CPQ consulting · Sales
Your team quotes products with options, and every quote needs someone to check it.
A buyer asks for a panel with two extra feeders, a different motor and delivery to a second site. Your rep sends the question to the works, waits for a reply, then types a price into a Word file. Nobody can say whether the options were allowed together.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Configure, price and quote (CPQ) means rules that decide which options can be sold together, what each combination costs, and who approves the exception. GullySales writes those rules down, builds them in a spreadsheet or a CPQ tool, and connects the quote to your CRM and order entry.
CPQ consulting puts the product rules, the price list and the approval limits into one place that your team can follow. That place can be a well-built spreadsheet. A CPQ tool earns its subscription only when the rules outgrow the sheet, and we say so before you buy anything.
This page is about the rules and the tool. The quotation process around them, such as who sends, who follows up and how revisions are numbered, is quotation management. Picking a CRM is CRM consulting and selection, and writing the narrative document is proposal development.
Who it is for
This is written for you if these sound familiar.
- Machine, pump and panel makers whose products carry options, accessories and dependent parts
- Modular kitchen, furniture and interior firms pricing by size, finish and fitting
- Software and service firms with plans, add-ons, user counts and bundles
- Owners whose quotes depend on one person who knows which options fit together
- Dealers and distributors quoting from several price lists that change at different times
- Teams whose quotes are built in Excel but never reach the CRM or the order desk
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You sell a short list of fixed items at fixed prices. A clean price list and a quotation template are enough, and a CPQ tool would add cost without removing work.
- You want a vendor chosen for you without involving the people who build quotes. Rules that the quoting team did not help write get worked around.
- You expect GullySales to set your prices and discount limits. Those decisions stay with your owner or commercial head; we record them and build them in.
The problem
Does this sound like your business?
Common situations this work addresses.
“Only one person knows what fits with what”
The product rules live in a senior engineer's head or in old emails. When that person is away, reps guess, and the works finds the mistake after the order is placed.
“Two reps quoted different prices for the same machine”
Each rep uses a different copy of the sheet or a different version of the price list. The buyer sees both quotes and trusts neither.
“The sheet has grown too big to trust”
Formulas have been patched for years, and a broken cell passes unnoticed. Nobody dares edit it, so a new option takes days to add.
“The accepted quote is typed again into the order”
Once the buyer says yes, someone copies the quote into the order entry or accounting software by hand. The copy introduces its own errors.
What we do
The work we can include.
Each deliverable and the purpose it serves. Your written scope confirms what is included, who is responsible, and what it costs.
Product and option rules document
A written list of every option, which options need which, which cannot sit together, and which parts are added automatically. Your technical lead signs it before anything is built.
Price list structure
One structure for base prices, option prices, quantity breaks and customer or dealer price levels, each with an owner and an effective date. Old lists are retired, not left open beside the new one.
Approval matrix
A table of who may approve which discount or non-standard line, and what the rep does while waiting. Your owner sets the limits; we build the routing.
Quote template
A quote layout showing options, GST shown separately, validity and payment stages, filled from the configuration instead of typed. Your adviser reviews the tax and legal wording.
Spreadsheet or tool decision note
A plain comparison of keeping a controlled spreadsheet and moving to a CPQ tool, using your own rule count, exceptions and number of quoting users. It records what each route would still leave undone.
Build in the chosen route
A controlled workbook with locked formulas and input lists, or a configured CPQ tool. Either one is tested against real past quotes before your team uses it.
CRM and order entry connection map
A written map of which fields pass from the quote to the opportunity and then to the sales order or invoice. Connections that need developer work are marked as separate scope.
Exception log
A running list of quotes that did not fit the rules. It shows which rule is missing and which requests need a deal-by-deal decision.
How the result is measured
- Corrections made after a quote is sent
- Approvals requested, and the rule that triggered each
- Time from complete enquiry to approved quote
- Exceptions logged and rules added
- Share of accepted quotes passed to the CRM and order entry without retyping
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Before you decide
Agree the work. Know how to judge it.
CPQ consulting: use these checks to prepare, choose the scope, and review what changes.
Bring the right evidence
List the records your team uses and show how an enquiry becomes an order today. Bring examples of duplicate entries, missing owners, and reports that require manual correction.
Make the scope clear
Agree the stages, required fields, access roles, and integrations before configuring the system. Separate software subscriptions from setup, data work, and training.
Check the work in use
Ask the people who will use the CRM to complete a real handover and find the next action without help. Check that the management report can be traced back to individual records.
Know when to change course
If the process is unclear, buying a more complex CRM adds more places for confusion. Start with the minimum fields and rules the team can use consistently.
These are discussion points, not a fixed package. GullySales confirms the deliverables, responsibilities, fee, and term in writing after reading your brief and speaking with you.
How it works
How the CPQ consulting work runs
The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.
- 1
Quote walk-through
We take ten past quotes, including a lost one and an awkward one, and trace how each was built. Your quoting team confirms what the rules really are.
- 2
Rules and price sign-off
We write the option rules, price structure and approval limits as documents. Your technical lead and owner approve them before any build.
- 3
Route decision
We put the spreadsheet route and the tool route side by side against your rules. You choose; if a tool is chosen, vendor terms and exit conditions are read first.
- 4
Build and test against past quotes
We rebuild the ten quotes in the new set-up and compare totals line by line. Differences are either a build error or a rule that was never written down.
- 5
Connection to CRM and order entry
We set up the agreed handoff of the quote into your CRM and the order or invoice step. Your accounts lead checks a sample order end to end.
- 6
Team handover
Reps and approvers practise on live enquiries. We name who maintains the price list and who adds new options.
Before you hire anyone
Do this first yourself.
Pull your last ten quotes and see how much of each came from a rule and how much came from someone's memory.
- List every option you sell and write beside each the options it needs and the options it cannot sit with.
- Collect every price list in use and note which one each rep actually opens.
- Write down the discount each person may give without asking, and who they ask beyond that.
- Pick two lost quotes and two won ones and note where the price or options were changed after sending.
- Count how many people build quotes and how many edit the price list.
Judge any provider
What to ask any provider of this service.
Useful whoever you choose, including us.
- Will you write the product and option rules down before choosing or building anything?
- Can you show a case where you advised staying on a spreadsheet?
- Do you have any commercial relationship with the tools you recommend?
- How will you test the build against our own past quotes?
- Who owns the price list and the rules after handover, and how do new options get added?
- Which connections to our CRM and order entry are included, and which are separate scope?
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 4, presentation and proposal. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Do we need CPQ software, or is a spreadsheet enough?
Do you partner with a CPQ vendor or take a commission?
Will CPQ raise our sales or win rate?
Who decides discount limits?
Is the quote template legal or tax advice?
How is this priced, and how long does it take?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
By industry
CPQ consulting, written for your industry.
Related services
Often bought with this, or instead of it.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.