6 myths about configure, price, quote (CPQ) debunked

Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) is more than just a sales tool; it's a path for business transformation. It gets all parts of the sales organization out into the field in front of customers closing deals faster.

CPQ can be used as a self-service quoting tool for the end user, it can support a robust channel partner/distributor ecosystem, and it can also speed sales cycles and ensure that promises become realities. Perhaps one of its most important benefits is its ability to link customer-facing applications (the front office) with operational and financial processes (the back office).

The CPQ vendor ecosystem has exploded in recent years, and with that growth, so has the noise and misinformation. So let’s take a moment to debunk some of the myths floating around about Oracle Configure, Price, Quote.

Myth: CPQ vendors are all the same.

Truth: It’s a crazy market now, full of new upstarts, tentative alliances, crumbling partnerships, assurances, exaggeration, oversimplification, and one-size-fits-all offers. A CPQ solution touches many facets of an organization, so not vetting a vendor thoroughly could lead to a spectacular failure. And not just in situations where the customer refuses to sign off on the go live. It could very well mean low user adoption by the sales team or the introduction of unreliable new processes that only add to your complexity. The fact of the matter is that CPQ solutions and vendors are different—very different.

Oracle Configure, Price, Quote is trusted by over 700 well-known brand names and used to create more than 2,000,000 quotes monthly.

Myth: Other vendors say CPQ projects are easy.

Truth: Signing the contract is easy. Initializing an instance of the software is easy. But other CPQ vendors may minimize the importance and scope of the initial implementation and integration process given your organization’s specific needs. It’s as if they’ve given you a square peg and asked you to smash it through a round hole. Beware: Sometimes the simplicity of the purchase can lead you down the wrong path.

Myth: Oracle Configure, Price, Quote implementations are lengthy.

Truth: Implementation can take as little as four weeks. The reality is that companies, systems, and processes can be complex, especially if a large variety of legacy solutions have been cobbled together to solve problems as they arose. We acknowledge this. Simplification and integration are what we're good at.

Actual go-live timing depends on the scope of the rollout, what products are covered, which processes are included, the documents/reports that need to be created, and what parts of the ecosystem need to be connected to gain value. We’ll work with you to determine what roll-out plan is best for you. It may be a multi-phased approach with quick hits along the way or more of a “big-bang” approach—whatever works for your business needs.

Myth: Oracle Configure, Price, Quote is complex.

Truth: We have a loyal customer base with dynamic product variations and world-class pricing complexity. But the reason these businesses use Oracle Configure, Price, Quote isn’t because the product is complex; it’s because the solution easily handles complexity. Large organizations often have complex (even messy) requirements where a routine out-of-the-box implementation isn’t suitable. The robust flexibility of CPQ allows us to serve these customers.

Our solution can comfortably handle the configuration of physical goods of any complexity AND professional services with any pricing/revenue model desired. We see simple products with simple pricing scenarios and complicated products with complicated pricing structures, sometimes within the same organization, depending on their go-to-market strategies. How to implement it is your choice. You can start simple to achieve an early ROI and build up the use of CPQ as your business grows. It’s up to you.

Myth: Oracle Configure, Price, Quote will force fit business process changes.

Truth: You should never change your business to fit the capabilities of a particular application. If our competition is guiding you toward “best practices,” it may be that their CPQ can’t handle your business processes or needs.

Rolling out a CPQ solution isn’t just “automating” a specific process with a new tool. That only serves to shift your bottlenecks elsewhere because that process is a little faster. You need a CPQ tool that can communicate and share data with all your systems, supporting your company in the ways you want to do business—not the other way around.

Learn why Oracle Configure, Price, Quote was named a leader for five years running in the 2021 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Configure, Price, and Quote Application Suites.

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