Introducing SAP CPQ

In the following, we introduce you to our business use case: Supertech, a company that is using SAP CPQ as a software solution.

In this course, we'll configure an SAP CPQ environment for a fictional company called Supertech. Supertech is an international company with sales units located throughout the world. Most of these sales units are a combination of B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-customer) models.

Supertech is a reseller of computer and networking products for small and medium-sized businesses. Recently, Supertech launched its own line of products, further expanding its product catalog.

Among the products, Supertech offers are:

• Desktop and laptop computers.
• Peripherals such as monitors, printers, keyboards, and mice.
• Networking equipment such as routers, switches, hubs, and cables.
• Software licenses.

Supertech's other important revenue streams are warranties and service contracts that are upsell items renewed annually.

Supertech is making a transition away from creating orders with complicated spreadsheets that are prone to errors to a more convenient and productive system for serving their customers. Making matters more challenging, Supertech would like to expand its overseas market and serve larger businesses with complex product orders. To accomplish these goals, Supertech needs a system that builds and maintains comprehensive product catalogs that enforce pricing and discounts internationally.

SAP CPQ is a highly configurable system capable of tailoring application features that fit the specific needs and expectations of businesses. For Supertech, the goal is to implement an SAP CPQ solution that allows the company to:

• Efficiently manage product data and pricing.
• Standardize the product catalog and product list.
• Simplify selling of highly configurable and customizable products.
• Create consistent and professional-looking proposals.
• Automate quote approvals.
• Eliminate quote and order errors.
• Increase up-selling and cross-selling.

Later in this course, we'll focus more on the complex needs of Supertech's business model. For now, let's look at the benefits of CPQ and navigating the basic features of the user interface.

SAP CPQ stands for: Configure Price Quote.

SAP CPQ is a B2B or B2C e-commerce platform.

SAP CPQ is a business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce platform.

CPQ allows a company to sell complex products, solutions, and services to businesses and consumers.

Now that Supertech has CPQ up and running, they're eager to try it out. Here's their first chance! One of their customers is asking a quote. Supertech can't wait to see how quickly, easily, and accurately they can generate a professional PDF quote to present to their client. Example:

A company named Petrotech requested a quote from Supertech. Using SAP CPQ, company Supertech can quickly and easily generate a professional PDF quote to submit to Petrotech.

Many companies like Supertech are restricted by their outdated quoting methods and require a configure, price, quote solution to meet their growing needs. Maintaining product catalogs, for example, Supertech has been relying on paper catalogs that result in many embarrassing sales mistakes, including quoting products that have long been discontinued. Paper catalogs become outdated quickly for many reasons, including miscommunication between sales personnel and product engineers regarding product fulfillment delays. CPQ tracks product availability and helps avoid discouraging clients with missed delivery dates.

The Configurator sets rules that help sales representatives avoid selecting incompatible or non-applicable options for configurable products. CPQ administrators can easily deactivate products to make them unavailable once discontinued.

SAP CPQ also tracks and limits the number of discounts a sales representative may provide when attempting to close a deal. The Approvals feature applies discount limits for individual user types. For example, the system may be configured to allow a sales representative a discount of up to 10%. If a sales representative enters a discount greater than 10%, the quote is relayed to a manager for deciding if the proposal should be continued. CPQ can be configured to route all quotes through the sales engineering team for approval before a proposal is sent to the customer.

SAP CPQ helps companies increase sales through upselling and promotions by configuring upgrade offers on selected products. For example, when Supertech prepares a quote for a desktop computer, CPQ will prompt the sales representative to offer the option of a solid-state drive (SSD) upgrade. Other cross-selling opportunities can be configured into the system to prompt the addition of extended warranties and various products.

Next, let's see CPQ in action with a look at the user interface.

The look and feel and the layout of the CPQ user interface depends on the configuration of the branding and customization upon implementation.

The User Interface includes three major components:

• Main Navigation Toolbar on the left-hand side
• Central Screen Area in the middle
• Shell Bar on the top

The Main Navigation Toolbar includes:

• Load Existing Project/Quotation
• Catalog
• Setup

The Central Screen Area displays the selected section in the Main Navigation Toolbar. For example, if Catalog is selected, the Catalog displays in the Central Screen Area.

The Shell Bar includes these options:

• New Project/Quotation
• Recently Viewed
• User Menu

To search for an existing quote, you select the Load Existing Project/Quotation menu item. This menu item enables you to search for quotes by:

• Quote number
• Status
• Date
• Owner
• Customer
• Contact
• Expiration date

To create a new quote, you can access the New Project/Quotation icon on the Shell Bar.

Choosing this icon displays the Catalog in the Central Screen Area, where products can be configured and added to a new quote.

Upon logging in to the SAP CPQ User Interface, the catalog automatically displays by default.

Other ways to access the catalog are:

• Choose the Catalog button in the Main Navigation Toolbar.
• Choose the New Project/Quotation icon in the Shell Bar.

The Catalog lists all the products in the application organized by categories. The expandable Categories panel displays the categories in a list. At the top of the list is a link to Favorites. The Central Screen Area displays the same categories in a tabular view.

The catalog lists all products, organized by categories.

You can search the Catalog by choosing the Search icon on the top right-hand side of the Central Screen Area.

You can filter the search based on:

• Name
• Description
• Part number
• Type

From the Setup menu, a user can navigate to the following:

Setup

Access the administrative side of the system; only visible to users with administrator privileges.

Developer Console

Used to track problems as they occur; must be enabled.

Script Workbench

Used to write and test Iron Python scripts and further customize CPQ.

Log

Allows SAP CPQ administrators to monitor Iron Python scripts and track all the data manually logged from them.

 Now that we understand how CPQ can improve the customer experience and increase sales for Supertech, let's set up a new customer in the system.