Medical manufacturing CPQ

Medical devices, including hospital and lab equipment, are intrinsically complex.

With a multitude of accessories, connectivity variants, mutually exclusive options, and functional variations, every sales proposal involving medical devices must be valid and clear to all parties in a deal.

CPQ software embedded into the sales process helps avoid common pitfalls and costly mistakes.

Ever wondered how?

Let’s find out together.

Key takeaways

CPQ is a vital prerequisite for selling complex medical equipment, which often comes in different sizes, form-factors, and with a variety of hi-tech accessories and connectivity options.
CPQ software can help sales reps accelerate deal processing, reduce errors, and create an improved buying experience, providing a competitive edge for the selling organization.
CPQ solutions vary widely in terms of the functionality they provide and their suitability for specific product types — from basic, editable product bundles to highly sophisticated CPQ engines with built-in scripting and real-time product visualization.

Why is selling medical equipment so challenging?

When it comes to medical devices, you have to deal with a multitude of hardware modules and extensions capable of dramatically expanding the functionality of parent devices.

This is required for increased accuracy, automation of medical workflows, or applications in altogether different medical contexts.

These factors create manifold challenges within the sales environment.

How do you manage this amount of product variety, and grapple with the level of variance within the same products?

CPQ solutions are the answer.

How does CPQ software address the sales pains of medical device manufacturers?

CPQ stands for “configure-price-quote.”

As the name suggests, this software enables sellers, specifically their sales teams, to easily configure complex products and generate accurate quotes without involving technical experts in every sales opportunity.

Here are the areas where a CPQ solution can be a game-changer in medical device sales:

Managing complex product configurations
Ensuring accurate pricing
Fast quote generation
Assistance in enforcing compliance and observing regulations
Up-to-date product information
Operational scalability

In summary, CPQ software not only increases sales efficiency but also boosts the cash flow and customer experience in an omnichannel eCommerce environment.

Top features to look for in CPQ software for medical manufacturing

When you’re choosing the right CPQ tool for your business, you need to find one that can handle complexity, regulation, and customization when it comes to medical device sales. Here are some essential components your tools should have:

1. Advanced product catalog

This gives you support for bundles, modular devices, and accessories, with easy updates through spreadsheets (CSV) or APIs. PandaDoc’s product catalog makes it easy for you to organize, bundle, and price items so you can build error-free quotes and proposals.

2. Rules-based configuration

By having built-in guardrails, you prevent invalid product combinations, and having guided steps and constraint rules helps your reps choose the right options and avoid errors.

3. Flexible pricing engine

This helps you handle discounts, bundles, recurring service fees, and approval triggers automatically. PandaDoc CPQ reduces manual work while automating calculations, making pricing faster and more accurate.

4. Polished quote generation

The right tool will be able to seamlessly turn complex configurations into branded, customer-ready proposals. PandaDoc pricing tables allow customers to adjust their options and quantities.

5. Approval workflows & compliance

You should be able to send quotes for automatic review, set permissions by role, and track approvals for audit trails so that you meet regulations.

6. CRM & ERP integrations

A good CPQ solution will sync with your CRM/ERP, so you reduce manual entry and make sure all quotes have accurate inventory and costs. PandaDoc CPQ integrates with top CRMs, including Salesforce, HubSpot, and Pipedrive, along with hundreds of other apps.

7. Analytics & insights

You should be able to see which quotes convert, where discounts are used, and which options are the most popular. This will help guide your strategy when it comes to refining pricing and products.

8. Scalability & security

It’s essential to have enterprise-grade security, localization support, and strong performance as your business grows.

9. Ease of use

An intuitive design, guided workflows, and fast setup go a long way when it comes to team adoption.

Does it take long to train a sales team to work with a CPQ tool?

Sales reps do need a certain degree of knowledge of the medical domain and medical equipment to understand client requirements.

But the beauty of CPQ is that once the product catalog is set up and the rules are configured, working with the system becomes easy and straightforward.

Plus, since CPQs typically integrate with CRMs, onboarding a sales team should take around the same time as training them to use a new CRM module.

What skills do I require to learn CPQ for medical devices?

No special skills are required.

