Zilliant CPQ Overview

Zilliant CPQ, previously In Mind Cloud, is a complete cloud system that is purpose-built for B2B manufacturers and distributors. Unlike traditional CPQ platforms, Zilliant offers a platform that combines price management and optimization, rep-led quoting, ecommerce interfaces, and advanced revenue intelligence.

Zilliant CPQ is a fully integrated configure, price, quote (CPQ) platform that lets distributors and manufacturing businesses develop personalized quotes for highly configurable products. Companies in the medical device, construction, automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment, engineering and electrical equipment, and wholesale ecommerce industries can use Zilliant’s CPQ software to design products with 3D models, calculate prices, and generate professional quotes in a streamlined sales workflow. It also helps service-based businesses (e.g., staffing services, shipping, transportation, rentals, and advertising) optimize their bill rate markups and reduce time-to-quote.

The platform seamlessly integrates with existing ERP, CRM, CAD, and eCommerce systems, meaning you’ll access the latest product and warehouse data and customer information when building configurations and creating quotes. With Zilliant’s Price IQ, you’ll get AI-driven pricing recommendations from advanced AI models specifically built for manufacturing and distribution use cases. The Agreements Management module enables your sales team to streamline negotiation and close profitable sales deals. And Zilliant Revenue Intelligence helps you spot upsell and cross-sell opportunities, pinpoint declining customer spend, and solve inventory management, contract compliance, and self-service challenges.

Why this product is good

Positives of Zilliant CPQ Software

  • AI-powered dynamic price optimization and pricing management tools ensure competitive and profitable pricing for every deal in the pipeline.
  • Guided selling and granular revenue insights help businesses form and execute product- and segment-specific sales strategies, prioritize sales efforts, and track results over time.
  • Tailored configuration and quoting features help sellers easily create custom quotes, which increases customer satisfaction and shortens the sales cycle.

Product Details

What is Zilliant CPQ?

Zilliant CPQ is a product configurator and quoting software designed for complex manufacturing and distribution environments, including Configure-to-Order, Engineer-to-Order, Manufacturing-as-a-Service, and mass-production models. Its product modules integrate with the rest of your tech stack for a cohesive data flow between sales, product, engineering, and finance teams.

Features include:

  • Real-time visualization and showroom
  • Native CAD and maps integrations for dymanic configuration
  • Multi-level data integration with ERP backend
  • Automated rule and constraint management
  • Interactive costing and pricing tools
  • Instant document generation
  • Access to 3D virtual catalogs
  • Smart selling features

Real-Time Visualization and Showroom: Interactive visualization allows sales reps and customers to see exactly what the end product will look like even before manufacturing begins. With Zilliant’s “real-time showroom,” sellers, dealers, and customers get on-demand access to your product, component, spare parts, and service catalogs. They can select products, build bundles, and get AI-powered smart recommendations to arrive at the optimal solution.

Native CAD and Maps Integrations for Dynamic Configuration: Zilliant CPQ integrates directly with CAD systems and map services. This allows for detailed and accurate configurations, which are especially beneficial for complex manufacturing projects. The dynamic configuration capabilities mean engineers and sales reps can make changes on-the-fly, with the configuration adapting instantly.

Multi-Level Data Integration with ERP Backend: With seamless communication between Zilliant CPQ and a company’s ERP system, data from product inventory, financials, customer details, and more is always up-to-date and readily available. Whenever a rep or customer creates a new product, the product configurator will automatically know whether parts/components are available and if execution is possible.

Automated Rule and Constraint Management: Businesses set predefined rules and constraints for product configurations before integrating Zilliant into their sales, engineering, and manufacturing processes. Compatibility rules, manufacturing constraints, and regulatory requirements are company-specific and easily updated. The automated system ensures every configuration is viable, which eliminates costly mistakes and speeds up the sales process.

