CPQ (configure, price, quote) is software that lets a seller build a valid product configuration, price it under the current rules and produce the quote document inside the CRM.
A worked example
An illustration with round numbers. A rep quotes 40 seats of a $100-a-month software plan for 12 months. Configure: the plan is a bundle that requires an onboarding service, so the rep can't build the quote without it. Price: a volume tier takes 10% off at 25 seats or more, so the seats come to $43,200 for the year instead of $48,000. The rep adds a further 5% to close the deal; policy says anything beyond the schedule needs a manager, so the quote routes for approval before it can be sent. Quote: once approved, the PDF goes out with the right terms, the customer accepts it online, and it becomes an order without anyone retyping a line.
When you need one, and how to tell it worked
Not every team needs CPQ. A short list of flat-rate products, little discounting and a few dozen quotes a quarter can live on standard Salesforce quotes and a locked template. CPQ earns its cost once products come in bundles or tiers, discounts need approval, or the accepted quote has to become an order and an invoice without re-keying. Measure quote turnaround and rework before you start, then again after go-live. For direction, Nucleus Research's 2024 review of CPQ ROI case studies found CPQ delivers an average ROI of 121%, with payback within 16 months of deployment; many of those case studies are vendor-sponsored, so read it as an average, not a forecast. More in do you need a full CPQ? and what is CPQ in Salesforce?
In Salesforce
Sales Cloud on its own has Products, Price Books and a standard Quote object that produces a PDF, but no configuration rules or tiered pricing, so bundles and discount policy end up in spreadsheets and reps' heads. Salesforce CPQ (namespace SBQQ, formerly SteelBrick) added them as a managed package. It has been end of sale since March 2025, not end of life: no end-of-life date has been announced, and existing customers can renew, add users and get support. New features go to Revenue Cloud Advanced, which is built on core objects with a new data model and lists at $200 (Advanced) or $150 (Growth) per user per month; a full rebuild from Salesforce CPQ runs 12–18 months in practice.
How Kugamon handles it
Kugamon CPQ is a managed package (kugo2p) on the standard Salesforce Product and Price Book, so a Quote, its lines and the Order are records in your org. Configure: Kit/Bundles with Required and Optional members, and Configuration Groups and Options with minimum and maximum selections. Price: List, Cost, Tiered (Volume or Slab) and Account Pricing, applied in a fixed hierarchy, plus an optional header discount and multi-currency. Quote: PDF templates, versioning, cloning, native Salesforce or Flow approvals, and online acceptance by link. A won Quote converts to an Order with its lines filled in, and Order Release creates the downstream records. The CPQ edition is $65 per user per month, and implementation typically takes 4–8 weeks.
Related terms
Source: nucleusresearch.com