Mudit Agarwal, current VP and Head of Go-to-Market Apps at Genesys, has experience in creating and revamping Quote-to-Cash processes (how you create, collect, and manage your revenue). We recently had a chance to connect with him and learn how he’s been able to build Q2C processes that effectively scale.
Check out our interview below to read what he said!
What are some of the major challenges you have faced in your Quote-to-Cash process?
We were burdened with scalability and adaptability issues last year. This translated to adding a lot of customization based on business requirements, changes in product, and usage and subscription terms.
That’s when we decided we needed to move away from custom solutions and opt for a more standard solution. In fact, we are now working on implementing Salesforce CPQ.
Have you been implementing more use-case solutions or end-to-end processes?
The process we are implementing now is an end-to-end solution. We are going to rip apart the old customizations and replace them with a CPQ platform that’s fast, flexible and scalable.
When thinking through the implementation of a new CPQ platform, we’ve had to think beyond product configurations, bundle setups, or price and product rules. We asked ourselves:
- How do we order the product?
- How do we handle contracting?
- How do we support the customer?
- How do we manage renewals?
- How do we make amendments?
How important is automation to your Q2C process?
I think it plays a huge role in the process. One of the goals for the program is to have an automated, end-to-end process. We are hoping this enables us to expand our pool of target customers and start selling to smaller businesses.
More specifically, we want to get to a level of automation where we can help the customer get what they want, when they want. This means allowing them to purchase a contact center online that’s specific to their needs, and then allow them to access—and pay—an invoice without having to talk to anyone. This level of automation is not just a program goal but also a company goal.
What are some areas to focus on when optimizing Quote-to-Cash?
I think there are several things to consider. First, you want to support your sales team. Your organization has a limited number of salespeople, so focus on automations that can help them sell more.
Second, there are a lot of things that have to happen on the backend. For instance, a customer might make a purchase and then come back later and want to purchase more. Do you have processes in place so that you can sell more to that customer? Build scalable back-end processes so that you don’t have to put too many people on your order management and usage data collection.
Third, focus on reducing credit memos. They prevent you from collecting cash on time and provide a bad customer experience.
What tips do you have for preventing re-implementations?
You have to have good requirements in order to effectively justify any part of building the solution. To nail down clear and concise requirements, you should tightly manage the process of requirement, clarification, and gathering. You also need to identify what can be done now and what can be punted for a later release. Until you have that governance process in place, it’s really hard to manage projects.
What advice would you give to others who are trying to revamp their Quote-to-Cash process?
If you are implementing a CPQ software and work with a standard tool, try to stay within its capabilities. Customizations can cause issues later on, like when you want to implement new product updates or order version updates.
Are you thinking of revamping your Quote-to-Cash process? Join our Business Systems community and ask 600+ Business Technology professionals for tips!
