“It takes 30 minutes to create a quote,” “It takes two days to get approval for a discount,” and “There's a discrepancy between the quote and the amount in the CRM”—these are all signs that the quoting process is slowing down sales. Officially released in September 2025 HubSpot CPQ（Configure-Price-Quote） Visualizing bottlenecks: how to read funnel reports
HubSpot will revamp the old “Quotes” function on September 3, 2025 (INBOUND 2025),HubSpot CPQ It was officially released as. Users who newly subscribed to HubSpot after that date will no longer be able to access the old Quotes, and existing users are also encouraged to gradually migrate to CPQ. It's not just a matter of updating the appearance of the estimate;A full-fledged CPQ solution that integrates three functions: Configure (product configuration), Price (price management), and Quote (estimate issue).It is an evolution to
HubSpot CPQ's advanced features (subscription management, automatic invoicing, payment processing) Commerce Hub Professional / Enterprise provided as. Sales Hub's quotation creation, approval flow, and electronic signature are available on Sales Hub Professional and above.Billing automation/Stripe payment integration/Revenue recognition reportingCommerce Hub is required separately. Let's clarify "how far CPQ will cover" before introducing it.
The foundation of CPQ is Product Catalog (Product Library) is. Manage from "Settings → Commerce → Products". With an accurate product catalog, agents don't have to manually enter amounts, and discounts are managed through an approval flow. The design quality of the catalog determines the overall quality of CPQ.
| design rules | Specific content | What not to do |
|---|---|---|
| Unify SKU naming conventions | Standardize the format of "Product-Plan-Billing Frequency-Billing Unit" like "SH-PRO-ANNUAL-PER-SEAT" | Registering with a name that is incorrectly written, such as "Sales Hub annual fee" or "Sales Tool annual fee" |
| Archive "discontinued" products | Old plans and obsolete products are archived without being deleted. Retains past quotation data but does not display it in new quotations | If you delete a discontinued product, your past opportunity data will be corrupted. |
| Only register the "list price" price. | Only list prices are registered in the product catalog, and discounts are managed through the approval flow. Create a design that allows adjustments in the discount field when creating an estimate | Create multiple “special price edition” products for each sales rep |
| Separate required and optional products | Set required flags such as "Initial setup fee is required" and "Additional training is optional." Prevent oversight by personnel | Treat everything as optional and the person in charge forgets to add required products |
New additions, price changes, and discontinuation to the product catalog life cycle stage changedIt is strongly recommended that the permissions be set to allow execution. A situation in which salespeople can freely add products and change prices can cause confusion, with each salesperson issuing a quote with a different price. Changes to the product catalog will be centrally managed through monthly reviews.
Creating a quote in HubSpot CPQ begins with clicking the "Create Quote" button from an opportunity record. Contact, company information, and product information associated with the deal are automatically pulled in, so there is no need to enter information from scratch.
In CPQ Breeze AI automatically generates a draft quote by referring to opportunity information, past conversations, and Selling ProfileThe functionality to do this has been implemented. Suggests the "optimal product configuration, options, and training" based on the product information added to the "Product" section of the deal record, the buyer's issues, and past email content. The person in charge only needs to check and revise the draft to complete the estimate.
| Procedure for creating a quotation | Manual (legacy) | CPQ + AI (current) |
|---|---|---|
| Product selection | Manually search and add from product list (5 to 10 minutes) | AI drafts the optimal product configuration based on the interview content (30 seconds) |
| Price/quantity settings | Manually enter the number of seats, unit price, and total (5 minutes) | Automatically pull in from the "product" of the deal. Confirm quantity only (1 minute) |
| Discount settings | Freely set at the discretion of the person in charge (unmanageable) | Detect technology change signals |
| Format/Sending | Format in Word/Excel → PDF conversion → Attach to email (15 minutes) | Automatically generated from template → Share buyer portal URL (1 minute) |
| Total time required | 25-40 minutes | 3-5 minutes |
Discount management is one of the most individualized areas in many sales organizations. If it is not clearly stated who can discount the price by what percentage, prices will vary depending on the person in charge's negotiation skills, experience, and relationship with superiors.Design a CPQ approval workflow to incorporate discount policies into your CRM and ensure everyone is playing by the same rules.I can create a system.
