A Simple Fix for a Common CPQ Headache: Rethinking Additional Discounts
One common challenge Salesforce CPQ users face is the Additional Discount field in the Quote Line Editor. This field can be confusing since users can enter either a discount amount or percentage. However, many organizations base their approval rules on percentage discounts off the product’s list price, making it crucial for sales reps to input a percentage to ensure the approval process works correctly.
When a contract is renewed, the renewal quote converts the percentage discount into a dollar amount, which then appears on the renewal quote sent to the buyer. For most users, it would make more sense to maintain consistency by carrying over the same percentage or dollar value used initially, ensuring a smoother process.
To address this, our team implemented a straightforward solution by introducing a new field called "Product Discount (%)" on the Quote Line. We added this field to the Line Editor field set and removed the confusing Additional Discount field. We then created a price rule to automatically copy the Product Discount (%) into the Additional Discount field for any new products added to the quote. For Amendments and Renewals, where quote lines are generated from Subscriptions, we implemented a second price rule to copy the additional discount from the subscription back into the new Product Discount field.
By leveraging this simple approach—a new field and two price rules—we resolved a key pain point for many CPQ users, providing a more intuitive and streamlined quoting process.
If you're facing similar challenges, contact our team at Eigen X (info@eigenx.com). We’d love to help you overcome your CRM pain points!