A comprehensive guide on how to build a CPQ business case

Unlocking transformative outcomes  

Have you ever had a great idea for a project but hit roadblocks providing the data and rationale needed to justify the project? Or maybe you spearheaded a project, only to have it deprioritized later for lack of budget, resources, or an array of other reasons? The key to avoiding such setbacks is crafting a compelling business case to effectively justify how a project will align with top business priorities and improve pain points.   

A business case is critical to justify the investment in a CPQ since it's a greatly transformative project. This guide will help you ensure your CPQ project is strategically aligned with business objectives, investment is justified, and ROI analysis is provided.   

Navigating success: goals, challenges, and the Conga CPQ advantage  

There are many pain points that a CPQ tool solves. That's why we've outlined some of the most common goals we see businesses meet using a CPQ tool. Choose elements to include based on your company's use case and challenges.

Goal 1: grow revenue 

Challenges:    

•  Non-templated pricing: pricing lacks standardized templates, leading to inconsistency and potential revenue loss.  
  • Impact: Without a structured pricing approach, there's a risk of undervaluing products or services, affecting overall revenue potential.  
• Small deal sizes: deals consistently don't meet their full potential, impacting the business's ability to maximize revenue.  
  • Impact: Smaller deals may not align with the total value of offerings, limiting revenue growth and profitability.  
• Uncontrolled discounting: lack of control over discounting practices can result in lower profit margins and hinder overall revenue growth.  
  • Impact: Unmonitored discounts may lead to revenue leakage, reducing the effectiveness of pricing strategies.    

Solution

• Pricing optimization: define multiple price types (one-time, recurring, cancellation, etc.) for any product. Employ dimensional or formula pricing based on quantity, customer rating, region, etc., to optimize each deal.    
• Guided selling: find valid solutions faster and build accurate quotes with guided configurations that add or suggest additional products based on the existing configuration.  
• Discount guardrails: ensure pricing continuity and margin-friendly deals with discount rules and advanced approval features triggered by custom criteria that support pricing policies.   

Value:  Conga CPQ provides guardrails, approval management, and tailored pricing to decrease rogue discounting by 32%.    

As an example, let's say that every month, a sales team cumulatively over-discounts orders by $20,000. A 32% reduction in rogue discounting would equate to $76,800 a year saved from over-discounting. That's like adding an extra deal to the bottom line.   

Goal 2: improve customer experience

Challenges:   

• Quote delays: representatives spend excessive time configuring and verifying orders, causing delays in delivering quotes to customers.  
  • Impact: Sluggish sales cycles impede finance's ability to invoice promptly, leading to delays in recognizing revenue.  
• Inaccurate data: multiple revisions are required due to inaccuracies in the quote, impacting efficiency and customer satisfaction.  
  • Impact: Product and legal concerns from inaccurate configurations affect product consistency, leading to legal issues and potential disputes.  
• Lack of eCommerce: prospects and customers want a self-service option to make purchases, but that often isn't available.  
  • Impact: prospects may go elsewhere to purchase, and customers use up sales or support time for something they could have facilitated themselves.   

Solution:   

• Automated quote processes: simplified configurations reduce wait times for verifying configurations and updating pricing, particularly for large orders.  
• Unified customer view: see what customers have purchased and what pricing agreements were made to ensure accurate data and a streamlined sales cycle.  
• Omnichannel offering: create a seamless buying experience across all channels by providing a rich and accurate system that streamlines configurations for self-service customers.   

Value: Conga CPQ customers see a 30% increase in win rate.  

A company's average deal size is $50,000, and they typically close five deals a week. Focusing on customer delight through fast turnaround times, streamlined processes, and attractive pricing could result in a substantial $3.9 million increase in closed-won deals.   

Goal 3: optimize operations   

Challenges:  

• Manual processes: manually configuring line items and calculating prices leads to delays and leaves room for error.  
  • Impact: Slower workflow, increased likelihood of errors, and potential operational bottlenecks.  
• Slow quote creation: large quotes, upwards of 250 lines, take too much time to configure and process, wasting hours of the rep's time.  
  • Impact: Sluggish sales cycles hinder revenue recognition and impact overall operational efficiency.  
• Manual approvals: time zones, out-of-offices, and competing priorities all delay quote approval when relying on a manual approval process.  
  • Impact: Time zone delays contribute to prolonged quote creation and potential operational inefficiencies.   