is. If designed correctly, HubSpot's sequencing feature will automate follow-ups and stop immediately when a response is received, allowing reps to focus on the people who responded. This chapter provides a systematic explanation of all sequence design techniques, from initial outreach to breakup emails.is a function that automatically executes multiple pre-designed touch points (email, phone, LinkedIn, etc.) according to a set schedule. Automatically stops when a reply is received, and automatically stops when a meeting is booked—follow-up functions without the person in charge being aware of it.Let's set it up to send. In order to prevent situations such as ``negotiations are stopped while waiting for approval'' or ``the approver is on a business trip and unable to send a quote,'' we recommend setting up an alternate approver (backup) in case the approver is absent. Settings can be done from "Settings → Commerce → Approval → Approval Settings".
Managers are recommended to sample 5 to 10 "call recordings of the week" and listen to them again each week. By using Conversation Intelligence's indicators such as "competitive mention rate," "monologue time (percentage of one-sided conversation by the person in charge)," and "interactivity (percentage of two-way conversation),"HubSpot CPQ's Closing Agent and Buyer Portalminimizes agent effort by providing a dedicated UI that allows buyers to proceed at their own pace, from quote review to electronic signature and payment processing.
| step | Setting details | point |
|---|---|---|
| ① Creating a template | Customize the appearance of the quote (logo, color, header text) to match your brand | Publish a URL with a subdomain of your company domain (quotes.yourcompany.com) to increase credibility. |
| ② Closing Agent settings | Set FAQs, product explanations, and price negotiation guidelines that can be answered by AI in conjunction with Selling Profile. | Clarify escalation rules such as "confirm prices with the person in charge" and "forward custom contracts to sales" |
| ③ Arrangement of electronic signature field | Set the signer (who will sign on the buyer side), the position of the signature field, and the order of multiple signers. | It is possible to set "Sequential signature" where you cannot proceed to the next step until the signatures are completed in the order of "Manager Tanaka → Executive" |
| ④ Setting expiration date and notifications | Set quotation expiration date (e.g. 30 days), reminder notification 3 days before expiry date, and automatic archiving after expiry date | Best practice is to set the expiration date to ``expected closing date of deal - 3 days''. |
| ⑤ Automatic linkage confirmation with CRM | Test execution of the workflow that automatically executes signature completion → opportunity stage update → CS handoff notification → update opportunity creation | Be sure to check the entire flow using a test quote before going live |
Buyer portal browsing analysis is not just tracking;Judgment materials for deciding “next action”is. "I've looked at the pricing page three times but haven't received a response." → It's likely that they have price concerns, so I call them with ROI materials. ``Looking at the additional options page for a long time'' → Make additional suggestions as an opportunity to upsell. It is important not only to look at the data, but also to decide what action to take.
The biggest difference between the old Quotes and CPQ is that the system supports dialogue with buyers. The essence of the introduction is to redesign the process from creating a quote to electronic signature and closing a deal in a single flow.
Accurately maintain list price, SKU naming, required/option classification, and bundle settings. The authority to change the product catalog will be centralized in RevOps, and the design will prevent the person in charge from changing prices freely.
AI automatically generates a draft from business negotiation information, past conversations, and Selling Profile. The person in charge only checks and corrects it. The man-hours required to create estimates can be reduced by more than 80%.
Automatic approval for 10% or less, manager approval for 11-20%, and executive approval for 21% or more - these three stages are set as CPQ rules. Accumulate discount reasons and performance data through the approval flow.
A buyer portal that combines browsing analytics, AI chat, and electronic signatures improves the purchasing experience for buyers while reducing the amount of tracking time required for agents. Utilize browsing data for next action.
Build a workflow that will update the deal stage to Closed Won, notify CS, and automatically create an updated deal as soon as the signature is completed. Be sure to check the entire flow in the test quotation before the actual production.