Why Being Native to Salesforce.com Is the Lifeblood of Configure / Price / Quote (CPQ) Tools

Back in December, we shared The 11 Questions You Must Ask When Buying a CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) Solution. One question addressed the importance of CPQ tools that don’t just integrate with your CRM, but are native to it. Why? Well, for starters, CPQ tools assure compatibility with your CRM right out of the gate, and practically guarantee fast implementation and a very shallow learning curve. Because businesses need software applications that cooperate fully with broad internal processes, it’s become a trend for native solutions to replace software products that are engineered as standalone applications. So, when it comes to CPQ tools, seamless integration with a CRM platform is good, but no integration is much better and far more efficient.

Native: The No Integration Solution
Native applications — those developed and built directly on (not integrated with) particular platforms — are indistinguishable from the platforms themselves. Designed for optimal usability, flexibility and value, native applications are the organic platform extensions that drive proficiency and accuracy through painless customization and administration. Plus, with a look and feel that’s familiar to a specific CRM platform, a native app is extremely user-friendly and, as a result, can cut administration costs and increase profitability. (Source: Aberdeen)

It’s All About Delivery
A native quoting solution that’s built on the Salesforce CRM platform, delivers complete, accurate, and customized sales quotes without a learning curve and free of the headaches manual configuration can cause. Conducive to rapid user adoption, it allows sales teams to provide detailed quotes fast and from a platform they already know and understand. Tasks such as setting volume discounts, bundling products, offering subscriptions and renewals, and even getting approval are all simplified, completed through a series of clicks that take minutes, not hours.

And, as all sales manager know, time is everything.

According to more research from the Aberdeen Group, companies using CPQ solutions see a year-over-year improvement in numerous metrics:

• A 91% customer retention rate versus the industry average of 78%
• A 6% annual increase in the net client value of customers, compared to 2% and 9% decrease for other maturity classes
• An 8.4% reduction in sales cycle length, compared to increases of 1.3% that represent the industry average

Customer Example: Averna
Global test engineering solutions company Averna used QuoteQuickly to streamline its quoting process and increase efficiency. With a sales rep based in Asia and a team of specialists manually configuring quotes in North America, calculating a simple quote used to take up to an hour to draft, while more complex quotes took several days. With QuoteQuickly, Averna accelerated their quoting process to:

• Improve international business through automation
• Complete quotes in the field
• Configure quotes in less time, despite time zone differences

The Top Five Native App User Benefits
In a nutshell, compared to applications that offer Salesforce CRM integration only, the QuoteQuickly native solution offers a smarter experience and a very different set of user benefits:

1. No Learning Curve — The familiar Salesforce platform is leveraged for customization and administration.
2. Rapid and Seamless User Adoption — Usage is so seamless, in fact, reps can’t tell where the Salesforce platform ends and QuoteQuickly starts.
3. Faster, More Accurate Quoting — While your competitors are busy manually checking prices and bundling products, cutting and pasting names, and getting approvals, you’ve already configured your quotes through a series of clicks.
4. Spike in Profitability — Companies using native apps not only slash their admin costs, but also often see a spike in profitability (Aberdeen estimates 15%).
5. More Time to Sell — When less time is spent configuring quotes, more time is left to close deals.

To most efficiently and accurately manage multiple quotes and close business quickly, think native with QuoteQuickly.