“What is CPQ CRM integration?” is, actually, the wrong question to ask. What is strategic CPQ CRM integration is the right one.
Because you can add a button to your CRM system (Dynamics, Salesforce, Zoho, HubSpot, whatever) and CALL it integration, but that’s only scratching the surface.
In a strategic CPQ/CRM integration, the systems have a bi-directional data feed, a shared (or similar) UI/UX, and a single sign-on integration, for starters.
The strength of each system is complemented by the other with one goal: closing more sales. Example 1: CPQ leverages the robust customer information stored in CRM, allowing reps to more precisely target in the proposals they send. Example 2: CRM system benefits from the more detailed reporting on the closing process, the most critical element of the “R” in CRM.
Here is what to look for in a truly strategic CPQ CRM integration.
Contact alignment
Your CRM should be your single source of truth for customer contact and account information. That said… it’s not always on the front lines.
The proposals you build and send in your CPQ solution absolutely must have the latest and greatest contacts at any given company, and these contacts are confirmed during the proposal process as your rep nurtures the sale.
That information may not always match what’s in your CRM because — sad truth, common curse, frustration shared by ALL CRM admins — the contact info in CRM is not always up-to-date. In far too many companies, “not always” is more like “rarely.”
Take advantage of every signed quote in CPQ to cross-check and update contact information in CRM. And if you automate the process? Perfection.
Complementary analytics
An undeniable strength of CRM systems is the funnel and how it fuels sales forecasting. For any stretch of time (a month, a quarter, a year), a sales manager can look at what’s where in the funnel — leads driven, opportunities created, quotes sent — and have the data needed for an accurate forecast of sales revenue and rep performance.
But most CRM systems have what can best be called an Achilles’ heel. And it’s in the most critical part of the sales process: closing.
The closing process typically begins when a quote is sent, but what do most CRM systems reveal about what happens between sent and won/lost? Next to nothing. CPQ systems, on the other hand, micro-track each step between sent and signed. Additionally, CPQ systems can help shed light on what types of proposals (content, template) close the most sales.
Adding CPQ closing data to your CRM sales forecasting data takes the Achilles’ heel out of the equation.
Single sign-on
This one is kind of a no-brainer: would you leave your car to listen to your car stereo? No. (IQX is big on the single sign-on, having developed integrations for CPQ in Zoho and CPQ in Dynamics, with more on the way for HubSpot, PipeDrive, and others.)
Anything NOT single sign-on in your CRM system feels like an app or an add-on and is routinely ignored by sales reps. No matter how integrated your systems may be, if the user experience is one where you must “leave” CRM to create and send a sales quote, it slows down the process.
Ease of use
A requirement for a truly strategic integration of CPQ and CRM. If one system is harder to use than the other, if the user experience feels like going from drag and drop to a plain-old drag, productivity slows.
Much like single sign-on, it’s less about a seamless integration than a seamless user experience. With any business application, ease-of-use should take front and center.
While CPQ systems like IQX put a friendly user experience first (drag and drop proposal building: it’s just that simple), it seems like it’s only in recent years that the big dogs in the CRM space seem to recognize that a friendly UI means happier customers.
For years, the complaints about systems like Salesforce and Dynamics were all about UI: complaints about the functionality were rare. It’s no coincidence that most of the recent updates to CRM systems have been focused on a better user experience, as it’s happy users that become effective users.
With CRM and CPQ providing equally friendly and effective user experiences, sharing data, and in single sign-on mode, integration moves from the back-end to the whole package.