Interactive Costing and Pricing Tools: Zilliant CPQ includes tools to calculate the cost of various configurations automatically and apply pricing rules to generate an accurate price instantly. The software’s backend accounts for material costs, labor costs, discount structures, and other critical costing factors. This not only speeds up the quotation process but also verifies pricing is always profitable and competitive.

Instant Document Generation: Sales teams can take their product configurations and instantly generate a bill of materials (BOM), request for quote (RFQ), quote, sales proposal, or contractual agreement. Automated approval workflows enable you to route the necessary documents to the right team memebrs for review and approval. All these features improve sales collaboration and make for a faster quote-to-cash process.

Access to 3D Virtual Catalogs: 3D virtual catalogs enable sales representatives to present and demonstrate products virtually, making it an invaluable tool for remote sales efforts. It enables immersive, interactive product presentations that can help to better engage potential customers and more effectively communicate the product’s features and benefits. Catalogs also integrate with a website’s backend, so customer self-service portals are always updated for buyers that want to reorder or configure their own product.

Smart Selling Features: Product bundling, Smart Recommendations, and guided selling workflows empower sales teams to upsell and cross-sell more effectively. Bundling allows for selling multiple complementary products together, recommendations suggest additional or alternative products based on the customer’s selections, and guided selling aids representatives in steering customers toward optimal product configurations. These features can increase the average deal size while simplifying the process for the buyer, who only wants the best possible solution.

9/5/2023 Update
Based on capterra.com

What are the advantages of using Zilliant CPQ?

Zilliant CPQ Benefits

There are numerous benefits to using Zilliant CPQ for manufacturing sales operations. A few of the most outstanding include:

  • Streamlined sales processes that reduce manual effort and time-consuming tasks
  • Accurate product configurations that meet customer expectations
  • Reduced risk of miscommunication or confusion between reps and customers
  • Increased profitability by eliminating costly errors in configuration
  • Faster lead-to-order and quote-to cash times
  • Enhanced customer experience due to immersive 3D virtual product catalogs
  • Increased sales efficiency with smart selling features
9/5/2023 Update
Based on capterra.com

What industries are CPQ solutions best suited for?

Zilliant CPQ for Industries

Zilliant CPQ is designed to address the challenges Manufacturing companies face when quoting customizable products and services. Here’s how it caters to them:

Discrete Manufacturing

Accurate Quotes for Complex Projects: Zilliant can handle simple standard products to complex, custom-engineered solutions. It integrates with a manufacturer’s ERP system to ensure pricing and product data are always up-to-date. This allows for the creation of accurate quotes quickly, reducing errors and delays.

Real-time Costing and Pricing: Zilliant allows manufacturers to see the impact of different configurations on costs and margins in real time. This allows sales teams to quickly create attractive offers for customers.

Configuration Engine for Complex Products: Zilliant has a built-in configuration engine that can handle complex products with multiple options and dependencies. This ensures that only valid configurations are quoted, reducing the risk of errors.

Industrial Machines & Equipment

Accurate Configuration with Real-time ERP Data: Industrial machines can have many variations depending on motors, controls, and other components. Zilliant CPQ integrates with a manufacturer’s ERP system, ensuring real-time access to accurate data on available parts and pricing. This eliminates errors caused by outdated information and speeds up configuration.

Dynamic Costing and Competitive Pricing: With Zilliant CPQ, manufacturers can see cost fluctuations based on chosen configurations. This allows for on-the-fly adjustments to pricing while maintaining profitability. They can also perform simulations to test different pricing strategies and find the most competitive edge.

2D/3D Visualization and CAD Integration: Zilliant enables real-time 2D or 3D visualization of the configured machine which can be immensely helpful for both the sales team explaining the configuration to the customer and the engineering team ensuring its feasibility. Additionally, it can integrate with existing CAD software for a seamless workflow.

Prices

Zilliant CPQ Pricing

The price of Zilliant CPQ is not published online. Contact their sales department for a custom quote.

