Basic implementation
appero quote - CPQ light
This implementation guide takes you step by step through the basic implementation of appero quote in Salesforce and helps you to configure the application properly and prepare it for productive use.
Installation
Please let us know the Org-ID after the initial installation. This is the only way we can permanently activate the license. If possible, install appero quote directly in the production environment. This will help you avoid time-consuming data imports (e.g. templates) before the go-live. Thanks to the clear authorization logic in Salesforce (licenses and permission sets), you can control access during the implementation phase and ensure that only authorized users have access to quote data.
Important note
When installing appero quote, the option "Install for admins only" should be selected. This ensures that the subsequent allocation of access is carried out completely via the defined authorization logic (licenses, permission sets, public groups) in Salesforce.
Licenses and authorizations
Manage licenses
To assign licenses, navigate to the menu item "Installed packages" in the setup, search for appero quote and click on the "Manage licenses" button next to the name
Authorization sets
To gain access to the objects, fields and functions, the authorization sets contained in the package must also be assigned. Authorizations basically distinguish between two user roles:
- appero quote users have access to the appero quote app and can create and edit quotes in the editor.
- appero quote admins also have access to the appero quote setup app to configure the application and make settings. appero quote administrators do not necessarily have to be system administrators!
The authorization sets of appero quote only regulate access to the objects, fields and classes within the app. All other standard authorizations in Salesforce must still be assigned via profiles or permission sets.
Standard users of appero quote require the following permission sets:
- appero quote User
- appero quote Lightning User
appero quote Admins require the two additional user authorizations:
- the permission set appero quote Admin
- membership in the public group "QuoteAdmin"
If the QuoteAdmin public group does not yet exist, you can simply create it manually - pay attention to the correct capitalization. However, it is usually created automatically the first time you open the appero quote setup app.
Frequent source of error
"As an appero quote admin, I don't see all the buttons in the editor or on the quote record page."
In most cases the membership in the public group "QuoteAdmin" is missing. Please check whether the affected user is correctly assigned to the group.
Initial setup
After installation, navigate to the appero quote setup app. There you define, among other things
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the initial quote number logic
The first time it is called up after installation, the system requests a sequence of numbers that is automatically and continuously incremented with each newly saved quote and, together with the quote prefix, results in the quote number. This is available as a variable in the quote editor and can be adjusted at any time in the setup.
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Basic system settings via the appero quote Setup Assistant, if these have not yet been made. (You can skip product groups at this point if necessary. We will come back to them in detail later, as they play a central role).
Page layouts
appero quote extends the quotation process with a number of custom fields for the opportunity and product objects and provides suitable page layouts that can be easily assigned in the setup. If this is not practicable due to existing, highly customized opportunity pages, we recommend adding the following fields and elements to the existing page layouts
- Button "New quote" and topic list "Quotes" -> Assignment can be done via the Setup Assistant.
- "Primary quote" (sf42_quotefx__SF42_Primary_Quote__c) and "Quotes valid until" ( sf42_quotefx__SF42_QuotesValidUntil__c ) .
- Important for multilingualism: the "appero language and locale" (sf42_quotefx__SF42_LanguageLocale__c):
- Optional: Contact (sf42_quotefx__BillingContact__c) for the quote recipient
- For multi-level sales Account and Contact 2-4: sf42_quotefx__SF42_Account2__c, sf42_quotefx__SF42_Account3__c, sf42_quotefx__SF42_Account4__c and Contact2-4 sf42_quotefx__SF42_Contact2__c, sf42_quotefx__SF42_Contact3__c, sf42_quotefx__SF42_Contact4__c
Quote document
A quotation template combines the quotation document with a stored style consisting of CSS formatting and a stationery file. This makes it easy to manage different offer templates for different business areas and corporate designs within one application.
The quickest and safest way to create a template is via the Template Wizard. Here you can choose between three basic templates, customize basic formatting and upload the appropriate stationery.
You will then find not only the newly created template on the Setup App homepage, but also a style of the same name that contains the stationery and CSS.
