Digital sales process

with Sales CPQ

Today's modern sales teams face a number of challenges: The end customer has complex demands on the product landscape, sales have to configure a suitable solution from the diverse product range – and all of this has to be done as quickly as possible of course. Configuring a quote takes time and often involves long reconciliation loops, additionally there is often a lack of transparency both within the team and between specialist departments.

Sales CPQ resolves these issues and more. The main Merlin CPQ module supports you in every phase of your individual customer journey, whether this be first contact at the begining of a project, the configuration of the optimum customer solution, or part of the cross-selling process. Convert your first contacts into qualified leads and, ultimately, delighted customers or even fans.

Sales CPQ highlights

Reaching your customers where they are

From prospect to fan

Thanks to Customer Centricity first contacts become delighted customers.

Digital customer journey

Relevant touchpoints along the customer journey are mapped digitally.

Smart assistants

With intelligent guided sales you can make the most of your sales processes.

Features at a glance

Upgrade your sales

Smart-guided selling
processes
Use intelligent recommendations to support you during quote configuration. By leveraging guided selling, sales can increase their efficiency which means more time for managing leads. chevron_right
Integrated feasibility
check
The automatic comparison of the set of rules with the quote configuration eliminates the chance of any invalid combinations. Your quotes will always be error free. chevron_right
Up-selling and cross-selling
functions
During the configuration process, you can program the system to show you any suitable product extensions and optional extras such as special accessories and so on. Guide your customers successfully through up- and cross-selling chevron_right
Clear processes –
all leads in one inbox
The inbox offers sales teams clarity and simplicity by pooling all leads and current requests, as well as details on the responsible sales expert, in one place accessible to all. The inbox ensures more transparency and clearer communication.
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Realtime quote
configuration
Together with your customers, you create optimal quotes based on customer criteria you define, for instance, sustainability, price and delivery time. Provide your sales team with an efficiency boost. chevron_right
Transparent order
calculation
With a transparent view of prices and calculations, you can display the purchase, sales price and margin of your products at a glance. chevron_right
Configure according to
customer wishes
In just a few clicks, your sales team can configure the optimal customer solution with the help of guided selling, which takes all possible variants into account. chevron_right
Automatic document
creation
Technical data sheets such as Excel files with feature combinations and product properties, as well as manuals and other document types are created automatically. chevron_right
Consistent quote
process
Tap into each stage of the customer journey and pick up customers based on their needs. Break up data silos using intelligent guided selling and optimize your quotes. chevron_right

Use Case

After Sales

To increase customer lifetime value, it is essential to present sales teams not just with a clear overview of the product range, but also to highlight the sales opportunities within the scope of after-sales service. For every machine sold, the sales team can also sell additional services such as spares, optional extras or maintenance agreements. 

This opens up further sales potential in the areas of up-selling and cross-selling to existing customers. With Merlin CPQ, sales teams can see at a glance which products are already in use and if they are being used with any customizations, sales staff can then use this information to suggest tailor-made variants or solutions accordingly. 

 

Use Case

Service and contract configuration

The service configuration use case, enables teams to create agreements of differing complexity such as maintenance and support agreements for potential customers. Using Sales CPQ, documents are always kept current while complying with specified framework conditions such as corporate design. After the successful completion of an order, you can create maintenance agreements for your customers which have been specially adapted to their needs. The use case can also be transferred to IT services or other services: for example, when companies offer machines as a service or sell a contract with a specific printing capacity instead of a printer as a device.

All for One Group is a textbook example of the efficicent and transparent contract design which can be realized using Merlin CPQ and the contract configurator.

Insights into Sales CPQ

FAQs and more

What is the difference between Merlin CPQ as in a CPQ + AIA® solution, and product configuration software?

