Magnus Fasth is a real Tacton veteran. He’s been with the company for more than 15 years and has been heavily involved with many of our biggest customers. Last week I met with him to talk Tacton – past, present, and future.
Tacton has made a great journey during the past decade. What is the biggest difference from when you started?
The way we work and the solutions we can offer our customers. We’ve grown into a company with many talented, hard-working individuals, and it shows. We can deliver much greater value to our customers than before and have a bigger impact on the actual sales process. We no longer offer just a technical solution. Rather, we make a real, tangible difference in our projects.
What do you mean when you say that CPQ is more than just a technical solution?
We’re able to see how the end-customer interacts with CPQ in the sales situation, what prices are most common, what products are selected – and when. This functionality makes CPQ a strategic tool that helps you optimize your sales strategy. And it’s all based on extracting valuable usage data from your CPQ. That information should be reflected in your processes.
How do we extract the right data, and how can we make the most of it?
Let’s take product development as an example. It’s crucial to understand which features and functionality bring the greatest value to the end-customer. Your CPQ can help you with that. The AI technology in Tacton’s solutions helps you make more informed, intelligent decisions about your sales process and product portfolio.
That ability is really important. It’s no longer enough to gather data and create average estimates. Your data must be predictive. You must be able to look forward and understand what this data will mean tomorrow, or in a year.
I am working with a customer on precisely this. We look at historic price data to create a data-driven strategy, where the customer offers the best price in any situation.
How do you start out with CPQ Analytics?
Questions are important. Ask yourself, “What do I need to know about my customers to offer better products?”. This is equally important for the business you don’t get. “What was the reason we lost this deal, and how can we be more competitive going forward?”
We all have bias and are usually satisfied with an analysis that confirms our pre-existing opinions. But CPQ gives us the tools we need to look directly at behavior. We’re able to see how the end-customer interacts with the tool in the sales situation, what prices are most common, and what products are selected – and when. The data is there, as long as you know how to approach and understand it. That’s where CPQ can be a big help.
What do you see in the future for CPQ?
I believe we will see CPQ be used to an even greater extent than today. CPQ will increasingly be used as both an advisor and an enabler. An advisor by telling you what offer is best and will appeal to your customer the most. An enabler by connecting your customer with your product, and yourself to the manufacturing process.
All companies want to gain a deeper understanding for what product portfolio is actually working and bringing in revenue. To achieve this, you need a tool that can bridge the technical aspects of your offering with the business logic. CPQ is that tool.