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Maxym Khyria

Salesforce CPQ Overview: Installing, Sales Cloud Integration and more

CPQ in Salesforce stands for "Configure, Price, Quote." This Salesforce software is designed to optimize sales processes, specifically product configuration, pricing, and quoting.

CPQ in Salesforce stands for "Configure, Price, Quote"

The primary goal of Salesforce CPQ is to enable companies to quickly and accurately determine product prices in various configuration scenarios. It considers different parameters such as optional features, customizations, quantities, and discounts, allowing sellers to create proposals for customers efficiently.


Salesforce CPQ is integrated with the Sales Cloud platform, enabling connectivity with the CRM system and making efficient sales decisions.


The CPQ system has a range of key features and capabilities to facilitate and optimize sales processes. Some of them are the following:
  • Ability to easily configure products according to customers' unique needs; optional features support and customizations.

  • Automated pricing based on product configuration, considering various factors such as features, quantity, and other parameters. Ability to apply different types of discounts and promotions.

  • Automatic generation of professional and accurate quotes. 

  • Simple identification and tracking of different quotes.

  • Continuous integration with the CRM system, enabling access to customer data and interaction history.

  • Access to the CPQ system via the cloud allows users to work with it on various devices and from any location.

  • Collection and analysis of data regarding sales performance and customer interactions.

  • Providing reports and data analytics for making informed strategic decisions.

  • Ability to use the CPQ system on various mobile devices, ensuring flexibility and mobility for sales representatives.


These capabilities make CPQ an effective tool for automating and optimizing sales processes, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in price and quote management.


Salesforce CPQ can be used in various scenarios and business sectors to optimize sales processes. Its use is not limited to any specific sectors or scenarios; it can provide rapid, optimized configuration, accuracy, and compliance with regulatory requirements in pricing and quoting across any industry.


Benefits of Using CPQ:
  • Process Automation: Significantly reduces the time required for product configuration and quote creation due to automated processes.

  • Accuracy and Uniformity: Ensures accuracy and uniformity in pricing and product configuration, helping to avoid errors.

  • Efficient Price Management: CPQ enables simple price adjustment and applyment of various types of discounts based on market conditions and needs.

  • Improved Customer Interaction: CPQ provides quick and professional quote generation, enhancing customer interactions.

  • Analytics and Reporting: Data collection and reports generation for analyzing sales performance and pricing strategies.

  • Rapid Implementation: High implementation speed because of pre-configured settings and integration with other Salesforce products.


Salesforce Sales Cloud & Salesforce CPQ Integration


The integration of CPQ with Salesforce Sales Cloud ensures seamless and efficient information exchange between the CPQ solution and the CRM system.


Here are some key aspects of Salesforce Sales Cloud & Salesforce CPQ integration integration:
  • Unified Platform: CPQ and Sales Cloud are hosted on the same Salesforce platform, ensuring a unified environment and simplifying data exchange between these solutions.

  • Data Exchange: The integration facilitates data exchange between CPQ and Sales Cloud, including customer data, product information, pricing, quotes, and other essential information.

  • Automatic Updates: Changes made in CPQ (such as product configurations or pricing terms) are automatically updated in Sales Cloud, ensuring CRM users always have up-to-date information.

  • Single Database: All product, customer, and deal data exist in a single database, ensuring consistency and avoiding data duplication.

  • Sales Analysis: Data from CPQ can be used to analyze sales performance in Sales Cloud. Reports and analytics provide the ability to manage and optimize sales strategies.

  • Personalized Service: Information gathered in Sales Cloud can be used to provide personalized service and interactions with customers based on their previous deals and product configurations.


This integration enables sales reps to manage deals and customer relationships more effectively.


How to Install Salesforce CPQ in the Organization?


To install Salesforce CPQ, go to the Salesforce Quote-to-Cash.


Salesforce Quote-to-Cash

Select the security level you want to grant users, and then click Install. If you install Salesforce CPQ for the first time, you'll see a window prompting you to approve access to third-party websites (approve and then click Continue). Salesforce will send you an email after the installation is complete.


After installation, if you have installed Salesforce CPQ for the first time, authorize the Salesforce CPQ calculator:

1. In Setup, enter Installed Packages, then click Installed Packages. 

2. Find Salesforce CPQ and click Configure. 

3. Click the Pricing and Calculation tab. 

4. Click Authorize New Calculation Service.


When the user clicks Authorize New Calculation Service, Salesforce CPQ creates a token for the user. Salesforce CPQ uses a combination of the token and the user to communicate with the Heroku service, which handles asynchronous calculations using the JavaScript Quote Calculator. If the calculation service has not been authorized, organization administrators will see an error when updating or installing Salesforce CPQ.