Software for product configuration is focused purely on quote configuration. Whereas Merlin CPQ takes additional factors into consideration and not just quote configuration. Merlin CPQ does not just optimze the quote process, but takes the whole sales process into consideration. Besides the configuration (Configure), the sales team can perform complex proposal calculations (Price) and afterwards generate documents (Quote) such as quotes, Excel tables, manuals or parts lists automatically. Consequently, Merlin CPQ is not purely a sales configurator or product configurator, but a software solution which enriches the sales process with suitable product knowledge, makes recommendations and supports your sales team in finding the optimal products – all while keeping the customer as a central sales element at the heart of the process.

Why can't I just use Excel for creating quotes and proposals?

Today, a lot of companies are still using Excel for their quotes an proposals. In fact, many of them try to achieve perfect product configuration and quote calculations with the help of complex tables. The result is often incorrect quotes, dissatisfied customers and poor product configurations which frequently prove to be technically unfeasible. Many sales teams use different Excel tables, which each member of staff has added their own knowledge to. This results in expert knowledge being stored locally (silos) which means other colleagues have no chance of accessing this information. Merlin CPQ breaks down these data silos: As a CPQ + AIA® solution, our software manages product knowledge, optimizes the sales and quotation process with many clever features, and supports your team with guided selling. 

Can I integrate my reseller network into my sales processes via Sales CPQ?

Using the Reseller module you can integrate your reseller network into your sales processes with ease. This ensures that you and your resellers have access to the same pool of knowledge about your product and solution landscape at all times – based on the single source of truth approach. Build your reseller network from the ground up with clear agreements and understandable processes. This is how an additional point of sale is created, which you can use to strengthen your sales.

How can I implement CPQ successfully and transparently into my company?

The comprehensive services we offer mean we can accompany you through the whole process of implementing your software solution, from the initial implementation to going live. In the first step we analyze your requirements together. We support you in modularizing your solution landscape and prepare an individual demo for your specific use case. You are also welcome to use the workshop format to gather knowledge in personal exchange with us. We recommend the implementation of a concept project or an IT workshop. Let us combine your product expertise with our CPQ expertise. 

To aid the smooth introduction of Merlin CPQ, we offer detailed product training, support for the digitalization of processes and our user help portal. For more details on the services we offer see: https://www.cas-merlin.de/en/services/

What interfaces does Merlin CPQ have?

Merlin CPQ is intuitive to use and individually adaptable to your needs – also in connection with various interfaces. Merlin CPQ offers interfaces to: ERP, PLM and CRM systems. And what's more, we can provide custom integrations to your own IT landscape. 

Details on how to integrate CPQ into your IT landscape can be found on the following page: https://www.cas-merlin.de/en/interfaces/.

Does Merlin CPQ conform to data protection?

Our software solutions all conform to EU GDPR. They bear the following seals of approval: "Digital sovereign", which guarantees the self-determined management of your data, and "fair.digital", which identifies us as a provider that meets key data protection criteria and thus acts in accordance with the principles of data protection, transparency, and fairness. In concrete terms whis means that all data is hosted in Germany. As a software provider with the seals "Software made and hosted in Germany" we guarantee: 

• All-round protection from data misuse and unauthorized access, 

• encrypted data transfer, 

• all personal and product-related data remains in Germany, 

• high data transparency – you know everything about your data at any time,

• all hosting and servers located in Germany.

More from the world of Merlin CPQ

Consistent Customer Journey

Customer CPQ Interlink your sales processes seamlessly with the Customer CPQ online configurator. Promote the generation of leads and emphasize an emotional product presentation with guided selling. chevron_right Discover more
Reseller CPQ Using Reseller CPQ you can link your sales processes with your reseller. You benefit from a common system with consistent processes, which are based on a common knowledge database. chevron_right Discover more
AIA® With AIA® you optimize your sales journey. Besides guided selling, you can benefit from intelligent recommendations during the configuration and quote process – all the while keeping your customer in focus. chevron_right Discover more

Are you interested or do you have any questions?

We would be glad to help!

We are the CAS Merlin sales team and look forward to providing you with advice and support.

Contact us now!