Quote-to-Cash vs Lead-to-Cash: How to Optimize Your Pre-Production Process

What Is the Quote-to-Cash Process?

Quote-to-cash (QTC) covers the entire sales process from the moment a customer selects their desired product through to the moment they pay their invoice. It sounds straightforward, but in practice the process contains many steps, most of which involve manual work, duplicate data entry across systems, and unnecessary contact between sales, engineering, and the customer.

Quote-to-Cash Advantages

The advantages of a well-structured QTC process are clear:

• No more administrative back-and-forth
• No duplicate data entry between systems
• No unnecessary contact between sales, engineering, and customers

What Does the Quote-to-Cash Process Look Like in Practice?

A standard pre-production process for complex products typically follows three stages:

Step 1: Interaction between customer and sales The process starts with a conversation between the customer and the salesperson, often with a dealer involved as well.

Step 2: Validation with engineering and parts ordering The salesperson validates the configuration with sales engineering. Depending on the complexity, this may require further checks with engineering. The right materials and parts then need to be ordered before production can begin.

Step 3: Delivery, installation, and invoicing After production, the machine is delivered and installed. Only then can the invoice go out.

Even when this process runs smoothly, it is long and prone to errors. Information is transferred manually at every step, which slows down turnaround times and introduces mistakes that create frustration across the entire chain.

How Does CPQ Software Optimize the Quote-to-Cash Process?

Optimizing the QTC process starts with making the right technology choices. The key is choosing best-of-breed solutions: specialized software for specific parts of the process. The advantage is that these tools can all be easily integrated using APIs or low-code platforms, so you keep the flexibility to connect your preferred systems without building a custom integration for every change. Elfsquad CPQ is the foundation. It automates order intake, opens a digital sales channel, and connects directly with your ERP, CRM, and other systems. Dealers can manage their own order intake through CPQ, fully automated, without requiring quotes or orders to be processed manually at headquarters.

What Is the Difference Between Quote-to-Cash and Lead-to-Cash?

Lead-to-cash (LTC) extends the QTC process one step further. When your CPQ solution includes an online configurator, it becomes a lead generation tool as well. Potential customers configure products directly on your website or through dealer environments, requesting quotes and placing orders without any manual intervention from your team. Every lead that enters the system can immediately move toward a production-ready order.

The efficiency gains of a digital QTC process are significant. But when extended to LTC, the potential for error-free, automated lead generation and order intake is transformative.

Quote-to-Cash with Salesforce CRM and CPQ

Salesforce is one of the most widely used CRM systems in manufacturing. With a Salesforce CPQ integration, the QTC process becomes fully connected. A new sales opportunity is opened in Salesforce, where contact details are entered. That data synchronizes immediately to CPQ, where a configuration is started with all customer data already in place. The configured product is added to the quote, priced correctly, and sent back to Salesforce automatically. When the quotation is accepted in Salesforce, the logistics process begins without any manual steps.

Quote-to-Cash with SAP ERP and CPQ

The same connected logic applies when CPQ integrates with an ERP system like SAP. The process starts in CPQ, where all items and prices are already synchronized from SAP. An empty quotation is opened and the desired configuration is added. The result is always an error-free quote with accurate pricing. A multi-layer bill of materials is generated automatically in the background, and when the quotation is accepted, it flows directly into SAP as a production order.

Beyond Salesforce and SAP, Elfsquad integrates with other CRM, ERP, CAD, and low-code applications. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is another widely used example that connects with Elfsquad to support a fully digital QTC process.

How Does Elfsquad Connect the Full Quote-to-Cash Chain?

Elfsquad CPQ is the source of all the logic and knowledge needed to sell complex products accurately and guide them through the pre-production process without manual intervention. The translation from sales to production happens directly in Elfsquad. Engineering knowledge is already captured in the system. Connect Elfsquad with your ERP, CRM, CAD, or other business tools, and your entire quote-to-cash process runs from one shared logic, with one source of truth across every department.

Explore all Elfsquad integrations or request a demo to see how Elfsquad supports your specific QTC process.

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