You can further edit and customize both if the Template Wizard options are not yet sufficient. Please note that the style on which the offer document is based must be compatible with CSS 2.1
For a practical approach to implementation, you can also create a dummy template first, which you can use to try out products and calculations, and then replace it with the final template later.
Make your quote templates dynamic and efficient by integrating Salesforce data via variables, using flexible bricks and making intelligent use of summary elements:
Variables or so-called "merge fields" are used to dynamically read field values from Salesforce at runtime in quotations. This function is available for the following objects:
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Opportunity
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account
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Contact
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Quote
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User
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Product
With the help of merge fields, you not only display information very quickly in the quote, but also ensure that it is up to date - provided that your master data in Salesforce is maintained cleanly and continuously. In the quote itself, you use the placeholder in curly brackets, e.g. to pull the recipient's address data. As soon as the editing mode is finished, the merge field is read out and the stored value appears.
The most important variables are already included in the standard templates and you can add further standard mergefields via the variables sidebar in the editor. In addition, you can include almost any other fields as user-defined variables and then also insert them into the document via the merge field sidebar.
To do this, enter the API name of the desired fields separated by object in the respective settings
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Additional fields for offer variables
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Additional fields for opportunity variables
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Additional fields for user variables
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Additional fields for account variables
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Additional fields for contact variables
(The settings can be found in the appero quote setup app, tab Settings, here section Functionality)
Bricks can be used to quickly add and flexibly combine recurring content that should not be fixed in the quotation template.
Bricks can contain any combination of offer items, e.g. texts for special conditions, visual representation of special promotions, company portraits, but also certain product combinations, e.g. with special conditions.
Which bricks are required is usually agreed together in the project. You can then create and maintain the defined bricks centrally via the brick editor .
Totaling
If necessary, the template from the Template Wizard must be supplemented with additional content or calculation sections. appero quote offers a wide range of options for calculating totals - from net, subtotals and group totals to gross totals. A YouTube playlist with tutorials is available for more in-depth information:
Note:
Always remove the formatting when inserting your own texts into quotation templates. Content from emails or Office documents often contains hidden formatting that can lead to display errors in the PDF. If in doubt, first insert the text as plain text in a text editor.
Product groups
Before we get to the products, let's first look at the product groups, as they are the central object for structure and logic in appero quote.
Up to three product groups can be assigned to each product. They assume a central control function in the quote editor:
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Responsible for the dynamic visibility and correct positioning of quote items
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Control the calculation of totals and subtotals
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Helpful filter for the product search
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Basis for discount rules (discount matrix) and tax rules
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Useful basis for reporting, e.g. to differentiate between one-off and recurring costs
It is worth investing sufficient time in setting up the product groups and incorporating these considerations directly into the structure of the quote template. appero quote is not a classic CPQ system, but has the quote editor with a clear structure and logic layer at its heart. Many functions - such as dynamic quote structure, product properties or calculations - are based on a clean product group structure. The better this basis is thought through, the less special logic is required later and the easier it is to create quotations consistently and efficiently.
More information on product groups in the YouTube playlist:
Products
In the appero quote process, the product (Product2) takes center stage. For appero quote, it has been expanded to include helpful additional information - for example, whether the list price or name can be edited, which default or minimum quantities apply or whether there should be product images. It is best to check in the project itself which of these fields are relevant for your quotes.
Product properties
Furthermore, products can be designed with product properties with and without calculation. In this way, date values, checkboxes or selection lists, for example, can be clearly displayed and saved
You can find a compact introduction to product properties here:
This gives you the basics you need to get started right away and create your first quotes with appero quote. If you want to go into more detail or explore special functions, take a look at our detailed documentation.
Deep dives & resources
Deepen your detailed knowledge with our extensive documentation and helpful video tutorials.
- Manual discounts
- Automated discounts
- At product level (graduated prices)
- At totals level (discount matrix)
- Multilingualism and
translations, multi-currency - Multi-level distribution (e.g. for agency business,
opportunity contacts) - Approval process
General information, e.g. how does the appero quote editor work?
Can be found mainly in the user section of the documentation
e.g. the various editing options in the quote editor