Author: Bailey McCaffrey
Deciding on the right sales performance management (SPM) or “configure price quote” (CPQ) solution vendor can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. An SPM consultancy will help you stay on track by providing the expertise necessary to find the best solution for both your team and your company. Here’s why you should consider using a third party to help choose your SPM vendor:
The right consultancy will know the ins-and-outs of the leading SPM/CPQ solutions.
A third party sales consultancy often has experience across a variety of software solutions with extensive knowledge about how they work and what they can do. A consultancy will know the good, the bad, and the ugly of each solution and how these characteristics could either benefit or harm your implementation and operational support goals.
The right consultancy can determine what features are important to your company’s sales model.
Each company is unique and it’s important that the features within the solution you choose align with what your company needs, both now and in the future. An SPM consulting firm will be able to guide you through those capabilities that are necessary for your company's sales and operational strategy through your unique lens rather than choosing based on general consensus.
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The right consultancy can address important questions such as, build versus buy, on-premise versus SaaS, suite versus “best of breed,” and more.
As important questions come up throughout the vendor selection process, you will need a trustworthy, agnostic source of truth to provide you with answers. Don’t waste your time trying to fully comprehend the vast world of SPM or CPQ. Instead, just ask the experts!
The right consultancy will know the configuration or customization that is possible for each solution.
When purchasing enterprise level SPM software, understanding the line between configuration and customization is critical to getting the job done correctly. A consultancy will know the workable customizations and won’t make empty promises.
The right consultancy will know what integrations will be necessary to run with your existing software.
A third party consultancy will know the system and data integration points and methods that will be necessary to make your SPM or CPQ solution run seamlessly with other software solutions, such as a customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and human resources information systems (HRIS).
The right consultancy will know which software options will continue to make improvements in the future.
Assuming you don’t want to go through the process of choosing a new software within the next five years, using a third party is the best way to avoid having to! The right consultancy will know which solutions will continue to produce add-ons and make improvements to their product, helping you stay up-to-date with the best software!
The right consultancy will help you make the investment justification to your leadership.
The investment to stand up and support a new SPM or CPQ solution can be significant. Building a realistic business case, supported by real world examples, is often the difference between gaining executive mindshare for securing immediate budget approval or being pushed into next year’s prioritization and review cycle. The right consultancy has the methodology and the experience to help guide your leadership team to make the right decisions for your business.
The right consultancy will save your time and energy.
If you have gone through the steps of choosing an SPM or CPQ software solution before, you know how long and tedious the process can be. The vendors can be relentless in their pursuit of your business, leading to time spent managing their expectations versus focusing on the critical aspects of the selection process. Thankfully for you, an expert third party can take the task off your hands with the assurance that you find the right software for your company. Spend time on the more important things and let us worry about the rest!
Do you still have questions about why a third party is the right choice for your vendor selection? Just contact Canidium by clicking the button below and getting your free consultation! You can also read about what mistakes to avoid when choosing an SPM solution, by going to blog.canidium.com/vendor_selection_mistakes.
