Salesforce CPQ Interview Questions Part 2

Salesforce CPQ Interview Questions Part 1

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1.What are search filters in Quote line editor?

The quote line editor’s search filter can be used to filter products, assets, or subscriptions by their field values.

2.What is the difference between product rule and price rule?

The overall structure of price rules and product rules is the same:

• Rule Record – Which contains general properties.
• Conditions – Both support Advanced Condition Logic
• Actions

Product Rules 

Product Rules are used to enforce business logic, help automate feedback to sales reps about product selections and they also accelerate the quoting process.

There are 4 types of Product Rules:

Validation Rules: When the conditions are not met, an error message is displayed, and the users can’t continue until the situation is fixed. So, they act as a hard stop.

Alert Rules are a soft stop as compared to the Validation Rules’ hard stop. They also display a message, but it’s more as a suggestion because the user can proceed without meeting the specified business requirements.

Selection Rules: can add, remove, show, hide, enable, or disable or perform some combination of these actions on product options within a bundle or they can add a product to a quote. This rule can be a great way to leverage Guided Selling to guide your reps to the appropriate or most desired options by automatically selecting the right products. 

Filter Rules are used in bundles to pull in product options from the product catalog using a filter rule. This is often referred to as creating a dynamic bundle.

Price Rules 

Price Rules can be considered to make field updates within the calculation that will affect the pricing. you can use them to set discount and quantities.

3.What are considerations for twin fields?

Remember that a twin field should be of the same data type and API name as the corresponding field created on the Product Option object.

4. How to setup Subscription Products in Salesforce CPQ?

There are three essential fields for setting up Subscription Products in Salesforce CPQ.

Product Field	Data Type	Description
Subscription Pricing	Picklist	The product would not be considered as a Subscription without this field being set to either Fixed Price or Percent of Total.
Subscription Term	Number	This is the period associated with the purchase, so you can set it to 12 months if it is an Annual Subscription.
Subscription Type	Picklist	This field determines whether the product is Renewable or One-Time. Renewable Subscriptions transfer to Renewal Quotes. One-Time Subscriptions will not.

 

To create Subscription Products, create new products Record. Fill the fields – Subscription Pricing, Subscription Type, and Subscription Term for the Product. Note that during contract creation, Subscription Products convert to Subscription records.

5. What is the difference between option constraints and product rules?

Option Constraints and Product Rules have different use cases.

Option Constraints cannot select products automatically. (although they can deselect products when dependency applies). They are good at two scenarios:

• dependency
• exclusion

option constraints allow for real-time processing. Whenever the user selects or deselects an option, the dependency, or the exclusion fires immediately.

Product Rules has more features than option constraint, though it is required to choose an evaluation event to specify when Salesforce CPQ should consider and run a product rule: Load, Edit, Save, or Always.

6. Explain Product Bundle in CPQ?

There are three key objects that define bundle structure: 

• Product
• Options
• Features

Product

Bundles are made of products. Products can be referenced in a bundle either as a bundle parent or as product options. Think of Laptop as product

Product options

They are like children that sit under the bundle parent, and they are what really brings the bundle together because bundles are created when you add Options to a Product in the Options related list. Product options for laptop can be mouse, keyboard, charger, Microsoft software.

Features

They are categories of product options within the configuration. They are not mandatory, but they can be used for a better visual experience, and they also help drive additional logic such as Min/Max Options. Features are like putting options inside features e.g.:

Software

• Microsoft Software

Hardware

• Mouse
• Keyboard

Here Hardware and Software are features which categorize product options.

There are three types of bundles:

Static bundle. This would be the traditional, pre-packaged, fixed bundle where you sell certain products together at a fixed price, and the user doesn’t need to go into the configuration because no adjustments are allowed.

Configurable Bundle. This type of bundle can be configured with certain restrictions to avoid impossible configurations. The user can select different options to customize the bundle to meet the customer’s needs. 

Nested Bundle. These are bundles within other bundles. It’s recommended to keep the nested bundles on to three levels deep. Nested bundles are easily created by adding the parent product of a bundle as an option to another bundle.

Virtual Bundle. This type of bundle works as a container for other products. To set up a virtual bundle parent, it should be associated with a price of $0.00.

