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The CPQ Buyer's Guide
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1. Do you actually need CPQ?
You need CPQ when at least two of these are true: quotes take more than a day; discounts are approved over email or not at all; your price list lives in more than one spreadsheet; sales and finance disagree about what was sold; renewals get re-keyed into billing. One symptom is a process problem — two or more is a systems problem.
2. Requirements checklist
Must-have (walk away without these)
- Server-calculated pricing — never trust the browser (or the rep's spreadsheet) with math
- Quote versioning with nothing overwritten, ever
- Discount approval thresholds that route automatically
- An audit log a finance team can read
- Full data export, self-serve, in a documented format
Should-have
- Bundles with dependency/exclusion/quantity rules
- Branded proposal generation (PDF at minimum)
- Multi-currency and tax handling if you sell across borders
- An API that covers quote creation, not just reads
Nice-to-have
- AI-drafted quotes and pricing-mistake detection
- Guided selling / configurator UI
- E-signature native rather than via integration
3. The five vendor questions
- "Change a price mid-demo." How long until open quotes reflect the rule? Minutes is the right answer.
- "Show me version 1 after version 4 exists." If they hesitate, the audit story is theater.
- "A rep requests 28% discount — walk me through it." Routing should be automatic, logged, and visible.
- "Export everything, right now." Lock-in reveals itself in the pause before the answer.
- "Implementation cost, all-in, in writing." If the license is the small number, you're buying a project, not a product.
4. TCO math that survives the CFO
Total cost = licenses + implementation + admin time + integration maintenance. Total benefit = rep hours reclaimed × loaded cost + leakage recovered + cycle-time revenue effects. Demand both sides in writing from every vendor. Our calculator runs the benefit side with printed assumptions — use it against any shortlist, including ours.
5. Rollout plan that actually works
- Week 1: Import catalog + accounts. One pricing rule: your discount thresholds.
- Week 2: Five reps, live quotes, old process still available. Measure turnaround.
- Week 3: Approval chains on. Finance reviews the audit log, not the quotes.
- Week 4: Old process turned off. If reps sneak back to spreadsheets, the tool failed — not the reps.
6. Red flags glossary
- "Implementation partner" in the first call — budget 3–5× the license fee.
- "Contact sales for pricing" — you'll pay based on your negotiating leverage, not the product's value.
- "Our CPQ integrates seamlessly with our CRM" — integrates means two systems. Ask what happens when the sync breaks at quarter close.