order and offer management
CREALIS® CPQ offers integrated quotation management and seamless order processing
Effective offer processing and consistently linked order processing are strategic process steps that contribute significantly to a company’s success. An efficient and accurate offer process is essential for the sale of products and services and not only increases customer satisfaction, but also increases the chances of success when concluding a contract. Optimally structured order processing has a lasting positive effect on the entire ordering process.
What are the key functions for a smooth quotation process and secure order processing?
In CREALIS® CPQ, the management of quotations is mapped in an audit-proof manner and the change history can be tracked transparently. Access to the quotation documents is subject to a secure authorization structure and sending the documents belonging to the quotation is simple and user-friendly. While the quotation is being prepared, it can be saved at any time, ideally also to a new revision. Once the contract has been concluded, the order is seamlessly transferred to the connected order management system or ERP for further processing. All information required for order processing, such as the individual and structured bill of materials (BOM), is also supplied. If the result of the configuration already contains sophisticated work plans, these are also transferred to the necessary systems. With CREALIS® CPQ, manual effort in the quotation process and in order processing can be largely eliminated.
How does a smooth quotation process work?
As soon as the sales department receives an inquiry from a prospective customer, they can start the quotation process in the CREALIS® CPQ dashboard. It does not matter whether it is a simple inquiry or a specific desired configuration. The link to the prospective customer’s or customer’s data is made directly.
The sales department processes the inquiry either with its own knowledge or directly together with the prospective customer. Nowadays, there are no limits due to the variety of existing collaboration tools. Once a configuration has been completed, it can be immediately converted from CREALIS® CPQ into a meaningful quotation, which can be sent directly from the application to the prospective customer. Any other documents such as product data sheets or brochures can be attached to this quotation document in order to provide detailed information to the prospective customer. To ensure that the quotation and saved configuration remain consistent, the revision is locked and further processing can only take place on a new revision. Alternatively, the interested party can simply be sent a unique configuration code with which they can view their configuration in an end-user view.
If the interested party has change requests, the last revision can be accessed directly and an adapted quotation can be created in the shortest possible time. Further process-relevant documents can be generated from CREALIS® CPQ on the basis of the last revision. This makes it easy to generate installment plan or leasing contracts if the corresponding calculations are stored in the system.
What tasks does a secure authorization structure perform in the quotation process?
Many companies have data sovereignty requirements. This includes ensuring that only certain employees can view offers or grant discounts. With CREALIS® CPQ, complete team structures can be set up so that, for example, the sales department of a branch can only view its active offers, while the company headquarters has a view of all offers from all branches. These views and authorizations can of course be fine-tuned. Substitution rules can also be set up so that no active sales process is left unattended.
Order processing and CPQ
Order processing begins with a seamlessly connected ordering process. Whether this is already mapped in the CPQ or taken over by a connected system depends on the individual system landscape. When introducing a CPQ system, it is often important to use the existing structures without causing major upheaval. A solid data structure is the basic prerequisite for this. Ideally, the maximum BOMs on which the product configuration is based originate from the existing systems. In this way, CPQ can be seamlessly integrated into the processes. CREALIS® CPQ offers enough variable and proven interfaces to support the required data streams.
However, order processing involves much more than the ordering process itself. If it is a leasing contract, corresponding financial systems must be integrated in order to ensure seamless processing of the financing. Thanks to its secure interface technology, CREALIS® has everything it takes to ensure smooth processes.
If there are installation partners, their costs are already taken into account in the calculation and they are provided with correct information such as installation plans after ordering. CREALIS® CPQ can automatically connect the third-party systems and automatically inform all parties involved. If purchasing is also to be served in the downstream ERP system, the configurator can also generate the corresponding purchasing lists. If a production-related connection through to end-to-end product configuration (E2E) is required, CREALIS® CPQ generates detailed work plans or controls additive manufacturing directly.
CREALIS® can be used to map individual sales approaches and open up additional sales channels. CREALIS® CPQ offers intuitive and feature-rich quotation management, provides a central management system with its fully integrated dashboard and thus offers efficient order processing.