This article dives deep into the world of Salesforce Revenue Lifecycle Management (RLM), showing the principal features of RLM and comparing the robust features of Salesforce CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) and the cutting-edge capabilities of Revenue Cloud. We’ll explore how these two solutions stand apart in terms of functionality, integration, and their overall impact on streamlining revenue management and sales processes.
Are you interested in learning more about a specific aspect of these solutions? For example, would you like to understand how they handle complex pricing scenarios, or how they integrate with other Salesforce products? Please continue to read and let me show and discover in a simple way the future of CPQ with RLM in Salesforce Revenue. We are happy to help you to get it.
What is Revenue Lifecycle Management
Revenue Lifecycle Management (RLM) solution provides a comprehensive approach to streamlining and automating the entire revenue process. By integrating Sales and Finance operations into a single, unified platform, RLM empowers businesses to optimize revenue generation, from initial quote creation to managing recurring subscriptions. This powerful solution streamlines workflows, enhances visibility, and ultimately drives sustainable revenue growth. Allows an organization to manage different stages of the sales cycle, from the initial quote, to contract negotiation to revenue recognition and finally subscription and renewal management.
It is important to keep in mind that “Salesforce CPQ” is a managed package while RLM is a native solution built directly over Force.com platform, which brings flexibility and scalability without “Salesforce CPQ” limitations like handling large and complex orders in the Quote Line Editor (QLE). RLM tends to cover all bases and seeks to be an end-to-end solution for the entire lifecycle of revenue.
What is Revenue Generation Lifecycle
The sales journey begins with identifying potential customers or leads. These are then nurtured and tracked as opportunities, representing potential sales. Sales representatives gather customer needs and craft tailored quotes, incorporating pricing, discounts, and promotions. Once the customer approves the quote, a formal contract is generated and signed by all parties. An order is then placed, triggering the fulfillment process. Finally, an invoice is issued, and payment is received, contributing to the company’s overall revenue goals (Image 1).
These stages listed in the picture above are a dream world, in the real world many organizations have independent solutions for support parts of the pathway and this usually happens because they have a lack/poor salesforce data integration between each of those “solution spots”, so the result is things like: Pricing and contract approval delays, Inaccurate order capture, drawback to scale complexity in quotes and orders among others. RLM will try to cover those issues.
Features of Salesforce Revenue Lifecycle Management
Below are a few key features that are provided by Revenue Lifecycle Management that can help organizations improve the management of sales and finance processes:
Product Catalog Management (PCM)
Traditionally, CPQ was built with Salesforce Administrators in mind, focusing on product data setup. However, with the introduction of Revenue Cloud’s RLM (Revenue Lifecycle Management), the focus has shifted to a more user-friendly experience tailored for Product Data Managers. This shift creates a streamlined workflow where Product Catalog Administrators and Product Designers can seamlessly manage the entire product portfolio from a single platform. What makes this so exciting? It’s now a drag-and-drop, WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) environment. This means users can effortlessly create bundles, products, features, options, attributes, and even define cardinality rules, all within a single screen.
PCM Key Features
PCM is divided into 5 principal areas that cover product configuration. 
On the Salesforce UI you can see those features like the image below, all the information in one screen, which helps to have all things in one place for managing the product catalog
- Catalogs
Organize products by category and allow easily find products
- Attributes (Dynamic Attributes)
Attributes could be reused with multiple product catalogs and also could be organized into logical groups called “attributes categories” types text, number, date, datetime, checkbox, picklist, currency and percent. Could be assigned individually or through attribute categories to product classification
- Product Classifications
Hold a collection of dynamic attributes. They can be reused to create multiple products that are similar yet different. For example. Automotive sells different models of cars (Model S and Model Y). These products share characteristics such as wheels and paint color. Creating each model one by one can be time-consuming but using “Product Classification” can create two “classifications”: Model S and Model Y and assign over each of those classifications the same attributes, not requiring one attribute on each product
Products
Items and services sold to customers can be sellable or non-sellable. There are two types: “Simple Products”, which do not have an associated product hierarchy, and “Bundle Products which are a group of products sold together as one unit. Also, we can have Subtypes of products such as “Static Products”, which cannot be configured during runtime. In other words, those products are not possible to modify when working on creating the quote and “Configurable Products”, which can be configured during runtime
- Product Selling Model: define how products are sold and billed
- One-Time: Imagine a scenario where a product is purchased with a single payment, and there are no ongoing fees or subscriptions. This is a one-time sale, like buying a car with a lump sum payment.