Due to this active user requirement, it is recommended that the profile of the user authorizing the calculator be a non-human admin user. This helps avoid necessary maintenance and downtime if the admin user who authorized the calculator is later deactivated.


The user's profile authorizing the calculator should have access to the CPQ quote and all related objects. They should also have access to the objects updated by triggers, workflow rules, and process builders, where quotes and their related objects are created or updated. The user must also have Customize Application permissions to authorize the calculator.


The final step is to assign your users the appropriate permission-set licenses.


Product Bundles and Product Configuration in Salesforce CPQ


Product Bundles in CPQ


A bundle in CPQ is an excellent way to ensure that users sell the correct products together while allowing certain variations in how they are sold. Some bundles are configured almost every time they are sold, while others are configured only occasionally or perhaps never. Salesforce CPQ allows administrators to choose when and how to configure bundles throughout the sales process. You can also choose how bundles will appear and behave in the quote line editor and what happens if you select more than one bundle for configuration simultaneously.


For more detailed information about Product Bundles in CPQ, read our article "How to create Product Bundle in Salesforce CPQ tool?"

Product and Price Rules in Salesforce CPQ


There are CPQ Product Rules and Price Rules for interacting with products, Quotes, Quote Lines, Opportunities, Opportunity Line Items, and other CPQ objects. Additionally, users can use discount tools to influence the product price.


Product Rules in CPQ


Product Rules are a CPQ object that helps configure options under which certain products should appear, issue a warning about incorrect configurations (which can be ignored), issue a warning about incorrect configurations (which cannot be ignored), filter the appearance of products, or determine which products should disappear with certain configurations. Product Rules can also automatically add products during specific bundle configurations.


Before applying Price Rules and Discount Tools in CPQ, the Price Waterfall joins the game.


Price Waterfall in Salesforce CPQ is a sequence of calculations to obtain the net price for the customer. There are many types of prices and discounts available in Salesforce CPQ. The Salesforce CPQ Price Waterfall defines the sequence of processing different prices to reach the net price charged to the customer. This calculation sequence allows for exceptions to the defined rules.


Price Rules are methods of setting prices in CPQ. Imagine a scenario where the same product can be sold to different consumers at different prices. Using standard Salesforce functionality, multiple price books would be needed. CPQ allows using a single price book and modifies the listed price through additional settings. Price rules can also make changes to other fields of CPQ objects and custom objects.


The following article will help you understand how CPQ Price Rules works: "Salesforce CPQ Pricing Rules"

Discount Tools are also indispensable for correctly creating quotes. They help influence prices in the Quote Line under certain conditions while adhering to the strict order of the Price Waterfall.

Learn more in the article "Salesforce CPQ Discounting Tools"

Price Book in Salesforce CPQ


Price Book is a vital component for managing the pricing of goods and services. They allow the creation and management of price catalogs that can be applied to different customers, markets, or contexts. With proper configuration, you can effectively manage prices, discounts, and special offers, ensuring high accuracy and compliance with business requirements.


For example, if a company sells products to different markets with specific requirements, using Price Books allows the company to quickly, conveniently, and accurately create quotes according to customer needs.


CPQ Analytics and Reports


The Salesforce CPQ Analytics package provides a starting point for reporting on your Salesforce CPQ implementation, offering key sales and configuration metrics through pre-built reports and dashboards. Once installed, all elements are fully customizable and can be tailored to your business needs.


To Install the App:

  1. Click the Get It Now button on the AppExchange listing page.

  2. Log in to the Salesforce account where you want to install the package.

  3. Select who you want to install the package for. If you choose to install the package for admins only, you can grant access to the reports and dashboards to other users later.

Installing Salesforce CPQ

4. Wait for the confirmation email that the package has been successfully installed.


5. Verify the correct installation of the package by going to SetupInstalled Packages.


Installing Salesforce CPQ - installed packages

Accessing the Dashboard

  1. Navigate to the Dashboards tab → All Folders → CPQ Analytics.

  2. Click the downward arrow on the right side of the folder and select Share to choose which users, roles, and public groups you want to allow to view/edit the dashboard.

