The 6 Questions That Fix Most CPQ Shortlists (Before You Watch Another Demo)
CPQ Podcast
It’s a solo episode this week — interview scheduling has been unusually tough this year, so I’m using the opportunity to talk about something that’s top of mind for many teams early in the year: CPQ selection. In this episode, I share the six questions that fix most CPQ shortlists before demos start: business model, biggest challenge, CRM fit, ERP fit, go-live speed, and company complexity. The goal isn’t to rank vendors — it’s to get to a realistic shortlist faster, using a repeatable framework grounded in high-quality briefing research. I also tease a new way I’m building to...
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Why CPQ is Vital for Intelligent Revenue ft. Sergey Jermakov
CPQ Podcast
In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, Sergey Jermakov joins Frank Sohn to explore how CLARITY is moving beyond classic Quote-to-Cash into intelligent revenue operations management—a broader approach that connects CPQ with billing, revenue processes, and monetization models. Sergey explains how his role has shifted from “sales leader” to Revenue Architect, focused on designing scalable solution architectures and packaged delivery. They discuss CLARITY’s focus on mid-market to enterprise organizations (now often $50M+ revenue) in high tech and...
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PandaDoc CPQ for SMB: No-Code Quotes, CRM Integrations + AI
CPQ Podcast
In this episode of the CPQ Podcast, we sit down with Dustin Anglen, Strategic Partnerships Manager at PandaDoc, to discuss how PandaDoc CPQ supports faster quoting for SMB teams (roughly 5–500 employees). PandaDoc is widely known for proposals and eSignature, and Dustin explains why CPQ is a natural extension—especially for organizations that want a practical, easy-to-administer approach without heavy configuration overhead. We cover where PandaDoc CPQ fits best (including SaaS, software & technology, professional services, and education) and how...
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From CPQ to a Configurable Product Platform: Tacton’s Nils Olsson
CPQ Podcast
In this CPQ Podcast episode, Frank Sohn sits down with Nils Olsson, Chief Strategy, Product, and Customer Officer at Tacton, to discuss how Tacton is evolving beyond traditional CPQ into a broader platform for configurable products. Nils shares his unique perspective as a former Tacton customer who joined the company in 2015, and explains why staying close to manufacturing customers—through regular conversations across North America, Europe, and Japan—is central to Tacton’s strategy. He outlines why 2026 will be a transformative year, with new offerings planned not only...
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What CPQ Headlines Miss — and Why That Matters for 2026
CPQ Podcast
2025 was full of CPQ and Quote-to-Cash headlines: AI agents, platform transitions, consolidation, and promises of faster execution. Following those announcements is important — but it rarely tells the full story. In this episode, I look at what often gets lost between public messaging and real-world CPQ decisions. Drawing on patterns observed throughout 2025, I explore where market narratives diverged from evaluation and delivery reality — and why that gap becomes even more important as we head into 2026. The discussion covers AI and agent-based capabilities, platform transitions,...
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New Year CPQ Search? Why CPQ Is So Hard | 125+ Vendors, Too Much Info & What Matters
CPQ Podcast
It’s the beginning of the year — a common time when companies evaluate a new CPQ or Revenue Management solution, or consider replacing what they have. If you’ve started researching and feel more confused than before, you’re not alone. In this solo episode, Frank Sohn explains why CPQ selection is uniquely challenging: there are 125+ CPQ vendors, plus analyst rankings, review sites, partner input, Reddit threads, and now AI tools — all creating information overload. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why there are so many CPQ vendors (and what that really means) The difference...
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Vinay Toomu on ScaleFluidly’s Revenue Orchestration Platform, AI & Adoption
CPQ Podcast
In this CPQ Podcast episode, Frank Sohn sits down with Vinay Toomu, who leads both ScaleFluidly (CPQ / quote-to-order platform) and CommerceCX (a systems integrator working with Salesforce and Conga). Since Vinay’s last appearance in 2023, ScaleFluidly has matured into a full quote-to-order revenue orchestration platform—built on a composable core engine that customers can extend with their own apps. Vinay shares what he sees across real implementations: the biggest wins come from improving adoption, reducing friction for sales teams,...
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Salesforce Revenue Cloud, Agentforce & Usage-Based Pricing with Slalom
CPQ Podcast
In this CPQ Podcast episode, Frank Sohn talks with Calvin Chow, Senior Director at Slalom Consulting, about what it really takes to move from Salesforce CPQ to Salesforce Revenue Cloud (RCA/ARM). Calvin has hands-on experience with multiple CPQ platforms — including PROS, Apttus (now Conga), Salesforce CPQ / Revenue Cloud, Zuora CPQ, and Vlocity — and shares what he wishes he had known about the end-to-end quote-to-cash process earlier in his career. Calvin explains how Slalom supports mid-size to Fortune 500...
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Salesforce CPQ to ARM/RCA: Max from Prodly on DevOps & Migration
CPQ Podcast
In this CPQ Podcast episode, Frank talks with Max from Prodly about the shift from Salesforce CPQ to Revenue Cloud Advanced (now Agentforce Revenue Management, ARM) and what it really takes to manage that transition successfully. They look at how Salesforce is moving customers to ARM, why this is not a simple upgrade but a separate implementation project, and what that means for CPQ teams, partners, and customers. Max reflects on the early Steelbrick days and how it helped democratize CPQ, his path from engineer and product manager to founder, and why he...
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How Ignize Uses AI Pricing & CPQ to Boost Manufacturing Profits
CPQ Podcast
In this CPQ Podcast episode, host Frank Sohn talks with Andreas Westling, CEO and co-founder of Ignize, about how modern AI pricing and CPQ help B2B manufacturers increase EBIT, improve price fairness, and react faster to market volatility. Drawing on more than 20 years of pricing experience, including his time as CEO of Navetti (acquired by Vendavo). Andreas explains why pricing fundamentals haven’t changed, but the way manufacturers execute pricing has transformed. He also shares how Ignize supports mid-market and enterprise manufacturers with complex,...
info_outlineIn this episode I talk about the challenge that there are no standardized CPQ Documentation Rules. Why is that a challenge you may ask? Because Customers may not know themselves which rules are setup in their CPQ Solution. This in turn makes it harder for them to change CPQ Solutions even though customers now review more frequently if they still use the right solution for their business. Send an email to Frank.Sohn@NovusCPQ.com if you want more info.