CPQ Software for Airline and Travel
The airline industry comprises a vast array of businesses, from aviation manufacturing to suppliers to online travel eCommerce sites. While each sector has a different business model, all enterprises in this industry have common goals: 1) provide an excellent product and compelling customer experience, 2) control costs, and 3) grow revenue.
Despite their commonalities, companies in the airline and travel industries face unique challenges. In aviation manufacturing, companies must remain profitable despite long sales cycles, complex products, and costly materials and resources. On the other hand, travel agencies must deliver personalized products and services quickly at the right price to beat the competition.
With all the complexity in the airline industry, companies that want to disrupt the market are looking for innovative sales solutions to become more efficient and deliver their products and services faster.
Digital Transformation in Travel Pricing and Ordering
The buying and selling experiences in travel and aviation have transformed as new technologies are developed to optimize operations and increase revenue in these highly-competitive industries. Digital transformation involves leveraging data-driven insights to define pricing strategies, optimize order management processes, and improve customer experiences. By utilizing digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and big data analytics, travel and aviation companies can better serve their customers.
Disruption in the Airline and Travel Industries
The travel and aviation industries have been significantly disrupted in recent years with the emergence of new technologies, changing consumer behaviors, and industry consolidation. Disruption has caused a dramatic shift in how travelers plan, book, and experience their trips. Companies such as Booking.com, Expedia, Uber, and Airbnb have revolutionized the way travelers access transportation and accommodation services by providing on-demand services and more options when it comes to booking. In addition, the growth of low-cost carriers and budget airlines has forced traditional airlines to reduce costs and become more competitive to remain profitable. These disruptions have changed the way companies operate within the travel industry, causing them to focus on creating digital experiences that are fast, easy, and convenient for travelers. As a result, the travel and aviation industries are now more customer-centric than ever.
How CPQ Helps Travel Companies Transform Sales
AI-driven technologies like CPQ software help simplify sales operations for travel companies by streamlining the process of offering customized trips and packages to customers. With CPQ, businesses can quickly create tailored product and service bundles that meet customer needs without requiring time-consuming research. This helps travel companies quickly respond to customer requests and ensures pricing accuracy and consistency. Additionally, CPQ also helps travel companies to easily track customer orders and preferences for future use. This makes it easier for businesses to provide personalized offers tailored to specific customer needs, resulting in higher conversion rates and increased revenue. With this powerful tool, travel companies can quickly transform their sales operations and streamline the process of offering customized experiences. CPQ provides a frictionless buying experience that helps travel companies succeed in an ever-evolving and competitive industry.
Challenges CPQ Solves for the Airline and Travel Industry
In addition to helping airline and travel companies digital transform to meet today’s customer preferences and new business models, CPQ also helps solve the following issues for aviation manufacturing and distribution companies:
- long sales cycles
- inconsistent pricing
- invalid product configurations that impact Engineering
- errors in quotes and delays in quote approvals
- inaccurate inventory data
- complex contracts
Here are some of the many business issues that CPQ helps solve for travel companies:
- dynamic pricing models
- personalized products and services
- inconsistent experience across channels
- manual quoting processes
CPQ Solutions for Airline and Travel
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Epicor CPQ Overview
CPQ Software Benefits for Airline Companies
Companies in the airline industry must mitigate supply chain challenges and manage engineer-to-order processes as efficiently as possible while complying with strict industry regulations. As a result, there are threats to aviation companies’ profitability in every aspect of their operations
CPQ software comes to the rescue to streamline sales operations. CPQ enables sales teams to generate accurate quotes that reflect approved prices and product availability by connecting Sales and ERP. CPQ software integrates price lists, product configurations, discounts, and product availability from the ERP system into an easy-to-use tool to produce price quotes, even for complex product configurations.
Now, let’s dive into the primary advantages airline manufacturing companies experience by implementing CPQ software.
Faster Sales Cycle: With CPQ software, sellers can quickly and easily create quotes and orders, accelerating the sales process. This can be especially helpful for companies with a complex product lineup. CPQ software can also help ensure that orders are correct, which reduces the chances of errors and delays.
Streamlines Ordering Process: CPQ software helps manufacturing companies streamline their ordering process. By automating the creation of orders and shipping documentation, CPQ ensures orders are processed quickly and correctly. This reduces the time it takes to get products from the factory to the customer, increasing customer satisfaction.
Seamlessly Transfer Orders to Engineering: Many CPQ software platforms for Manufacturing offer visual configurations with 2D or 3D models. CAD drawings and bills of materials (BOMs) can be generated using the product configurations, ensuring a seamless transfer of orders between sales and design or production.