 

Dynamic Bundles. These functions in conjunction with product filter rules let your sales reps’ select products from a pre-filtered list of options they are allowed to choose from.

7.What are Features in CPQ?

The feature object is related to products, and it “sits” within bundles. A bundle can have multiple Features or none, and a Feature can have multiple Options. 

Features serve two purposes:

• They offer a better user experience as they’re navigating through product options within the bundles.
• The fields on the feature records help us drive business logic, like setting the minimum and maximum options, preventing the user from selecting too few or too many options. If the user fails to meet the min/ max requirements and tries to save the configuration.

The Number field sets the display order of the features, the feature with the lowest number coming first on the list. It is recommended to use increments of 10 when assigning numbers.

Configured SKU field is automatically populated when the user creates a feature from the bundle product’s detail page, and it represents the parent product that is housing the feature.

8. Explain different values of option selection method field in features object?

The Option Selection Method field controls how the options attached to this feature appear to the user.

Click – options appear as a list with checkboxes next to them:

Add – the options collapse, and an Add Options button appears instead. The Add Options button should be clicked to navigate to a separate page that shows the products for this feature.

 

Dynamic – renders an Add Options button, which brings up a pre-filtered list of products available for selection. To use this functionality, you should set up a Salesforce CPQ Filter Product Rule for Dynamic Bundles.

9. Explain lookup object field?

Product rules and price rules in Salesforce CPQ contain the Lookup Object field. This field defines the object that stores data you can evaluate through lookup queries to compare against your quote, quote line, or product option fields.

10. Explain quote template structure?

Quote Template Structure includes:

1. Quote Template Information

• Page Information
• Header/Footer Information
• Corporate Information
• Style Information
• Group Style Information
• Section Titles
• Print Options

1. Related Lists

• Line Columns
• Template Sections
• Additional Documents

11. What are the steps for creating quote templates?

There are five main steps to follow when creating a quote template:

1. Creating the Quote Template itself

2. Storing the necessary logo in Documents

3. Creating the Template Content

4. Creating the Template Sections

5. Creating the Line Columns

12. How can you renew the subscription with an existing client?

If you already have a renewal opportunity, when you get closer to the end of the subscription term, you might want to sell them the renewal subscriptions to client again. To do this, you need a renewal quote.

It can be generated by marking the Renewal Quoted checkbox as true. This renewal quote can be sent out, it can be updated and changed as needed and then received back in so that you can subsequently create a brand-new contract. 

1. First, click the Accounts tab from the navigation bar.

2. Go to the necessary company and click the Related tab.

3. Access the Contract Number link in the Contracts related list and then click Edit.

4. Mark the Renewal Quoted checkbox as true, which will tell CPQ to generate a quote on the renewal opportunity. 

. 

Note that the renewal quote has the Start Date one day after the Close Date of the renewal opportunity, while the End Date is based on the Renewal Term of the contract.

13. How to amend a contract in salesforce CPQ?

Let’s see how Salesforce CPQ can update an existing Contract to include higher quantities of subscription products, prorated for the remaining duration of the Contract and automatically create an amendment Opportunity and Quote:

Create an amendment Quote and an Opportunity to increase the quantity of a subscription product from 1 to 10, starting 3 months into the contract.

Navigate to that Account and go to the Contract Number link in the Contracts related list. Then, click Amend, and again Amend. 

14. How Option Constraining Group work in Salesforce CPQ works?

This feature comes in handy when you want to make mandatory or exclude options based on combinations of other options.

Let’s look at an example where you want to prevent the sales reps from selling Product A unless Product B have been included in the quote:

A. Click the Products tab on the navigation bar.

C. Go to the Related tab.

D. In the Options related list, select View All and note the number of the Option Name for the necessary options: 

• Product A.
• Product B.

E. Click New in the Option Constraints related list and fill in the following fields:

• For the Constraint Name field, enter: Product A requires Product B 
• For the Constrained Option field, enter:  < PO-###### of Product A >  
• For the Constraining Option field, enter: < PO-###### of Product B >
• For the Option Constraint Group field, enter: You could enter here any text string, but it’s best practice to make it descriptive and easy to understand and remember

F. Click Save.

16. You have a Scenario where sales representative must sell a bundle in which there are at least as many Product B’s as Product A’s. How to setup for this scenario?

