🚀 In this episode of Executive Conversations, Daniel Kube, CEO of servicePath™, sits down with Reza Rehman — a long-time CPQ and Quote-to-Cash practitioner who has led multiple global rollouts across Oracle, Salesforce, and other enterprise stacks. From the “spreadsheet years” and VBA hacks to modern CPQ programs, Reza shares what actually keeps CPQ trusted, adopted, and ROI-positive over time. He’s candid about why “one CPQ rarely fits all needs”, how to retire spreadsheets the right way, the make-or-break role of product managers, and where “AI helps vs. hurts” (hint: guided selling and maintenance = good; probabilistic pricing = risky). 🎯 Key themes:

  • *Spreadsheets → CPQ (the right way):* when a spreadsheet is a decent starter, and the signals it’s time to migrate before accuracy and governance break.
  • *“No one CPQ fits all”:* broad platforms vs. *niche / vertical CPQs* and how to choose by product complexity, channel, and volume.
  • *Keep CPQ alive post-go-live:* stand up the **business owner**, delivery squad, QA, and Scrum cadence early—before the partner hands you the keys.
  • *Agile beats waterfall:* iterative demos with real users to avoid the “we asked for an apple, got an orange” moment.
  • *Product managers = power users:* engage them early for configuration logic, launch velocity, and continuous testing with sales.
  • *Quality & governance at scale:* large quotes, audit trails, and accuracy expectations where *99.99%* matters.
  • *AI in CPQ (where it fits):* use AI for guided selling, document summaries, and rule ingestion—**not** for final price/config decisions that demand determinism.
  • *Salesforce CPQ end-of-sale reality check:* evaluate ROI to date, reassess sales processes, and plan your next platform deliberately (not as a panic move).
  • *Best-of-breed vs. single-stack:* how to think about flexibility, integrations, and middleware when portfolios and partners change constantly.
  • *Run CPQ like a product:* KPIs and dashboards to track value, catch ‘flattening ROI’ early, and keep executive confidence.

💡 Memorable lines:

  • “One CPQ cannot fit all needs.”
  • “Market moved forward; CPQ stayed three years behind—people stopped using it.”
  • “Current AI accuracy \~60–70% isn’t good enough for pricing—probabilistic and deterministic must work together.”

👉 Join the conversation: What’s the #1 challenge keeping your CPQ from full adoption—data accuracy, governance, or user experience? Tell us below. If you’re wrestling with complex pricing/configuration—or recovering from a failed CPQ implementation—see how servicePath CPQ+ (low-code, CRM-integrated) helps tech enterprises simplify complex sales without sacrificing control.