With so many software solutions available, choosing the right configure, price, quote (CPQ) software is a high-stakes decision for manufacturers looking to maximize ROI and minimize risk. The best CPQ solutions streamline sales and engineering collaboration, reduce errors, and help you deliver a seamless buying experience, but poorly matched solutions can cost millions of dollars and lead to dead ends.
So how do you evaluate CPQ vendors effectively?
A strategic, well-crafted CPQ RFP (request for proposal) helps you move past feature checklists and generic demos to uncover the differentiators across competitive solutions that best align to your sales model, technical needs, and long-term growth strategy.
When (and why) you need a formal CPQ RFP
Not every company needs a formal RFP, but for manufacturers with complex quoting needs, it can be a critical step in the procurement process. You should consider issuing a CPQ RFP if you fall into one of these categories:
- You sell highly configurable or engineer-to-order (ETO) products.
- Your quoting processes span multiple geographies, sales channels, or dealer networks.
- You’re replacing legacy tools or consolidating disparate quoting/configuration systems.
- Your sales, engineering, IT, and operations teams all have a stake in the quoting process.
- You have advanced integration needs with ERP, CRM, CAD, or PLM systems.
A structured RFP can capture all stakeholder requirements and ensure that vendor responses address real-world usability, scalability, and fit with your business model.
Common CPQ RFP mistakes that undermine vendor evaluation
A weak CPQ RFP can lead to poor vendor fit, wasted time, and costly rework. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid:
- Treating CPQ like a CRM add-on: CPQ is a platform that connects sales, engineering, and operations, not just an extension of CRM or a simple quoting engine. Failing to view CPQ as a buyer engagement tool and connected part of your smart factory leads to underwhelming solutions.
- Overloading with check-the-box questions: Many RFPs include too many generic “yes or no” questions or CPQ requirement lists that produce shallow vendor responses and don’t reveal how features actually work or integrate.
- Prioritizing UI over architecture: A sleek interface doesn’t compensate for limitations in scalability, rule maintenance, or flexibility.
- Ignoring post-configuration needs: Configurator maintenance, CAD handoff, and bill of materials (BOM) generation are critical parts of automating and streamlining the entire quote-to-order process.
In your RFP, ask CPQ vendors detailed questions about how features function in real-world scenarios, not just whether they exist. Specificity helps prevent “yes” answers that hide rigid or complex implementations.
Additionally, don’t let procurement run the RFP alone. Include all impacted teams, including sales, engineering, IT, finance, and customer success, to gather requirements that reflect the full sales-to-delivery cycle.
Looking beyond CPQ: Evaluating buyer engagement capabilities
Many CPQ evaluations stop at features, but long-term success depends on deeper capabilities that align with your business complexity, go-to-market strategy, and customer experience goals.
A strategic CPQ platform should also help your organization:
- Handle product and sales complexity without sacrificing usability for sales, engineering, or channel partners.
- Scale across regions and sales models, from direct sales to dealer and distributor portals, without duplicating effort.
- Support omnichannel and self-service models while enforcing consistent business logic, rules, and pricing.
- Deliver visual, collaborative buying experiences that help buyers understand complex products.
- Incorporate industry-specific best practices rather than generalized industry support in order to adapt to specialized sales motions like configure-to-order, engineer-to-order, or service-based offerings.
- Evolve with you over time, with a scalable architecture and a proven roadmap for continuous improvement and innovation.
These are the kinds of differentiators that don’t always show up in a demo, they but make a major difference in usability, adoption, and business impact.
