Configure, Price and Quote (CPQ) software has been around for dozens of years. Lots of telecommunications companies are leveraging it to create complex products. You might think that their products are quite straightforward, right? You simply have a phone, some data and SMS/call minutes. The reality is quite different. A product consists of many configurations and discounting methods being used throughout the landscape. All these elements need to be captured before being presented to the customers. To do this, employees are using software to conduct the configuration and bundling of services.

CPQ is now changing the customer-facing elements

While CPQ Software has been leveraged by companies and their employees, we now see a shift emerging. Based on pre-defined rules by the company, customers are able to configure their products themselves. Simply drag-and-drop the elements that they want to have in their (complex) products and being able to order them.

Depending on the needs of the company, pricing can be shown to the customer or a quotation can be created. Employees can then see the approximated pricing to discuss with the client and come to a deal. In the past, all the work lied in the hands of the employees also bringing misalignment between the actual needs.

Dedicated vendors such as Elfsquad

These packages of software have long been part of extensive bundles that were purchased by multinationals. Think about Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems such as Salesforce. Luckily we now also see an emergence of pure players that focus on what matters for the desired package. Elfsquad is one of these companies that understand what is needed in the field of Configure, Price, and Quote.

Integration is key

When a company like Elfsquad is focusing on such a dedicated element, integration with other parties is key. The emergence of decoupled software and API management allows the company to do just that. The software can be connected to multiple large-scale systems such as the Microsoft environment (e.g. Dynamics, Excel) as well as Pipedrive (CRM) and Exact (ERP). These integrations allow companies to plug-and-play with the components they need.

Focus on a niche: manufacturing

When you are a company like Elfsquad it is important to focus on a niche for your market. With their roots in manufacturing, they did just that. They understand the struggles in the manufacturing operations and understood that configuration of the complex products was a major hurdle. Not only for the company but also for the experience of the customers. By introducing dedicated software to help them, they can target the specific needs of the niche. This has proved highly effective and a lot of small and medium-sized businesses have already been onboarded onto the platform. Taking these learnings with them, we expect that the customer base will grow significantly over the years.