MasterStream Blog

Master agents are consistently looking for ways to optimize their sales processes—in part by handling lead-to-cash workflow processes in as few systems as possible. The majority of master agents organize their processes around a powerful customer relationship management (CRM) software that is complemented by an integration with their billing system. Among the many complex services that businesses integrate is quoting. 

CPQ (configure, price, quote) refers to a tool that is used for simple catalog quoting that allows companies to quickly and accurately generate quotes for orders. The majority of CRMs have this capability, but rolling out quoting to buyers has significant limitations. 

Master agents can differentiate themselves from others by incorporating configure, price, quoting as a service (CPQaaS) into their sales portals. CPQaaS is a complex quoting tool that can be accessed from any system that has limited CPQ capabilities but requires complex quoting services.

In this blog post, we’ll provide details on CPQaaS and the many benefits that master agents can experience by implementing this technology into their processes. 

What is CPQaaS?

CPQaaS is a one-of-a-kind service that we created in order to solve a missing piece in the world of CPQ. Our CPQaaS gives master agents the ability to automate quoting without adding another system to their architecture. 

The defining features of CPQaaS are:

• One API connects the user to many APIs. This means you have access to the largest automated quote engine in the telecom industry.

• Integration capabilities are determined by the user. Our CPQaaS doesn’t take the place of any of your systems. You can plug it into the exact point in your process and have complete control over how you use it.

• There are no new user interfaces. Your users continue working in the applications that they’re used to while getting the functionality that’s possible with our CPQaaS.

Ultimately, users have access to costs and sales-ready quotes from any number of carriers, providers, and product catalogs. These quotes are automatic, which means employees can skip maintaining spreadsheets or seeking out provider employees to receive quotes. Instead, users can instantly have everything they need in order to create a proposal and win business fast.  

How does CPQaaS benefit master agents?

Master agents need systems that integrate the front end of the sales process, including lead generation and marketing, with the actual sales process, including quoting, proposals, and documents. From there, the sale needs to be delivered to a system that handles orders, provisioning, inventory, and billing. 

Master agents have the responsibility to provide pricing and process orders on behalf of agents, and they often find themselves in need of complex quoting. They may sacrifice quoting and sales distribution scalability for the benefits of the current CRM that handles CPQ but lacks complex quoting capabilities. 

By integrating a CPQaaS into their CRM, master agents can:

• Automate the collection of quoting requirements from sales personnel and partners. 

• Integrate with the product catalog.

• Integrate business rules so that only the right combination of products is quoted together.

• Obtain costs from the correct assets or partners.

• Mark up the products dynamically based on who is asking for the quote, such as internal employees, partners that sell, and partners that buy.

• Eliminate quotes that do not match the stated requirements.

We understand that most companies cannot afford to disrupt their business workflow, but they need more complex quoting. That’s why CPQaaS is such a solid strategy. IT teams that already have intense workloads can write to one API that unlocks the quoting capabilities of hundreds of underlying services. That's the key to enhancing a CRM and proving complex quoting capabilities. 

Get legendary service from the MasterStream team.

At MasterStream ERP, we’re more about just making great software that master agents can benefit from. We’re also here to help you succeed, and we can back that up with plenty of experience. In fact, our customer success team has worked with hundreds of carriers and thousands of agents to implement best practices, optimize workflows, and ensure we do everything to support your goals. 

If you think your team could benefit from CPQaaS, contact us to get started today!