A Giant Step Forward in Online Product Configuration
The new Constraint Based Product Configurator in Salesforce Revenue Cloud Advanced changes the game for complex sales.
Online configuration of complex products has been a challenge for B2B companies, until now. The new Salesforce Revenue Cloud Advanced (RCA) configurator is one of the biggest advancements in the CPQ space in years. It finally addresses the real-world complexities of manufacturing sales use cases and enables highly complex configurations. This makes it easier for Sales to sell and customers to buy from B2B companies.
Salesforce’s new configurator fully puts the “C” in CPQ.
It’s the equivalent of a build configurator in an ERP, but for selling. This new configurator ties into CRM and offers B2C ease of use for buyers.
ERPs are great for managing the “build” side of things. But for sales teams that quote multi-million-dollar customized equipment, their CRM has to be just as capable. With Revenue Cloud Advanced, Salesforce now delivers a seamless configuration experience within the CRM itself. No need to flip between systems. No custom integration bridges. It’s all right there. For manufacturers, that means less friction in the sales process, shorter sales cycles, more accurate pricing, and higher customer satisfaction.
How is the new configurator different and better from the previous one?
In general, it’s a totally different product. The new configurator in Revenue Cloud Advanced is a complete ground-up rebuild from Salesforce’s legacy technology, SteelBrick. That worked well for basic configurations and was well suited to SaaS businesses with simpler selling models. However, SteelBrick was a separate platform from Salesforce. It allowed for only a few configuration attributes, which didn’t talk to each other. That meant you had to look at entire bundles. So, for example, if you had 10,000 product attributes that could be selected, you’d have to list out all 10,000. This worked fine for time-based products, such as subscriptions, proration, etc. but not for complex product configurations. Following are key upgrades to the new configurator over the legacy version.
Constraint Based Configuration
RCA’s new configurator is constraint based rather than rules based, which is basically if-then statements. Constraint based means that you have one attribute or one piece of information constraining another. This deep constraint logic allows “parent” and “children” levels of product bundling and configuration. In other words, you can now include smart defaults and define how multiple variables relate to each other.
One Simpler Platform
The new configurator is a more powerful and native solution built into the Salesforce CRM. It’s not another system, package, or API call. It’s natively part of the actual Salesforce CRM—one platform for everything you need. So, complex configuration can now be handled directly within Salesforce. That means no more integration workarounds. The new configurator is therefore inherently more cost effective because it solves the full manufacturing use case with no additional licensing and fewer points of potential failure.
Supports More Product Variables
Unlike the previous SteelBrick package, which could handle a few hundred lines on a quote at most, RCA’s new Constraint Based Product Configurator easily handles large bundles. You can now offer thousands of potential children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and so on in terms of product variants in a single configuration. No longer limited to a few pick lists, manufacturers can now build out essentially unlimited properties and input fields, including dependent attributes and calculated specs. This allows manufacturers to generate sales quotes that are as detailed, accurate, and intelligent as their production processes.
Easier Use and Management
Salesforce is rapidly moving toward a much friendlier configuration admin experience. It’s becoming clicks over code with Salesforce’s new Visual Constraint Builder. This is a point-and-click UI that empowers admins to define basic logic, difference rules, and UI behaviors without touching a line of code. That allows a wider range of users inside organizations, not just developers, to operate the Salesforce configurator and manage product listings. Easier internal administration means faster product changes, lower costs, and tighter end-to-end process control.
Real-World Use Cases
Take industrial pipe manufacturers, for example. Cities and counties often have unique specs that govern pipe wall thickness, diameter, and material compliance. Salesforce’s new Constraint Based Product Configurator allows reps to build those specs in—dynamically based on customer or regulatory constraints—without needing manual intervention or spreadsheets.
Another example is jet engine configuration. If an engine needs to meet weight and size thresholds for a specific type of jet, the new Constraint Based Product Configurator can dynamically restrict incompatible options to precisely tailor engines to different aircraft. If we’re configuring an engine to a certain type of plane, we have to make sure that all the parts we select through the configuration process meet certain weight specifications. The new configurator can handle those interdependent variables in real-time, eliminating errors and accelerating time to quote.
If all this has your gears turning thinking about your own use cases…
Let’s talk about what this can do for your B2B.
No SI knows the Constraint Based Product Configurator in Salesforce Revenue Cloud Advanced better than Pierce Washington. Let us show you how the new tech can literally transform your configuration process, quoting, and bottom line. Contact us any time.