Testing CPQ in Salesforce

Salesforce.com’s Sales Cloud is one of the best CRMs for handling a company’s sales cycle and enables reps to sell smarter.

And to sell smarter, reps have to rely on quoting systems, contracts, product configurations, agreements etc., all part and parcel of the sales functionality. Most sales representatives use CPQ software like Apttus, Steelbrick, CallidusCloud, and PROS Cameleon. Configuring a CPQ software with your Salesforce instance can enable you take advantage of the numerous features these software offer to increase your company’s sales and profit.

But as Uncle Ben told a fledgling Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility”, the same applies to CPQ software as well. With sophisticated features that complement the Sales Cloud functionality, tremendous responsibility rests with QA—both, the developer and manager—to verify that post implementation, all the supported CPQ features are working as expected and all the involved calculations are precise.

Let’s take a look at some of the important areas which require special attention to avoid errors and unforeseeable bugs:

Simple and Complex Products and Their Pricing

The foremost step in the sales process is dealing with different products and their prices. Different CPQ software handle simple and complex products (interlinked/bundled products) and their pricing across countries and verticals efficiently. Verifying complex products and their related calculations is important in order to get confirmation that a company’s business purpose is being achieved.

Along with this, the representation of products having sub-products should be proper in the respective Opportunity Record types, i.e. new business as well as renewal-opportunity. This is done to ensure that correct product related data is displayed. Same is the case for calculations related to these products and further roll-up of the calculation on different objects e.g. opportunity or quotes.

Validation is of utmost importance when the CPQ data is linked with other objects i.e. the CPQ software calculations are further represented in combination with other calculations.

Bulk Testing

In many Salesforce implementations—Sales, Service, and other clouds—Data Loader for bulk testing is commonly used. Since multiple records are created and updated at the same time via the Data Loader or batch updates carried out for different Sales Cloud objects, it is crucial to use bulk testing. An example would be fixing of historical data with bulk update when new functionalities are implemented and the older records need to be altered accordingly.

A tester needs to ensure that all records are updated as expected and there are no Apex, governor, or SOQL limit errors during record creation or update.

Test Classes and Code Coverage

Test classes and their optimum code coverage are crucial to reduce the number of issues in the code. 75% is the minimum requirement, the more the better. Also, coverage of all scenarios is equally important in the test classes, again to reduce the errors in all the test scenarios. All positive and negative cases should be covered, including bulk testing scenarios. Following conventions is important with proper documentation of the test code.

Custom Implementations

In some cases, businesses require custom implementations with their CPQ software. Testing in these cases is imperative as a tester needs to ensure that the implementation fulfills business requirements and complements existing CPQ features without impacting them. Reporting also needs to be verified to ensure that the correct data is shown along with existing CPQ objects.

Conclusion

A CPQ software paired with your Salesforce instance provides additional functionality and makes your instance more fruitful for your business. The job of ensuring that—after implementation—all CPQ features are working as expected lies with QA.

The above-mentioned points are not part of an exhaustive list but can help in minimizing issues that crop up frequently. With the sole aim of speeding up a company’s sales cycle, there are numerous other things in CPQ implementation that require verification as well.

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