A properly configured product catalog streamlines the configuration process, enabling any sales rep to follow a pre-approved process to select the core product, its options, and the necessary accessories.

Once done, the system generates a detailed product specification along with accurate pricing that can then be sent to the customer or passed to any other system for proposal generation purposes.

Are all CPQs created equal?

No, they aren’t.

Your business model, product range, and, of course, your customers, will dictate the most appropriate CPQ implementation for achieving your business goals.

Simple products, basic pricing

If you sell relatively simple products, the most basic type of CPQ software supporting pricing tables will do the job for you.

PandaDoc CPQ, for instance, offers this functionality right out of the box.

Products with a higher degree of configurability

If your products have a higher degree of configurability, you may want to step up your CPQ game and use a more complex solution like Salesforce CPQ (potentially integrated with PandaDoc for proposal creation and management).

Highly customizable, modular products

Finally, if you work with highly sophisticated, customizable pieces of equipment, your choice of CPQ software will narrow down to robust solutions like Tacton and similar offerings.

Armed with the basics, you’re ready to start your CPQ journey!

Streamline your end-to-end operations with PandaDoc

With PandaDoc, you have two options to choose from.

For simple products, go for what PandaDoc CPQ has in stock:

Easy-to-use pricing tables and our CPQ-based workflow for a smoother quoting process
User-friendly quote editing tools
CRM data import
Highly customizable document templates
HIPAA-compliant document signatures
Fast and reliable document notarization service

For more complex products, use a combination of PandaDoc and Salesforce — for template-based document management and a more robust CPQ-based approach that your sales teams will be able to adopt in no time.

FAQ

What is CPQ manufacturing (especially for medical equipment)?

CPQ stands for configure, price, quote. When it comes to medical equipment manufacturing, CPQ can take complex, configurable products like imaging devices, diagnostic machines, sterile kits, etc. and combine them with regulatory constraints, service plans, accessories, and pricing rules. Then, it generates accurate, compliant quotes quickly. This tool replaces spreadsheets and manual quote processes that are prone to errors. It’s driven by automation, which makes sure every configuration meets technical and regulatory standards, which is essential when dealing with medical equipment.

How does CPQ integrate with ERP and CRM systems?

CPQ can work alongside ERP and CRM systems so that your data is consistent, your workflows are smooth, and you have faster quote-to-cash cycles. Here’s how:

From a CRM, CPQ can pull in customer, opportunity, or past-purchase history to personalize quotes.
From an ERP, CPQ can get inventory availability, production lead times, cost data, and pricing rules. After a quote is accepted, it can send quote/order data back into the ERP for fulfilment, invoicing, and operations.

Want to dive deeper? See How CPQ Complements CRM and CPQ-ERP Integration.

How does CPQ software benefit medical device manufacturers?

Here are some key benefits of CPQ software for medical device manufacturers:

Accuracy & compliance. With CPQ, configurations adhere to technical constraints and regulatory requirements, which reduces errors.
Speed. When you can generate quotes faster, you’ll speed up sales cycles.
Scalability. As your product lines grow and your configurations get more complex, CPQ helps to centralize rules, options, and pricing.
Better customer experience. If you have more professional, consistent proposals, you’ll have fewer back-and-forth revisions. This will lead to better experiences overall.

Improved profitability. When pricing rules are enforced, you have better control over discounting, and you’ll find more opportunities to cross-sell and upsell.

What is the ROI of implementing a CPQ solution in medical device sales?

CPQ can be very effective in giving you a high ROI in medical device sales. Here are a few examples:

Nevro, a medical device company, saw a 178% ROI and had their payback period in less than eight months after adding CPQ. Their quoting process sped up by more than 95%, and quoting errors dropped by about 70%.
In another case, a manufacturing organization implemented CPQ and saw a 53% ROI, with a 66% improvement in quoting efficiency and over $200,000 annually in time savings.
More generally, CPQ automation has been shown to reduce sales-cycle times by 28%, according to Aberdeen Group Reports.

All of these numbers mean faster deal closure, less revenue leakage, fewer errors, and higher capacity for your sales teams to focus on selling instead of unnecessary manual quoting tasks.