Quoting custom products is complex. Sales teams need to remember numerous product options, specific customer requirements, and extensive price lists. Quotes often need input from the engineering team and internal approval. When quoting relies on manual spreadsheets, manual calculations, and multiple rounds of communication between sales and engineering, delays and errors can easily occur.
Inaccurate pricing, invalid configurations, and slow quote turnaround times don’t just cause internal bottlenecks, they impact sales conversion rates, customer confidence, and sales profitability. With B2B customers looking for buying experiences that match those of their B2C purchases, manufacturers need a faster, more reliable way to quote custom products.
CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) makes a significant difference. DriveWorks CPQ enables sales teams to configure custom products accurately, calculate pricing instantly, streamline approvals, and generate quotes in minutes.
In this blog, we’ll explore how DriveWorks CPQ transforms the sales process for custom products and look at the key features that enable manufacturers to deliver fast, accurate, and profitable quotes every time.
How DriveWorks CPQ transforms sales processes
Configure
Sales teams can configure products in 3D to meet specific customer requirements and build different configurations using a predefined set of rules.
Price
Accurate pricing is calculated from predefined variables, such as discounts, special offers, and volume pricing.
Quote
Product selections can be automatically displayed in an accurate, customized quote document.
SOLIDWORKS® integration
DriveWorks CPQ also integrates with SOLIDWORKS to automatically create drawings, models, and BOMs for custom products.
Why manufacturers choose DriveWorks CPQ:
- Guided selling
- Real-time pricing
- Configuration accuracy and compliance
- Automated approval workflows
- Automated quote creation
- Improved customer experience
Guided selling
DriveWorks CPQ guides sales teams through the process of configuring custom products, supported by 3D visualization.
By providing a structured sales process and presenting only valid product options, guided selling reduces complexity, shortens onboarding time for new team members, and enables salespeople to create accurate configurations faster.
Real-time pricing
Using DriveWorks CPQ, pricing is calculated automatically as products are configured.
Sales teams can generate accurate pricing without waiting for engineering or finance input, enabling them to respond to customer inquiries faster. Real-time pricing helps maintain profitability while giving customers fast, accurate quotes.
Configuration accuracy and compliance
DriveWorks CPQ applies built-in product rules, logic, and constraints to ensure every configuration is valid and complies with business requirements.
This eliminates errors caused by manual processes and ensures custom products comply with all applicable standards.
Automated approval workflows
DriveWorks CPQ streamlines approval processes by automatically routing quotes for review where required, for example, discount levels or non-standard configurations.
Automated approvals reduce delays, improve sales pipeline visibility, and keep inquiries moving through the sales process more efficiently.
Automated quote creation
DriveWorks CPQ automatically creates professional quotes with approved pricing, specification information, and company branding.
Sales teams can produce detailed quotes in minutes rather than hours, helping them to respond to customers faster, increase productivity, and provide a better buying experience.
Improved customer experience
By combining guided selling, accurate configurations, real-time pricing, and faster quote generation, DriveWorks CPQ delivers an improved customer experience.
The result is improved customer satisfaction, stronger relationships, and more chances to win sales.
DriveWorks CPQ FAQs
If you’re considering CPQ software or looking to improve your current quoting process, these FAQs explain how DriveWorks CPQ helps sales teams work more efficiently, spend less time on sales admin, and deliver accurate quotes faster.
1. How does DriveWorks CPQ improve quote accuracy?
DriveWorks CPQ uses configurable rules and logic to ensure only valid product configurations are used in quotes. Real-time pricing calculations and automated processes reduce human error and ensure every quote is accurate.
2. How quickly can quotes be generated with DriveWorks CPQ?
Because products are configured with guided selling, pricing is automatically calculated, and manufacturing documents are automatically generated, so quotes that previously took hours or days can often be generated in minutes.
3. How does DriveWorks CPQ improve the customer experience?
Customers receive faster responses, more accurate quotes, and have more confidence that the final product will meet their requirements. A smoother buying experience can help build trust and improve win rates.
4. What type of companies benefit most from DriveWorks CPQ?
DriveWorks CPQ is used by manufacturers that sell configurable, customized, or engineer-to-order products where quoting is complex and time-consuming. Explore how different industries use DriveWorks to overcome configuration and quoting challenges here.
5. How does DriveWorks CPQ help businesses win more orders?
By reducing quote turnaround times, improving accuracy, and providing a better customer experience, businesses using DriveWorks CPQ are more likely to stay ahead of the competition and win more orders.
6. How does 3D product configuration in DriveWorks CPQ improve the customer experience?
DriveWorks CPQ enables customers and sales teams to visualize products in 3D as they are configured. Real-time product visualization helps users understand product options and make their selections with confidence. This reduces errors, speeds up decision-making, and streamlines the purchasing process.
7. Is DriveWorks CPQ easy to implement?
Yes! With DriveWorks, you can build a CPQ solution that works for your unique products and sales processes. Because it’s a no-code platform, it’s easy to implement, manage, and update. Guided selling functionality also makes it easy for sales teams to use and enables new team members to get up to speed faster.
DriveWorks in action
Manufacturers across a wide range of industries use DriveWorks CPQ to transform their sales process.
Quote cycle, including drawing generation, reduced from 2-3 days to 5 mins.
Materials handling manufacturer in Canada
Drawing approval time reduced from half a day to 30 minutes.
Machinery manufacturer in Australia
Quote-to-manufacture process reduced from 4 weeks to 1 day.
Industrial component manufacturer in USA
Quote capacity increased by 317%.
Building components manufacturer in Spain
Want to learn more about CPQ?
Everything you need to know about product configurators
A product configurator solution simplifies the configuration process by equipping sales teams with a guided selling tool powered by rules-based functionality and 3D visualization.
CPQ myths vs reality
There’s a lot of confusion and misinformation about how CPQ works and what it can actually do.
In this blog, we dispel some of the common myths and run through the real-world benefits of CPQ.
Ten signs it’s time to implement a CPQ solution
If your business is facing challenges in meeting the rising demand for customized products, it might be time to look at a CPQ solution.
Explore the different signs that your business could benefit from implementing a CPQ solution.
Transform your sales process with DriveWorks CPQ
DriveWorks is sold worldwide and supported locally by authorized resellers in your time zone.
Find your nearest DriveWorks reseller and take advantage of our limited-time offer of 10% off DriveWorks CPQ Sales Portal Module licenses.
Limited-time offer
10% off DriveWorks CPQ Sales Portal Module
Valid until June 30th 2027