Solution:   

• Automatic pricing calculations: manage pricing and discounts in one place to ensure up-to-date and accurate pricing across all channels, removing the need for manual calculations.    
• Easy product configuration: real-time configuration validation ensures all components and services are valid, eliminating the back and forth to configure the correct solution for the customer.  
• Automated approvals process: quickly obtain required approvals with custom triggers based on the various criteria that the organization is trying to manage.   

Value: Conga CPQ enabled Thompson Reuters to produce quotes 90% faster.   

Let's say a business now generates a quote in 15 minutes instead of 2 hours with a CPQ tool. If 10 quotes are sent daily, 20 hours a day can be better spent across the company. Extrapolate that out over a year, equating to 2 full-time workloads each year.   

Goal 4: introduce new products   

Challenges:  

• Inflexible quoting: current quoting processes lack flexibility, making adapting to changing market dynamics and demands challenging.  
  • Impact: Hindered agility in responding to market changes, potentially leading to missed opportunities and reduced competitiveness.  
• Complexity in adding SKUs: incorporating SKUs is burdensome when you need to add multiple currencies, different pricing agreements, and more.  
  • Impact: Slower product introductions hinder the ability to respond to market demands and launch new offerings swiftly.  
• Pricing structure issues: different price books require different rules, making pushing out a new product to other channels hard.  
  • Impact: Complications in pricing structures may impede smooth product launches and operational efficiency. 

Solution:  

• Enhance quoting flexibility: implement a quoting system that offers flexibility to adapt to dynamic market conditions, ensuring the business remains agile and responsive.  
• Simplify SKU management: a product or service can be sold as an item or a subscription, reducing the need to create multiple SKUs for different product types.  
• Optimize pricing structures: product attributes can drive the pricing rules, which reduces the need to establish multiple rules.   

Value: Implementing Conga CPQ results in a substantial 22% increase in overall deal size.   

If a company's average deal size is typically $50,000 and 5 deals close weekly, a 22% increase in overall deal size means a $2.8 million deal size increase in a year.   

How Conga CPQ transforms business   

Whether boosting revenue or facilitating swift product launches, Conga CPQ can turn your goals into triumphs and transform your challenges into opportunities for growth. These include:   

An effortless omnichannel experience   
Today, 60% of B2B customers favor online product purchases over traditional channels, so embracing omnichannel strategies is paramount. Conga CPQ ensures a seamless experience by maintaining pricing and product consistency across channels, enabling customers to initiate and complete quotes or configurations effortlessly.  

Efficient and streamlined operations     
By automating the configuration, pricing, and quoting processes, CPQ minimizes the margin for error and significantly accelerates the speed at which deals are closed. Efficiency isn't just a buzzword; it can be the backbone of your operations, allowing your teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than wrestling with manual tasks.   

Precision and accuracy in every quote   
CPQ ensures that your quotes are not just fast but accurate. Bid farewell to the days of multiple revision rounds and the frustration of dealing with inaccuracies. With Conga CPQ, each quote precisely reflects your product configurations and pricing structures. This accuracy builds customer trust and contributes to a seamless internal workflow, saving time and resources.   

Complete visibility   
Gain unparalleled insights into the performance of your quoting processes. Understand what works, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions that propel your business forward.     
 

Agile responses to market dynamics   
Swiftly respond to changing market demands, adjust pricing strategies, and launch new products with unparalleled speed. CPQ empowers your business to stay ahead of the curve, ensuring your strategies are current and future-proofed against uncertainties.  

Fostering an impactful brand experience   
At the heart of CPQ's impact lies the elevation of customer satisfaction. Personalized catalogs, accurate quotes, and swift responses contribute to a customer experience that goes beyond expectations. Your customers get what they want promptly and feel valued through a tailored approach that CPQ facilitates.  

Efficiency, accuracy, visibility, agility, and customer satisfaction are not just benefits; they are the outcomes of a strategic partnership with CPQ that propels your business into a league of its own.   

Make your vision a reality with Conga CPQ