CPQ Evaluation Checklist: What to include in your CPQ RFP
When writing an RFP for CPQ, include important context about your business and workflows into your requirements. A typical RFP will have the following:
- Company background & project goals
- Scope of use (products, channels, geographies)
- Functional requirements (e.g., configuration, pricing, quoting, guided selling)
- Technical requirements (e.g., integrations, APIs, security, performance)
- Implementation & support approach
- Commercial Model & Licensing
- Vendor experience & references
- Evaluation criteria or demo expectations
- Timeline & submission instructions
- Optional appendices (e.g., sample workflows, product data, use cases)
This CPQ evaluation checklist is a useful starting point, with suggested elements and questions areas that you can adapt for your company.
| Evaluation Area | Strategic Discussion Prompt |
|---|---|
| Product Configuration | How does the platform support both engineer-to-order and configure-to-order workflows? How are complex rules managed—constraint-based, rule-based, or both? Can spare parts, preventive maintenance, and other services be configured alongside capital equipment? |
| Design & CAD Automation | How is CAD data integrated into the configuration process? Can CAD files, drawings, or design logic be generated automatically as part of quoting? |
| Pricing & Margin Control | How does the CPQ protect margins while supporting global price lists, partner-specific rules, or customer-specific agreements? |
| Quoting & BOM Accuracy | Can the system automatically generate accurate proposals; engineering, manufacturing and sales BOMs; and documents across regions and buyer types? |
| Guided & Needs-Based Selling | How does the platform help sellers recommend the right solution based on buyer needs, usage context, or industry? |
| Channel Consistency | How are partners and dealers enabled through the CPQ platform? Can the same configuration logic be used across direct, partner, and self-service digital channels without duplication? |
| Visualization & Experience | How are 3D visuals, augmented reality, or product renderings used to support the buyer experience during configuration? |
| Analytics & Optimization | What insights can we gather about configuration trends, quote conversion, or sales cycle time? |
| Integration & Scalability | How well does the CPQ connect to ERP, CRM, CAD, and PLM systems—and scale across regions and teams? |
| Security & Compliance | What security architecture and data governance practices are in place? What certifications (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2, ISO) and uptime SLAs are provided? |
| Platform Maintenance | How are platform upgrades, bug fixes, and performance improvements delivered and communicated? What’s the model for keeping rules, models, and logic updated? |
| Implementation & Ownership | What’s the approach to implementation and onboarding? Who owns the solution long-term—vendor, partner, or customer? |
| Licensing Model | What licensing models are available (user-based, transaction-based, enterprise), and how do they support scale, flexibility, and access across roles? |
How to compare CPQ vendor responses
After responses come in, a CPQ vendor comparison framework can help you go beyond comparing checkmarks to evaluate the depth and alignment of the vendor’s responses. Look for responses that satisfy these criteria:
- Consistency: Are answers consistent across sections?
- Specificity: Are claims backed by examples or vague assurances? Are specific case studies or proven use cases available for review?
- Integration: How tightly connected are quoting, configuration, and engineering data flows?
- Business model fit: Does the platform align with your ETO/CTO mix, global operations, or self-service needs?
A different approach to CPQ evaluation with Tacton
Following our unique CPQ evaluation approach can help you make a confident, future-ready CPQ decision. Before getting a general demo, there are important steps to take with your vendor and with your team to ensure your RFP and your evaluation are as relevant as possible to your business.
- Reverse demo: Instead of a polished vendor walkthrough, you bring your own real-world configuration and quoting scenario. This shows how well the platform handles your actual product complexity and sales process.
- Internal business case workshop: This brings together stakeholders from sales, engineering, IT, and finance to define what success looks like. This ensures your RFP and evaluation criteria are aligned to strategic goals—not just feature preferences.
- Technical workshops: Workshops focus on how rules are structured, updated, and reused across teams and channels. This helps uncover whether the platform can scale and evolve without constant vendor reliance.
- Proof of concept: By the time you’ve shortlisted your finalists, a controlled pilot validates not just platform functionality, but also team experience, support quality, and implementation fit.
This process can surface true product capabilities and ensure that what looks good in a demo can perform for your business.
Streamline your CPQ vendor comparison process and make a confident decision about the best CPQ for manufacturing. If you’re ready to see a CPQ buyer engagement platform in action, contact us to discover how we can help you redefine your digital sales.