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Guide #03

Increase sales efficiency and revenue growth
CPQ & Guided Selling

GU4-1
Intro

Bring a competitive
edge with sales efficiency

An Introduction to CPQ
and guided selling

A chance to provide customers with an experience that exceeds expectations, CPQ and guided selling, give subscription businesses the edge over competitors by providing customers with the best solutions for their wants and needs quickly and accurately. 

Guided selling is a software solution that enables both sales representatives and customers to make more precise product selections in the sales process, thereby increasing efficiency and conversion rates. It does this by leveraging rules and data to guide the user along the sales path by tailoring it to their conditions. Working in tandem with guided selling, modern CPQ not only simplifies the sales process and increases sales efficiency, but it also supports the scalability of your company.

Together these two tools enable cumulative customer acquisition, overcome the challenge of selecting the right product from a growing product catalog and improve customer experience, ultimately helping you to grow your business sustainably.

Read on to discover the five top things to consider
when implementing guided selling and CPQ

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The act of balancing customer relationships & selling quickly

Everyone is short on time and wants to find solutions to their needs quickly. The more laborious the customer journey, the more likely people will drop out midway. Implementing guided selling can give users a greater sense of control by offsetting choice overload. Meanwhile, CPQ enables sales teams to be more accurate in selecting the right product and streamline the customer journey. 

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Shortens time to build customer relationships

Subscription businesses are all about building strong customer relationships. If you reduce the length of the sales cycle with technology you minimize contact time and the chance to develop that connection. Therefore, you need to make the time you do have count with a smooth experience.

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High quality sales cycle

This is your chance to improve the length of your sales cycle, enabling your team to close deals sooner with greater customer satisfaction and better resource allocation thanks to simplified selling flows. You can help customers feel confident in your ability to understand their needs, whilst also being in control of their choices.

datadriven

Present a dynamic, intuitive and informative guided experience

A data-driven approach to CPQ and guided selling works by prompting users in an automated and step-by-step process to select the suggested products, based on known customer information and their past interactions with your business.

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Misinterpretation of buyer intent

If you approach sales as being solely about data then your company will lose the human touch and it won’t resonate with customers. Leveraging data is not about replacing people with technology. To be data-driven means having the right technologies to collect the necessary data that helps increase the harmony between sales teams and customers.

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Drive high conversion rates

Increase order value, up-selling and cross-selling, and increase customer retention through a more personalized approach to sales. Start by implementing an event-driven system that deciphers customer journeys. Then, leverage the insights to improve customer experience and engage with customers at the right time.

system

Fall back on a subscription
infrastructure that works 

Success in subscription businesses always comes back to one core detail—a system built for purpose. That’s because sales processes are interconnected across business functions. Central to that is a powerful system that solves the complexity behind the scenes for users to save time and focus on customers. 

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Roadblocks  for users

Effective guided selling, CPQ development and a great customer experience are ongoing processes. If you implement a traditional system, for example, a standalone CPQ and guided selling solution or one that is embedded in a CRM, that is neither built for subscriptions nor users, it will create integration complexity with your subscription billing tool, more manual tasks and continuous costs, which defeats the purpose of sales efficiency. 

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Seamless sales process and customer journey

Start by choosing a system that is built for users to manage subscription sales complexity. When users feel good about their experience, the benefits become greater than the sum of their parts. Sales reps are more motivated and efficient, customers become advocates of your brand and customer retention increases.

autom

Uncomplicate revenue models and customer journey

Automation has an important role to play in optimizing the customer experience, tailoring purchase options, highlighting relevant product features and providing suggestions for add-ons, bundles and services throughout the selling and buying process, but it only works if customers feel confident in their decision making. 

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Losing the human touch

The use of automation is good, but don’t go overboard simply because you can. Automated procedures ought to be adaptable to user and client needs as well as business size. Complicated automation rules for customer segments could become impersonal and involve too many business functions when there are modifications. Automation shouldn’t be the main goal; instead, it should be to enhance user experience and cater to their demands.

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Better engagement with reduced cost

Start simple by making sure automated processes are based on customer feedback as well as data analysis. Then help customers to feel informed with concise information, showcasing clear product differences and benefits, and providing the opportunity to ask questions so you accurately understand what they want. Churn prevention can start at point of purchase by giving customers the information they need to choose products or services that are right for them and that meet their needs. 

journes

Guide customers
through a personalized path to conversion

Autonomy for users, both sales reps and customers, is essential for subscription businesses to grow. You can allocate resources cost-effectively. It is also important for users to achieve what they need quickly and efficiently, in a controlled environment. 

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Mandated sales paths

If you don’t get it right, autonomy can hold down revenue or limit your ability to adapt to individual user needs, which will ultimately increase frictions in the sales proess. The challenge is not to let CPQ and guided selling mandate sales paths, for example, allow sales reps to apply controlled discount and customers are not hassled by recommendations.

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Flexible offerings

You can create a clear path for profit. Guided selling and modern CPQ give sales reps of subscription businesses the opportunity to personalize experiences for customers in a controlled environment so that the sales processes can move forward in a structured way.  Start by remembering there are two sets of users—your sales reps and your end customers. Consider the design from the position of both groups, allowing for personal choice and flexibility. 

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Streamline
your sales operations

Ensure smooth operations end-to-end
Improve your sales efficiency with intuitive guided selling and intelligent CPQ solutions that can boost the performance of your business:     

checkmark  Higher conversion rates
checkmark  Seamless buyer journeys
checkmark  Enhanced user experience
checkmark  Increase revenue & growth

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Customer Churn

Control voluntary  customer churn  in subscriptions
Coming soon

CTA Guide 7