Step 1: Create a Summary Variable to determine the aggregated quantity of Product A in configuration.

Step 2: Create a Summary Variable to determine the aggregated quantity of Product B in a configuration.

Step 3: Create a Product Rule that confirms how the validation rule will function during product configuration.

Step 4: Create an Error Condition that controls when the rule fires, that is only when Product B Summary Variable is less than Product A Summary Variable.

Step 5: Create a Configuration Rule to show that the validation rule will apply to the Product bundle.

Step 6: Check whether the rule behaves as expected. 

17. How to use option constraints?

There are lots of scenarios when your sales reps must enable or disable a product in a Bundle based on another product option.

scenarios include:

1. A. Product A becomes AVAILABLE if Product B is selected.
2. B. Product A is NOT AVAILABLE if Product B is selected.

This can be achieved by creating option constraints from the Option Constraints related list on the bundle parent product record.

Create an Option Constraint so that Product A may be selected only when Product B be is selected:

 

18. Explain a use case of Contracted pricing?

Scenario – sales rep has negotiated with a client a special price for certain products: $375.00 for a laptop instead of $450.00

Use the Contracted Pricing tool, which allows creating records related to accounts for pricing exceptions.

First, let’s create a contracted price for a single product specific to a selected account. Click the Accounts tab, click the selected account, go to the Related tab and in the Contracted Prices related list, click New:

 ►Product: Laptop
 ►Price: 475
 ►Click Save.

Note that Contracted Prices can be limited in time: you can set an Effective Date and/ or an Expiration Date. 

19. Explain Evaluation event in product rule?

Evaluation Event – specifies when the rule should be evaluated:

Load: The rule will be evaluated when the product bundle is opened.

 Edit: The rule will be evaluated when the product bundle is edited.

 Save: The rule will be evaluated upon Save.

 Always: The rule will be evaluated during any event.

Now, suppose you’ve got a field on the Product Object that you want to see on the Quote Line as well. Create a field with the same API name and of the same type.

20. What is Salesforce Guided Selling?

Guided selling implemented in CPQ is a tool that asks questions about the needs of the customer based on the product selection available. It is done by creating a prompt that asks sales reps about the types of products they want to add to the quote and their specifications.

21. What is Salesforce Block Pricing?

Block pricing allows you to price a product based on different quantity ranges which are called block prices.

• The block price is tier-based pricing. Tier-based pricing means that the price of the product depends on the quantity that a customer is purchasing.
• The price is also based on the range of the quantity and not the individual product.

22. What are the steps to implement dynamic bundle?

Dynamic Bundles allows sales reps to choose their own options in a bundle. You can use filter rules to filter the options they can choose from.

To implement a Dynamic Bundle, here are the implementation steps you need to follow:

  ►Create a Feature
  ►Create a Product Rule
  ►Create an Action
  ►Create a Configuration Rule

23. When to Use Product Rules vs Option Constraints?

When to Use Option Constraints

If you have fewer options and you can fit all Product Options on the Category/Tab without a lot of scrolling, then it may be better to go with Option Constraints. These cannot hide Product Options completely but can enable/disable Product Options be using other selections.

24. When to Use Product Rules ?

This approach is especially useful on larger configurations displayed across Categories (Tabs), where each Category may otherwise require extensive scrolling is all options are shown.

Differences	Option Constraints	Product Selection Rules
Supported Actions	Enable, Disable	Add, Enable, Disable, Remove, Enable & Add, Disable & Remove, Hide, Show, Hide & Remove, Show and Add
Conditions	option constraint has one simple condition: if option X is selected	Product rules can have multiple conditions that evaluate information outside the context of the bundle i.e. Quote/ Opportunity/ Account level fields.
Scope	option constraint is limited to just the one option	Product rules can act on multiple options
Context	Used only in the context of bundles. Works on the options within the same bundle. It is specific to a single bundle.	Used in the context of bundles as well as standalone products. A single product rule can be applied to unlimited bundles.
Result	Can’t automatically select/ deselect a product	Can automatically select/ deselect a product