CPQ Integrations

Competitors and Alternatives to Zilliant CPQ

Several things make the Zilliant platform great, but it isn’t for everyone. It only benefits manufacturers and requires a high level of technical expertise. Small or regional manufacturers without in-house IT/engineering resources may want to consider Zilliant alternatives.

Top Zilliant CPQ Alternatives

Experlogix CPQ

Experlogix CPQ is an excellent alternative to Zilliant CPQ for manufacturers seeking a streamlined solution for complex product configurations. Its visual configuration interface, complete with 2D and 3D visuals, enables sales teams to present product options clearly, reducing guesswork and accelerating approvals. With seamless integration into ERP systems and CRM platforms like Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365, Experlogix ensures smooth quote-to-manufacture workflows. A robust rules engine guarantees compatibility, minimizing errors and building confidence in complex quotes. Guided selling and real-time updates make configuration intuitive, while transparent quotes eliminate confusion, fostering trust between sales, engineering, and customers.

Epicor CPQ

Epicor CPQ offers manufacturers an immersive sales experience through its built-in visual configurator. This feature eliminates the need for third-party CAD tools, allowing customers to interact with virtual 2D, 3D, or augmented reality representations of products during configuration. Epicor streamlines the quote-to-order process with advanced configuration logic that handles complex pricing models and automatically generates accurate BOMs and CAD files. Its user-friendly interface further simplifies adoption, enabling sales teams to easily create accurate, high-value quotes.

Configure One

Configure One CPQ excels in managing complex product configurations and streamlining the quote-to-order process. It enables sales teams to configure intricate products, generate dynamic pricing tied to real-time production data, and deliver visually detailed quotes with bills of materials. The platform supports customized specification sheets, order invoices, and historical change tracking for transparent documentation. Features like guided selling and constraint management ensure accurate configurations, while automated BOM creation and dynamic pricing enhance efficiency. With real-time visibility, eCommerce capabilities, seamless integrations with ERP and CRM systems, and robust customization options, Configure One CPQ is an all-in-one solution for improving sales operations and customer experience.

Vendavo

Vendavo CPQ stands out as a strong alternative to Zilliant CPQ for manufacturers seeking a comprehensive sales and pricing solution. Designed to empower B2B sales teams, Vendavo streamlines complex product configurations and pricing scenarios, ensuring accurate quotes and protecting margins. It features a user-friendly visual configuration tool, guided selling prompts for efficiency and accuracy, and dynamic proposals tailored to customer needs. Advanced pricing rules and real-time margin visibility help businesses maintain profitability while optimizing pricing strategies. Vendavo CPQ also supports customer success by identifying upsell opportunities and minimizing churn risks, making it a well-rounded tool for driving sales performance and profitability.

Logik

Logik is a product configuration tool that handles ramp deals, staggered deployment, and custom pricing multi-dimensional pricing. It can set up personalized long-term agreement formats and SLAs tailored to each group of customers. Logik is unique in the sense that it isn’t a standalone CPQ — it’s a headless platform that extends the capabilities of Salesforce CPQ or Oracle CPQ with pre-built connections, and of any other CPQ system through APIs. If your company runs on Sales Cloud and you already use Salesforce CPQ, Logik provides an innovative way to access the specialized SaaS quoting tools.

FAQs

Common Questions and Answers

Why do we use CPQ?

Businesses use CPQ software to create, manage, and optimize their sales processes. Without an automated software that could manage product data and reflect it in real-time as customers/sales reps build products, it would be difficult (or impossible) to accurately configure and price products then generate their respective quotes. CPQ enables businesses to streamline their sales operations and reduce manual effort so that they can scale up faster with minimal risk of errors.

What other business applications integrate with Zilliant CPQ?

Most of Zilliant’s features are natively integrated into the cloud platform, but it can be connected to any ERP system via a 3rd party integration. Since the platform is available only as a package deal, it already comes with CRM, CPQ, and physical/digital commerce tools built in. It also offers industry specific tools for engineers, product designers, and sales teams.

CPQ Integrations
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