Quote to Cash (Q2C) touches multiple business departments and potential multiple technologies. Businesses that are looking for ways to support current state and growth are hungry for the solutions for their Q2C challenges. We believe that by partnering with a strategic partner who is willing to help you define your current state, tie your Q2C goals to business objectives, and measure ROI, you can seamlessly move your business forward in your Q2C journey.

Define Q2C Current State

Finding the solutions for your Q2C challenges is going to require looking at the process, product, people, and technology. It is important for a strategic partner to be willing to keep asking “why” as they research the current state of the entire Q2C ecosystem. The team that you have hired isn’t on-site to criticize what you have in place but to help you move forward. When they ask “why”, it is to help you achieve your ultimate goal. 

Defining a current and future state without asking the important “Why” questions, is a recipe for failure.

During this definition state, we suggest having 1:1 meetings with subject matter experts to visually step through the business processes and technologies. Don’t be afraid to schedule these observation sessions during a time when you know your teams have a volume of work to do – your consultants don’t need to see the “happy path” but need to see when processes have quirks, failures, or blockers. If they don’t see these things, how will you be able to move forward? 

Once the consultants have held the individual interviews, they can put together a system process map and list of pain areas. This will give the project team a view into where to go next – future state initiatives or where to go digging for the “out of the line of sight” problems that might not have come up in the 1:1 meetings. 

Tie Q2C Goals to Business Objectives

Once the team has defined the current state, it is time to ask “where do we go from here?”. This process will involve tying the findings from current state analysis to where you want to go as a business. 

If you’re expecting ten-fold revenue growth, can your Q2C tools (including CRM, CPQ, and ERP) support that growth? Analyze these systems for any integration/swivel seat activity happening today – are there opportunities to improve the process flow using existing technologies or do you need to consider new tools? 

Are there areas in your business that can be automated and open doors for your employees to learn new skills or focus on customer satisfaction? Are there high-touch clients that can feel like they are getting a personalized experience through a customer journey built on your CRM tool?

Remember, these implementation goals should not be focused on technology. It doesn’t mean that you need to implement new tools, but perhaps improve the tools you have at hand, aligning them with processes that help the people inside and outside of your organization. Aligning your goals with business objectives will ensure that you aren’t moving at a pace the business isn’t prepared to handle. 

Measure Q2C ROI

You’ve invested in defining where you are and where you want to go, now it is time to measure. Defining your Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) will help your business understand if the processes, people, and systems are aligned to your business objectives and mission. 

While many Q2C tools provide out of the box ways to report on KPIs, you want to consider what is a valuable measure to your business: 

• Are your users adopting the processes and technologies in the Q2C system? 

• Are customers satisfied with their transactional activities throughout their Q2C experience? 

• Is the right data in the right hands at the right time? 

• Can action be taken on the KPIs when there are deviations from the expectations? 

Keep in mind that the journey to modernizing your Q2C ecosystem is not an overnight win, it is transforming your processes, products, people, and technology. If you are considering taking the next steps to move your business forward on that journey, we are here to help get it Done.Better.Together. Contact us to start the Q2C transformation and move your business forward.