25. When the Product Rules are executed during the quoting process?

Product Rules are executed either on the Product Configuration Page or on the Quote Line Editor. This is decided based on below Product Rule Fields-

a. SCOPE – (Values: Product/Quote) – The Scope field on the product rule record tells CPQ WHERE the rule should run. A scope of “Product” means the rule will run during product configuration, and a scope of “Quote” will make it run on the Quote Line Editor. 

b. EVALUATION EVENT – (Values: Load/Edit/Save/Always) – The Evaluation Event field on the product rule record tells CPQ WHEN the rule should run.

26. Explain the overview of the Salesforce CPQ life cycle?

Lead Generation: The CPQ life cycle begins with lead generation, where potential customers show interest in your products or services.

Opportunity Creation: Once a lead is identified, it is converted into an opportunity in Salesforce. This stage involves gathering customer information and assessing their needs.

Product Configuration: In this stage, the sales team utilizes Salesforce CPQ to configure products or services according to the customer’s requirements. CPQ allows for complex product configurations, bundling options, and customization.

Pricing and Discounting: Salesforce CPQ enables the sales team to apply appropriate pricing and discounts based on customer-specific requirements, volume-based pricing, or contractual agreements. This stage ensures accurate pricing and maximizes revenue potential.

Quote Generation: With the product configuration and pricing determined, Salesforce CPQ generates a professional quote tailored to the customer’s needs. The quote includes detailed information about the products or services, pricing, and terms.

Quote Approval and Negotiation: The generated quote goes through an approval process, where appropriate stakeholders review and provide their consent. This stage may involve negotiation with the customer to finalize the quote details.

Quote Acceptance: Once the customer accepts the quote, it progresses to the next stage of the CPQ life cycle.

Order Creation: The accepted quote is converted into an order, which triggers the fulfillment process, including inventory management, order processing, and shipping.

Contract Management: Salesforce CPQ provides contract management capabilities, allowing the sales team to generate and manage contracts based on the accepted quote. This stage ensures legal compliance and streamlines contract lifecycle management.

Revenue Recognition: Salesforce CPQ integrates with billing systems and financial processes to facilitate accurate revenue recognition. This involves tracking and reporting revenue based on the delivered products or services.

Renewal and Upsell: As contracts near their expiration, Salesforce CPQ assists in managing renewal opportunities. The system can identify upsell or cross-sell opportunities and guide the sales team in maximizing customer value.

Reporting and Analytics: Throughout the CPQ life cycle, Salesforce CPQ provides reporting and analytics capabilities to monitor key metrics, track sales performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.

27. Explain Configuration Attributes?

In Salesforce CPQ, this functionality can be primarily achieved by creating record of Configuration Attribute object.

Configuration Attribute

There are 2 types of Configuration Attributes that we can create in Salesforce CPQ.

1. Configuration Attribute
2. Global Attribute

• When we want to create & assign any attribute to bundle product, we will create record of Configuration Attribute having record type as ‘Configuration Attribute’.
• When we want to create & assign any attribute to an option product, we will create record Configuration Attribute having record type as ‘Global Attribute’.

28. What is overage pricing in Salesforce CPQ?

Imagine you have a mobile phone plan that includes up to 10GB of data for $30 per month. This is a great deal, but what happens if you use more than 10GB in a month? That’s where overage rates come into play.

The phone company offers an overage rate of $2 per additional GB of data used beyond the initial 10GB. This means if you use 11GB in a month, you’ll pay the base rate of $30 for the first 10GB, plus an overage rate of $2 for the extra GB, totaling $32.

Here’s how it breaks down:

– If you use 10GB or less, you just pay your regular $30, with no extra charges.

– If you use 11GB, you pay $30 for the first 10GB, then $2 extra for the 11th GB, totaling $32.

– If you use 12GB, you pay $30 for the first 10GB, then $4 extra for the 11th and 12th GBs, totaling $34.

…and so on, adding $2 for each GB you use over 10GB.

This system makes billing clearer and more straightforward. You know exactly what you’ll be charged if you go over your data limit, and the phone company can easily calculate charges based on actual usage.

