The mission of a sales operations professional is simple to state: optimize sales performance.
That could come via fine tuning the overall pipeline management process, more aggressively targeting goals and quotas, equipping teams with more effective tools, reducing strain on reps and systems alike – really, any action that results in sales reps selling more, selling faster, and maintaining less all while providing a delightful customer experience.
Actualizing those goals isn’t as easy as identifying them, but sales professionals are in luck: there is a new, ever-evolving resource at their disposal to ease the strain on common pressure points and level up the sales team’s results.
That resource? A commerce logic engine.
Easy to implement with an impressive list of offerings, the right commerce logic engine can be the answer to any operations quandary.
To generate the truest, most consistent buy-in for CLE implementation, we first must successfully answer the question on everyone’s mind – what exactly is a commerce logic engine?
What is a Commerce Logic Engine?
At its core, a commerce logic engine like Logik.io is a software solution designed to enhance configure, price, quote and commerce offerings and help businesses sell more, sell faster, and maintain less.
Specifically, a proper commerce logic engine should leverage uniquely architected and highly customizable product rules, restrictions, requirements and recommendations – the “logic” after which the engine itself is named – in tandem with buyer input gathered through guided selling paths.
Succinctly put in a prior explanation, the commerce logic engine’s aim is to bring the most successful and engaging aspects of traditional sales into omni-channel eCommerce environments, giving businesses a competitive edge and ensuring empowered, satisfied buyers who feel confident in the orders they submit.
Sales operations professionals work in line with those same goals, and integrating a CLE into their company’s larger tech stack and operational strategy can help sales teams close orders faster, allow for self-driven digital sales experiences with low rates of order cancellation or return, and reduce the amount of physical labor and financial resources required for system upkeep and scaling.
Streamline Sales
Commerce logic engines are purpose-built to enhance CPQ solutions, and sales representatives can be some of the first to see the resulting benefits. A key component of such tools is attribute-based configuration, which steps away from more traditional catalog-based inventory management and toward case-by-case configuration to satisfy an individual buyer’s needs.
Knowing the differences between attribute-based and product-based configuration can be what separates you out from the rest of the market. Our one-stop Configuration Guide has everything you need to determine which option is best for your business. Download it for free, on demand at https://learn.logik.io/configuration-guide.
Instead of having to spend time memorizing a massive core catalog with SKUs for each possible configuration, sales reps can use that time to identify their clients’ overall needs and help to engineer the optimal solution with the help of a CLE’s internal logic.
The system can keep track of what configurations are possible, how different options affect pricing and manufacturing timelines, and intelligently suggest bundles, add-ons, or promotions whenever the right qualifiers are hit. Buyers can rest assured that their preferences have been clearly addressed not just by the sales rep, but by the system itself.
Internally, supporting logic is validated through automated triggers and rule scaffolding. Because of the ways triggers can automatically deploy in response to representative and buyer input, and through innovative rule reusability and 1:1 data element mapping functionalities, commerce logic engines run at remarkably high speeds.
Near-instantaneous reflection of configuration options, both in regards to renderings and bills of material, keep up with person-to-person conversations and completely bypass the need for manual quote generation.
Dynamic, 3D visual commerce integrations can also function in concurrence with rule deployment, adding an extra touch to the shopping experience without also adding time. In such a digitally advanced age, timeliness is next to godliness for discerning customers.
Let the Buyer Drive
More than ever, buyers are expecting a self-directed shopping experience when accessing a retailer or manufacturer’s direct site. Advances in guided selling technology allow for questionnaires, surveys, chat bots, and other engaging options to take the place of a traditional, live-time sales rep.
And while consumerized buyers appreciate being in the driver’s seat, there is a notable – but expected – gap in their foundational product knowledge. No shopper is going to put in the amount of work a sales representative would to familiarize themselves with inventory options. Rather, they’ll look to the site itself for guidance.
A commerce logic engine can gently steer their shopping experience and ensure they’re exposed to just the right products at just the right time. The guided selling capacities are an obvious aid here, but the right engine’s support runs far deeper than just that.
Let’s take a look at Logik.io, for example. Commerce logic engineers keep their fingers on the pulse of CPQ, constantly refining and adapting the product to best satisfy client needs. Our newest round of engine updates included massive expansions to our messaging types and flexibility, as well as interactive help icons and validity rules. As these pieces of logic spin underneath the surface, they dynamically interpret a buyer’s input and movements to create an optimized shopping path that incorporates hints of traditional sales conversations.
Such proactive measures allow the shopper to learn as they shop, which ultimately results in a fully informed and totally optimized order submission they feel great about.
Simplify Maintenance
Often, business solutions that provide a notable lift come with heavy prices, both literal and figurative. That being considered, we’ve found a number of ways to make the assessment, selection, implementation and maintenance of a high-caliber commerce logic engine as low-stakes as possible.
With over 100 years of experience in the CPQ industry, the leaders at Logik.io know better than most the true value of implementing the right tools for your needs. Learn more about how the implementation of our world-class commerce logic engine can help you optimize your sales trajectory at https://www.logik.io/blog/implementing-a-commerce-logic-engine.
Working with a low- to no-script commerce logic engine automatically puts sales operations pros in the fast lane when it comes to product and service updates and routine system servicing.
Looking back at the way internal product rules and actions are set to automatically deploy and replicate in response to input, such structure means administrators can have a “set and forget” mentality once the logic is established.
Even if you’re in a position where you’re looking to rework your tech stack from the ground up, a commerce logic engine like Logik.io is built for migration. It can absorb legacy CPQ and product data, translating rules and actions through proprietary Matrix Loader technology and maintaining their integrity and functionality throughout.
There isn’t a need to move back to square one or start from scratch – instead, the migration happens quickly, smoothly, and allows you to pick right back up with operations.
Across the board, the presence of a commerce logic engine supports the core role of a sales operations professional. The question is no longer what a CLE is or why it matters, but when you want to take the leap and see what it means to live life with Logik.io.