Simplifying the Complexity of Salesforce CPQ

Final Up to date on March 2, 2023 by Rakesh Gupta

Salesforce CPQ (Configure, Value, Quote) is a sturdy platform, designed to offer companies correct pricing with any given product configuration situation. The platform automates the method of producing quotes for orders, permitting gross sales reps to cite costs rapidly and precisely. Quotes produced with Salesforce CPQ are automated in accordance with a preprogrammed algorithm, guaranteeing error-free pricing that takes into consideration portions, reductions, customizations, elective options of merchandise, a number of income sorts, and incompatibilities.

Understanding the complexity of Salesforce CPQ

Though Salesforce CPQ has a terrific repute as a strong software that may considerably rework your small business, it comes with fairly a little bit of complexity, and it may be a bit overwhelming at first. Past simply being a distinct segment product to be taught, the largest challenges that Salesforce CPQ customers have recognized embody hurdles like growing, deploying, and testing new options.

In Salesforce CPQ you can’t use commonplace Salesforce change units or different widespread Salesforce DevOps instruments to deploy relational knowledge or metadata. Subsequently, you want third-party instruments to simplify the complexity and allow you to transfer modifications from one surroundings to a different. Metadata modifications need to be deployed earlier than you possibly can migrate relational knowledge, which might trigger delays to deployment or break deployment cycles. 

Moreover, Salesforce CPQ has relational knowledge that impacts the metadata of the configuration, which might add loads of complexity within the sequencing of testing and releasing parts into manufacturing. Deploying relational knowledge information is notoriously troublesome, time-consuming, and liable to potential errors in any database surroundings, however in the case of Salesforce CPQ it’s not solely very simple to make errors and trigger downstream of points, however it’s also very dangerous, since any mistake can straight have an effect on the revenues of the enterprise.

Luckily Panaya ForeSight is providing an answer that will help you handle and take a look at any change you make to your CPQ system. It additionally lets you rapidly debug errors and points by tracing the foundation reason for the issue with a easy but highly effective search engine that immediately locates the associated supply code.

ForeSight offers a full dependency map to the org’s metadata, together with CPQ metadata and configuration knowledge. This knowledge lets you perceive the present state of affairs of the org, and helps guarantee you make the proper modifications. As a result of Salesforce CPQ touches quite a few core gross sales objects in Salesforce, it’s crucial to exactly acknowledge upfront the affect of modifications in your complete Salesforce Gross sales and Service Clouds together with Salesforce CPQ.

How can Panaya ForeSight allow you to in your day by day CPQ duties?

Utilizing a software like Panaya Foresight will present you the connections between all of the CPQ-specific parts of an implementation to allow you to dig into your configuration and troubleshoot why the system isn’t working as deliberate. On this article we are going to give attention to two examples that can exhibit how will you use Panaya ForeSight on your day-to-day duties:

Including new merchandise to your CPQ system

In lots of circumstances the best and best means so as to add a brand new merchandise to CPQ is to create the brand new product primarily based on an analogous current one. So as to try this, you need to cowl all of the parts that the prevailing product references, to make sure that you’re not lacking any essential configuration for the brand new product. Though some parts will seem within the “Associated listing”, others could also be hidden and would require lengthy and tedious investigation to find.

Panaya ForeSight helps you simply uncover all these hidden parts, with just some clicks. By utilizing ForeSight’s highly effective search engine, you possibly can copy the product code of the prevailing product and discover all of the parts associated to this particular product in addition to the Salesforce commonplace parts and automations.

You may go deeper into the evaluation and carry out a “360° evaluation” on particular parts to see not solely the product choices and attributes that you can see on the product report, but additionally discover all of the product choices that this product references that will not be seen on the product report.

For instance,  you possibly can simply be taught from the “360° evaluation” in Panaya ForeSight if this product is a part of a bundle and if a sure components or error circumstances are a part of this product configuration or how the product is used as a part of an automatic course of like Stream. To be taught extra about how you need to use Panaya ForeSight so as to add new CPQ merchandise watch this video.

Troubleshooting CPQ points

As a CPQ specialist you discover yourselves coping with points and errors that it is advisable resolve instantly, as they will delay and even injury the gross sales course of. For instance, errors in value quotes or irregularities in reductions. There might be loads of causes for these errors, like a one-time promotion that was not modified or an error within the configuration of a reduction. Nevertheless, discovering the supply of the issue could really feel like discovering a needle in a haystack.

Panaya ForeSight may also help you simply hint the foundation reason for any bug or situation. Clearly, you must begin by defining the issue, for instance – each quote issued for accounts associated to a particular business has an error within the quote quantity. Now that you just perceive the issue you need to use ForeSight to find what causes this situation. On this instance, you’ll be in search of the related account’s business worth to know what defines the habits on the quote quantity. Utilizing ForeSight, you’ll immediately be taught if this “account business” is a part of a Stream, a value situation, or a product rule. From there you possibly can rapidly proceed your investigation, discover the impacting element and troubleshoot the supply code that created the problem.

Now that you understand the supply of the issue you possibly can simply repair the issue and determine how one can proceed. Now all it is advisable do is replace the stakeholders that the problem is resolved and also you’ll be the hero of the day.

  Watch this video to be taught extra about CPQ troubleshooting with Panaya ForeSight.

Eric Dreshfield: Salesforce MVP Corridor of Fame; Founder, Midwest Dreamin’; Chief, Evansville Directors Group Group.

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