One Source of Truth: One crucial benefit of CPQ software for aviation manufacturers is that it is integrated with the company’s ERP and CRM so sales reps access accurate customer information as well as updated pricing and real-time product availability data. Additionally, having Engineering and Sales teams working together means that potential problems with the product are identified and addressed before they become more significant issues.
Improves Sales Performance: CPQ software uses guided selling to help sales reps create quotes and proposals that maximize deal size. In addition, by understanding how different configurations of products work together, sales reps can upsell or cross-sell compatible products to meet their customer’s needs and increase average order size.
Better Data: CPQ software can also help sales managers track and analyze sales data to identify best practices and optimize sales strategies. In addition, tracking customer preferences and buying trends can help businesses better understand their target markets and develop new products or services to keep revenue growth on target.
Minimizes Errors: Quote errors can add costly manufacturing delays. CPQ software helps to reduce product configuration and quoting errors by enabling sales reps to use a click-to-customize system to deliver accurate quotes, even for complex products.
Increases Profitability: CPQ software helps sales reps uncover upsell and cross-sell opportunities so they never miss a chance to provide customers with the best product and service mix at the best value. CPQ eliminates rogue discounting with built-in approval workflows that ensure customers receive approved discounts. Additionally, CPQ software helps manufacturers quote products based on real-time inventory levels and updated product pricing. All of these benefits can help increase revenue and profitability.
CPQ Software Benefits for Travel Companies
Some of the benefits listed above also apply to travel companies, though there are some specific benefits.
Quotes Accurate Prices: The airline industry is volatile, and airline fares change constantly. For travel companies to book seats and remain profitable, sales reps must quote accurate prices. CPQ ensures prices reflect real-time price data for accurate quotes.
Faster Bookings: The travel industry is highly competitive, with customers often requesting quotes from more than one vendor. The company that responds fastest, with the best quote, may win the deal.
One Quote for Many Services: Quoting and creating competitive bids in the travel industry requires collating information from multiple sources, such as airfare, hotel, and ground transportation. CPQ automates this process, ensuring that quotes are compliant and profitable.
Increases Conversion Rates: Travel customers want speed, reliability, and customization at affordable prices. CPQ for Travel can manage dynamic pricing and multiple product variables to produce competitive price quotes that convert into closed sales.
How CPQ Software Helps Airline and Travel Companies Build-Price-Quote and Order
For airline and travel companies and aviation manufacturers, the functionality of CPQ will enable your sales team to generate accurate price quotes and contracts in the following ways:
Visual Product Configuration: CPQ software for aviation manufacturers provides 2D or 3D visualization of products so customers can see what they are ordering before they close the deal. It provides an easy-to-use interface that makes it simple to configure complex products and generate accurate production documents for the manufacturing floor.
Engaging Travel Itineraries: Travel CPQ software generates itineraries with engaging visual content that can be delivered directly to customers with a “book to click” button. This streamlines the sales process and eliminates the back-and-forth emails from sales reps to customers.
Dynamic Pricing: Pricing and discounting can be complex, whether quoting custom-manufactured products or airline travel. However, dynamic pricing has become a popular tool travel companies use to better match supply and demand, increase profits, and attract more customers. By charging different prices based on factors like time of booking, market conditions, and competitors’ prices, this approach enables businesses to maximize revenues in the short term while preserving long-term customer loyalty. With CPQ, companies can automate pricing based on real-time price lists to incentivize customers, create a sense of urgency, and close deals faster.
Approval Workflows: A tightly-controlled rules engine and approval workflow ensure correct product configurations with correct prices are sent from sales to customers.
Integration: CPQ software integrates seamlessly with other platforms, preventing errors caused by manual quoting and data synchronization issues. Most CPQ software platforms integrate with CRM, ERP, SFA, eCommerce, and PLM systems.
Reports and Analytics: CPQ software enables sales and engineering teams to leverage all product, pricing, and sales data in one place. This unified data helps generate accurate business intelligence and reports that drive business decisions, inform sales strategies, and improve forecasting.
Bundling and Segmentation: Build and bundle products built on customer segments or prior purchase history. This provides a unique buying experience that builds customer loyalty.
Order Management: Data synchronization between CPQ, ordering, and ticketing enable streamlined order management across sales channels.
Rhonda Bavaro excels in boosting SaaS companies’ growth through innovative content marketing, thriving in the dynamic sales tech industry amidst evolving technologies that drive revenue acceleration.
