If you’ve ever been involved with the task of producing a Configure Price Quote (CPQ), a highly configured quote, you have probably experienced the multitude of spreadsheets needed to produce one not-so-simple CPQ. Spreadsheets for products, spreadsheets for price lists, spreadsheets for discounts and more have been part of the traditional, time consuming and very manual CPQ process.
Then comes the hurried salesperson pressured to get their CPQ done. This is the salesperson that has been known to take short cuts, such as pulling up another quote and making a few changes before sending it on to the customer prospect, often without management’s review. The result: The risk for an inaccurate CPQ with the wrong pricing structures or discounts. Lost revenue.
If you’re all too familiar with the above scenarios, then Epicor ERP’s quoting capabilities together with Epicor ERP CRM should be a welcome addition to your Epicor Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. With the quoting capabilities of Epicor ERP, all the information needed to produce an accurate, timely CPQ, based on real-time information from your ERP system, is at your fingertips. Real-time inventory levels, pricing sheets, customer discounts and status. Plus, if you need to create CQP’s in multiple currencies, Epicor ERP can handle that too.
Epicor ERP’s Quote Entry provides organizations with a streamlined process to enter and maintain quotes, including CPQ’s, that can later be changed to actual sales orders or jobs. With Epicor ERP’s Quote Entry program and Epicor CRM which allows access to Epicor ERP Quote Entry, businesses find they have a valuable tool for entering and tracking communications with potential customers; a tool that can be accessed by anyone with proper security settings for quick answers resulting in quick customer responses paving the way to happier customers. No more needing to call the customer back, all the information is at your fingertips.
How Epicor ERP Creates a CPQ
Within the Epicor Quote screens, you enter your CPQ by entering the manufacturing details for each line item to be quoted. The Epicor ERP system will automatically calculate the estimated material, subcontract, labor, and burden costs required to make the quote. Miscellaneous costs and commission expenses can also be added. It’s that simple! Gone are the days of using spreadsheets to create a quote.
A cool feature Epicor ERP offers is the ability to define alternate inventory parts for each part record. This capability will improve quote and sales order accuracy by displaying suggestions for upgrading, downgrading, substituting or complimenting the original part, and complimentary parts for each part record. During quote entry, users have the option to select a different part that better reflects the needs of the customer. This feature both improves customer satisfaction and enhances sales accuracy.
Epicor ERP also allows you to define a method of manufacturing that can produce multiple parts on a single job as co-parts. This feature is included with Epicor ERP’s Advance Production module and allows you to establish both the Yield Per Quantity of the co-parts, their costing ratios, and whether the co-parts are to be produced concurrently or sequentially. Co-parts can be manually entered during Quote Entry and Job Entry, or automatically pulled into the job through the Engineering Workbench feature. If entered during Quote Entry, the Quote Worksheet costs displays the correct costs for the part being quoted. The appropriate costing method is then created if the quote line is turned into an order and then a job.
Combine all the features of Epicor ERP’s quoting system with Epicor ERP CRM, and you have a solid system for tracking all aspects of your customer interactions, from quotes, to orders to follow up conversations, to support and more.
So next time you are bogged down with manually entering your CPQ, think about how Epicor EPR’s solutions can simplify the process for you. Not only will your CPQ process be much more efficient, your quotes will be more accurate and your customer satisfaction levels will be higher because questions will be answered quickly with real-time accuracy as is expected in today’s technologically savvy world. It’s a win-win situation!