll need a comprehensive sales configuration system that does more than make life easier for sales reps. It has to allow buyers to navigate the sales process independently. And this is where website integration comes in handy.
The best CPQ tools integrate into your B2B ecommerce website, letting you embed a visual product configurator into your online store. Visitors to your site can design a product, receive a price, download a quote, and proceed to checkout without external help.
Of course, the B2B buying journey for big-ticket items isn’t linear. The process typically involves six to 10 decision-makers who all want to learn more about the product. A website integration ensures all decision-makers can access necessary product information anytime, anywhere. This enhanced accessibility reduces back and forth over email and speeds up the sales cycle.
Pricing errors can be expensive. Your competitor might outbid you, or you might end up shrinking your margins. You could even make a loss on the sale. Add the cost of lost reputation to the mix, and you’ve got a huge price to pay for one mistake that’s easy to avoid with a CPQ system.
Your sales process is prone to pricing errors because of your buyer’s need for speed. Modern buyers want information fast—the 2022 CX Accelerator report found that 66% of companies are now less patient when interacting with service teams or agents.
Waiting too long could mean you lose the sale to a competitor. But rushing through pricing can result in errors. And you may need to adjust prices based on other factors like discounts, inventory levels, and the fluctuating costs of raw materials.
A sales configuration system uses advanced pricing rules and logic to calculate an error-free price every time, in seconds. These systems reduce the risk of human error, so if you have a new sales rep on the team, they can still deliver error-free quotes.
The best sales configuration systems are so easy-to-use that people with very little–and in some cases zero–prior knowledge of your products can configure products independently. Guided selling functionality “guides” the user through the configuration process, providing prompts and suggestions to keep them on track.
Guided selling enables buyers can self-serve anywhere, anytime, providing greater autonomy and flexibility, helping to attract those all-important Millennial customers who hate interacting with humans if they can avoid it.
3D, AR, and VR-based visual configurators that are built into modern CPQ systems can significantly enhance the buyer’s interaction with your brand. The immersive experience helps you capture the buyer’s attention and, once you’ve got it, communicate technical product information in a fraction of the time it takes with text.
Enhanced visualization differentiates you from competitors and improves conversions. It reduces purchase anxiety for buyers who have never done business with you before. Because they can communicate their preferences and requirements more efficiently and see exactly what their finished product looks like, they don’t have to worry about mistakes or misalignment. They can spend with confidence.
The modern B2B sales process is increasingly automated and self-serve, benefiting both buyers and sales departments. Implementing a sales configuration system, or CPQ can help improve the customer experience by simplifying the sales process and enhancing decision-making with real-time information.
Integrating your sales configuration system with your website or eCommerce platform allows buyers to navigate the sales process independently while accurate and dynamic pricing reduces the risk of costly errors. Additionally, integrations with core systems and automation of shop-floor processes improve communication and collaboration, leading to more efficient operations, reduced costs, and faster sales cycles.
By 2025, 80% of B2B buyers will transact with their suppliers via digital channels. Are you ready? With a robust sales configuration system, you will be. Not only will you be able to provide the buying journey that buyers want. But, thanks to automation, you can scale your sales process effortlessly, coping with a dramatic rise in sales requests over time.