Automotive Parts Supplier Cuts Quote Time From 4 Hours to 15 Minutes with Salesforce CPQ

The Problem: Every Quote Took Half a Day

A Michigan-based automotive parts manufacturer, 150 employees and $45M in annual revenue, was manufacturing precision parts for automotive OEMs and aftermarket distributors — and quoting them entirely by hand in Excel. That meant 4-6 hours per complex quote, a 15-20% pricing error rate, and deals lost simply because a competitor answered faster.

Discount approvals over 15% required a VP sign-off over email, adding 24-48 hours to every negotiation. This is the exact bottleneck Salesforce CPQ implementation exists to remove.

What We Built

• Product Rules: automated validation to stop incompatible product combinations before they reach a customer
• Price Books: customer-specific pricing, volume discounts, and contract pricing, calculated automatically
• Approval Workflows: automatic routing to the right manager or VP based on discount level, no more email chains
• Quote Templates: branded PDF quotes generated automatically
• ERP Integration: connected to their existing Epicor system for real-time inventory and pricing

Implementation took 6 weeks, including 2 weeks of user training.

The Results, After 90 Days

Read the full CPQ case study for the complete breakdown, including a 35% increase in average deal size.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Is Salesforce CPQ only for large enterprises?

No. CPQ pays off fastest for businesses with complex pricing — volume discounts, bundles, configurable products — regardless of company size. A 150-person manufacturer saw results in 90 days.

Q. Does CPQ replace our ERP?

No, it integrates with it. CPQ handles the quoting and approval logic; your ERP stays the system of record for inventory and fulfillment.

Q. How long does a CPQ implementation take?

Typically 4-8 weeks depending on pricing complexity and the number of product lines involved.