To use overage rates, we must create a special custom field on the Block Price object. This is a one-time step for any org using Salesforce CPQ.

29. Explain price waterfall in CPQ with help of example?

Imagine you’re at “Sundae Funday,” an ice cream shop known for its special toppings and flavors. You decide to get a triple-scoop cone with your favorite flavors, and here’s how the price changes:

1. Original Price: This is the basic cost that “Sundae Funday” incurs to make one ice cream cone, including the ice cream, cone, toppings, and operational costs. Let’s say it’s $3.00. This doesn’t include any profit or additional costs; it’s just how much it costs the shop to make that delicious cone.

2. List Price: Now, the shop adds their markup, considering factors like their overhead, staff wages, and profit margin. This is the price you see on the menu when you walk in. So, your triple-scoop cone is listed at $5.00. That’s the standard price for any customer on any regular day.

3. Special Price: Guess what? You visit the shop on a “Tropical Tuesday,” and all cones with a tropical flavor have a 20% discount. Since you chose mango as one of your scoops, your cone now has a “special price” of $4.00. This price is specific to this promotion or customer segment.

4. **Regular Price**: Here comes the loyalty program benefits! As a “Sundae Funday” loyalty cardholder, you’re entitled to an additional 10% discount on any purchase. That benefit reduces your price to $3.60. This is the “regular price” offered to customers who meet certain criteria, like loyalty members.

5. **Customer Price**: You’ve got a coupon for completing a survey from your last visit, giving you an extra $0.50 off your next purchase. After applying this, your “customer price” is now $3.10. This price is the result of direct, one-time interactions or negotiations.

6. **Partner Price**: The ice cream shop has a partnership with a nearby cinema. Since you have a same-day movie ticket, you get an additional 5% discount, bringing your cone down to a “partner price” of $2.95.

7. **Net Price**: Finally, there’s a store-wide promo where every purchase over $2.50 gets an additional $0.10 off. This last bit brings you to your final “net price” of $2.85. This is the final amount you pay, reflecting all the various discounts, promotions, and special circumstances you’ve accumulated.

In this journey, each price reduction reflects a stage in the CPQ price waterfall, from the basic cost of goods to the final price paid by a uniquely positioned customer.

To memorize the stages of pricing along with their functions using the

“Old Lions Sleep, Rarely Catch Prey, Never Purr” mnemonic, you can create a story that links each term not only to the order of the prices but also to their specific roles in the pricing process.

30. Explain ‘percentage of total’ pricing method?

Imagine you’re at an ice cream park, famous for its array of delicious ice cream and fun side attractions. One of the unique services this park offers is a “Sundae Surprise Bonus” — a special treat calculated based on the total amount you spend on other goodies. Here’s how it works:

1. Pricing Method – “Percent Of Total”:

– Think of this as the “Sundae Surprise Rule.” Whenever you buy ice creams, shakes, or toppings, you’re eligible for a bonus treat. The park has set this special rule that your bonus is a percentage of the total amount you’ve spent — like your “tip” at the restaurant. This rule is known to everyone and is like the park’s special way of saying thank you.

2. Percent Of Total (%) – The Magic Number:

– The park has signs everywhere stating, “Spend on treats, and get 10% back as a bonus!” This 10% is the magic number. It’s like the park’s special recipe for happiness. So, if you spend $30 on various ice creams and shakes, you’re in for a $3 worth of “Sundae Surprise Bonus.”

3. Percent Of Total Base – The Ice Cream Count:

– Now, here’s where it gets even cooler. The park lets you choose what counts towards this magical sundae calculation. Suppose you decide only the scoops of ice cream count, not the shakes or waffles. That means if you spent $20 on scoops and $10 on shakes, only the $20 counts for your “Sundae Surprise Bonus,” making it a $2 value (10% of $20).

So, every time you’re indulging in the creamy delights at this ice cream park, Salesforce CPQ is like the invisible server working in the background. It’s making sure the rules are followed, calculating your total spend, applying the magic percentage, and figuring out your bonus treat based on exactly what you want to count for the surprise.

This makes remembering the “Percent of Total” concept as easy as enjoying ice cream on a sunny day.