  3. Click on the folder name to open it, then click on CPQ Dashboard to open the dashboard.


Understanding the Dashboard Metrics


Here is an explanation of the metrics displayed in each component of the dashboard:

  1. Total Opportunity Amount by Owner: Shows the total number of opportunities expected to close in the next 60 days, grouped by sales representative and stage.

  2. Product Total Quoted Amount: Displays the total value of quote lines for each product over the entire history, grouped by quote status.

  3. Average Quote Discount Amount: For each sales representative, the total discount amount is shown relative to their total quoted value.

  4. Contracts Expiring Soon: Indicates the number of contracts expiring this month or the next.

  5. Open Opportunities without CPQ Quotes: Shows the number of opportunities expected to close each month without an associated CPQ quote, grouped by opportunity stage.

  6. Contracted Prices By Account: Displays the number of associated contracted prices for each account.

  7. Primary Quotes without Quote Lines: Indicates the number of CPQ quotes marked as primary without associated quote lines, grouped by owner and status.

  8. Products without Recent Quote Lines: Shows the number of products that have not been added to a quote in the past 365 days.

  9. Product Options without Features: Displays the total number of product option records without a specified feature value.


Customizing the Dashboard
  1. To edit an existing dashboard:

  • Click the Edit button in the upper right corner.

Customizing the dashboard in Salesforce CPQ

2. To clone the dashboard and make changes to the copy:

  • Click the downward arrow, select Save As, give it a name, and then click the Edit button once it has been created.


3. In the dashboard editor:

  • You can add, delete, edit, and move any components or filters within the dashboard as needed.

Accessing the Reports

  1. Go to the Reports tab → All FoldersCPQ Analytics.

  2. Click the downward arrow next to the folder and select Share to choose which users, roles, and public groups can view/edit the reports. Click on the folder name to open it, then click on a specific report name to access the report.

Accessing the reports in Salesforce CPQ



3. You can also access the report directly from the dashboard by clicking the View Report hyperlink at the bottom of the component.





Customizing the Reports

  1. Click the Edit button in the upper right corner.


Customizing the reports in Salesforce CPQ

2. To clone a report, click the downward arrow next to the report, select Save As, enter a name for the new report, and click "Edit" once the cloned report is created.





3. You will now be in the report builder, where you can freely customize the report.


Contract Lifecycle Management


Salesforce Contracts is a feature that enables companies to manage their contracts within the Salesforce platform. With Salesforce Contracts, users can create, track, and manage contracts from start to finish, all within Salesforce. This feature includes tools for creating contract templates, generating contracts, and tracking contract statuses and renewal dates. Users can also set up notifications and reminders to stay updated on deal deadlines and extensions. Contracts are a valuable tool for any company managing multiple agreements, particularly in industries such as finance, healthcare, and legal services. By streamlining the contract management process, Salesforce Contracts can help organizations save time, increase accuracy, and reduce risks.


Twin Fields Mapping is used to fill in Contract object records. This feature, built into CPQ, operates on a simple principle. Fields on all related objects must have the same API Name and data type. For example, if you have two fields with the same API Name and data type in both the Order and Quote objects, values from these fields will be transferred to matching fields in the Order record after creating an Order from a Quote. Twin Fields Mapping works with objects related to each other within CPQ.


After the proposal is agreed upon and an order is created, a Contract record is generated. This record contains all information related to the services provided and their renewal. Most of the information comes from Quote records and reflects the provided services, their terms, and renewals. CPQ also allows for the renewal of contracts after a specified period, as indicated when creating the quote.


Contract Amendment


Amendments allow you to keep agreements up-to-date and manage your clients' subscription terms effectively. From an active contract record, you can create an Amendment Quote and Opportunity by clicking the Amend button on the contract record. This button is available by default on the Salesforce CPQ contract page layout, but make sure to add it to your layout. When you click Amend, you will be presented with a screen listing the subscriptions that will be part of the amendment.


Contract amendment in Salesforce CPQ

Upon clicking Amend, Salesforce will automatically create an Amendment Quote and Opportunity and guide you to the new Quote Line Editor.


Contract Renewals


Contract renewals in Salesforce CPQ

When you have a contract and have created amendments, ensuring all active subscriptions are ready for renewal, you can manage the renewal process using standard Salesforce CPQ features. To renew a contract without creating a new quote and going through the entire process, focus on two fields in the Contract record: Renewal Forecast and Renewal Quoted.


  • Renewal Forecast: Setting this field to true will create a Renewal Opportunity.

  • Renewal Quoted: Setting this field to true will create a Renewal Quote.


Conclusion