How customers win with PandaDoc CPQ

A key aspect of PandaDoc’s mission to make document management easier is to remove friction in the quoting process. As teams scale and deals become complex, growing businesses need solutions that help them move faster, while still reducing quoting errors and standardizing processes across their team.

We asked our customers how they knew it was time for a CPQ solution and why they ultimately chose PandaDoc to help unify their revenue team’s selling processes.

Lack of visibility and fragmentation in the sales cycle

Without a unified process in place, miscommunication between revenue teams is common. Lack of visibility into the sales pipeline makes it difficult to track the end-to-end status of quotes and contracts, leaving room for errors and unintended discounts that can impact the bottom line.

When HAAS Alert, a software/automotive solutions provider based in Chicago,  outgrew the pricing table included in the PandaDoc Business Plan, they needed a solution to address the intricacies of their complex pricing structure. Their finance team was playing an instrumental role in manually approving proposals before they were sent to customers, making some deals vulnerable to bottlenecks and delays.

“Before we had a [CPQ] solution in place, discounts would vary wildly, and interpreting these documents for invoicing caused mistakes. We had a full-time employee spending 75% of their time trying to fix and process issues from these documents, and even then, discrepancies were common,” said Emerson McCuin, Director of Revenue Operations at HAAS Alert.

Emerson explored other CPQ solutions that promised improved efficiency and accuracy, but during the evaluation phase, he encountered significant pushback from the sales team:

• Reps faced the challenge of having to navigate multiple software platforms to generate proposals, which complicated their workflow and led to further inefficiencies.
• They found the proposed solutions cumbersome and not user-friendly, as they failed to integrate with their existing systems.

Like many companies without a quoting solution deeply integrated into the sales process, revenue and sales leadership at HAAS Alert risked significant deal delays, disputes, and potential revenue loss. As companies like theirs grow, automating manual tasks becomes essential — and tools like PandaDoc CPQ can drive efficiency in an otherwise complex process.

How PandaDoc CPQ helped

Since HAAS Alert’s sales team was already familiar with the basics of PandaDoc, Emerson collaborated closely with our product team to evaluate challenges with their quoting process. Our product team gave them early access to PandaDoc CPQ, giving their sales reps a guided quoting experience that provided them flexible pricing rules, an easy way to enforce company guidelines, and assurance that every proposal sent was in compliance. Most notably:

• HAAS Alert integrated PandaDoc’s CPQ functionalities into their CRM, giving reps the ability to  package products with multiple SKUs, send multi-option agreements, and then push line items back to their CRM when a contract was signed.
• All quoting updates were instantly reflected in their CRM and Maxio (A billing solution for recurring billing and subscription management), reducing administrative overhead and enabling the sales team to focus on closing deals rather than managing contract complications.

Within months, the need for manager oversight on every proposal was greatly reduced because of the quality assurance measures built into PandaDoc CPQ. Sales reps can easily input variables such as service start and end dates, while the necessary calculations occur seamlessly in the background. 

Simplifying lengthy and complex quoting processes

Lengthy sales cycles result in missed opportunities that can delay and even kill deals. With a complex quoting process, escalations occur often causing bottlenecks and creating compliance challenges. This was the case for CloverDX, a software provider based in the United Kingdom who outgrew their old pricing structure and needed a solution that would simplify quoting without reinventing the wheel.

As CloverDX’s product offering evolved, transitioning from a straightforward license-based model to a more complex array of service options, it required a more robust quoting solution.

“Each team would have different offerings, some more service-focused components and some around training, and that’s where the complexity started,” said Vickey Santoso-Montoya, Director of Revenue Operations at CloverDX.  “What we wanted to show, whether it was an existing customer or a prospect is that we’ve got three different types of plans, and this is what you receive within each of the plans, and allow the customer to consider what their options are and easily compare the differences.”

CloverDX experienced growing pains when introducing new plans, pricing, and product offerings that were difficult to manage without additional manual intervention. When additional checks and balances are needed to ensure accurate proposals, a CPQ solution is critical to help automate the process of generating error-free proposals.

How PandaDoc CPQ helped

With the significant improvements they’d seen using PandaDoc for their proposals, CloverDX explored how they could find solutions for their challenges with quoting. Soon after, they discovered some key advantages: 

• Customer-facing teams, particularly their renewals team, can manage existing customers on specific plans by proposing three default options: staying on the current plan, renewing with potential discounts for multi-year commitments, or upgrading to a higher service tier.
• For net new business, sales reps initiate a PandaDoc quote directly from their CRM. This provides a guided selling experience based on dynamic pricing models and rule engines, significantly reducing the time sales teams spend correcting errors and allowing them to focus more on closing deals.

When companies begin to grow and scale their operations — whether it involves onboarding more sales reps, venturing into new markets, or taking on additional business — revenue leaders must remain agile and adaptable in their approach to revenue growth. Growth introduces new complexities, from managing larger teams to handling an increased volume of deals, which requires streamlined processes and tools that evolve alongside the business.

This was the case for Luigi’s Box, a software provider based on Slovakia, staying ahead meant reevaluating their workflows and adopting solutions to maintain efficiency, improve deal accuracy, and support their expanding operational needs.

Luigi’s Box’s primary challenge revolved around manual approvals for pricing, which were time-consuming and prone to delays. They needed a system that would empower their sales team with flexible (yet accurate) pricing structures while eliminating the need for constant intervention from sales and operations managers.  “We faced constant delays due to manual approvals and complex pricing structures,” said Natália Gažiová, Sales Operations Specialist at Luigi’s Box.

Companies like Luigi’s Box often need to strike a balance between giving reps the freedom to personalize proposals and quotes, while also ensuring they work within the lines of company boundaries. PandaDoc CPQ gives reps a guided experience based on rules enforced by PandaDoc Admins.

How PandaDoc CPQ helped

Natália quickly recognized PandaDoc’s potential to improve Luigi’s Box’s sales efficiency in their quoting process. She worked closely with our product team to scope the capabilities of PandaDoc’s CPQ features, aiming to empower sales representatives with flexible pricing structures that adhered to company guidelines without compromising accuracy.

By integrating PandaDoc’s CPQ functionalities into their existing workflows, Luigi’s Box could automate pricing calculations and enforce rules directly linked to their product options, discounts, and customizations. This not only simplified the proposal creation process but also provided sales reps with a guided experience to select appropriate pricing based on predefined parameters.

As a result, the need for manager approval on every proposal was significantly reduced, with quality assurance measures built into the pricing strategy itself.

A CPQ solution customers love

We understand the challenges businesses face when trying to streamline their sales processes — especially while they’re scaling for growth. PandaDoc CPQ is designed specifically with growing businesses in mind, helping eliminate inefficiencies, reduce errors, and empower teams with a seamless quoting process.

Ready to overcome the hurdles holding back your revenue growth? Book a demo with PandaDoc today.