- Term-Defined: Think of a product or service that comes with a defined expiration date. For example, an annual Netflix subscription is a great illustration, as it has a set end date after which the service stops. This is a common model for subscriptions and other products that offer a fixed duration of access.
- Evergreen: Imagine a subscription that continues indefinitely until the user chooses to stop it. This is a recurring subscription model, where the user pays regularly for ongoing access to a service or product. Think of services like Spotify or a gym membership, where payments continue automatically until the user cancels.
- Qualification Rules
To ensure the right customers have access to the right products, we can use qualification rules. These rules, based on factors like location and account details, determine customer eligibility and product availability. There are two primary types of qualification rules, each serving a specific purpose:
- Qualification Rules: Products or categories are qualified if they meet specified criteria. Example: some products are only available in a region.
- Disqualification Rules: Products or categories are disqualified if they meet specified criteria.
Pricing
RLM’s pricing management has undergone a significant transformation, placing the Price Analyst at the center of the process. A key innovation is the introduction of real-time pricing visibility directly within the configuration screen. As users make product selections, they can instantly see how the price changes, providing a dynamic and transparent pricing experience. This real-time feedback was a missing feature in CPQ, and RLM successfully addresses this gap.
In the another hand, from point of view of testing, Salesforce RLM pricing management provide an idea of “waterfall testing capability”, which allows users to simulate and validate pricing logic before it goes live, with “price waterfall testing” approach (aka: List of prices testing) shows price breakup at every step when calculating the fireducenal NET price of a product and at the same time shows the reason for any additions or deductions. This approach of testing prices helps to significantly reduce errors and boosts efficiency, ensuring that pricing rules are accurate and effective.
Transaction Management & CPQ
Configuration, Quoting and Order capture across direct, indirect and commerce for one-time and recurring products.
Streamline the sales processes with Transaction Management, a powerful tool that automates quote creation and order capture across all channels. This solution goes beyond simply processing transactions, providing valuable insights into customer asset usage. This data empowers businesses to identify upselling and cross-selling opportunities, ultimately increasing customer lifetime value.
Transaction Management consists of two key components:
Configure, Price & Quote (CPQ): This intuitive interface simplifies the process of creating and managing quotes. Its spreadsheet-like layout allows for easy grouping, filtering, and sorting of products, making it ideal for navigating complex deals. CPQ also provides real-time order status tracking, offering visibility into the entire fulfillment journey.
- Asset Lifecycle Management: This component provides a comprehensive overview of customer assets and recurring revenue streams. You can manage the entire lifecycle of assets, from initial installation to renewals, amendments, or cancellations, ensuring customer needs are met at every stage.
Contract Lifecycle Management
Salesforce Contracts offers a seamless solution for managing and digitizing all aspects of your contracts. From creating contracts directly from quotes or orders to sharing them electronically for review and approval, the process is streamlined and efficient. The platform’s advanced AI capabilities enable contract administrators to automatically extract critical information and clauses from existing contracts, ensuring accurate and consistent data entry. This comprehensive approach simplifies contract management, improves compliance, and ultimately helps businesses maximize the value of their agreements
Dynamic Revenue Orchestration and Billing
Previously known as Dynamic Fulfillment and Orchestration, this feature has been renamed Dynamic Revenue Orchestration. It boasts advanced capabilities for decomposing orders into fulfillment SKUs and managing multiple fulfillment events. This streamlined approach is particularly beneficial for companies selling complex equipment such as both products and services, as it helps reduce SKU proliferation.
Salesforce RLM Free Demo Org
All these paragraphs are wonderful but what if you would like to do some tests and get hands-on practice and get experience in RLM configurations and IU. Well, you could create a free trial org provided by Salesforce. Let me guide you in configuring essential features like product catalogs, pricing models, and discounting structures. Follow these steps to explore Revenue Cloud’s powerful capabilities on your own in managing revenue lifecycles and customer pricing.
- Create demo org with RLM.
To explore the latest capabilities of Revenue Cloud, start by signing up for a complimentary trial of Salesforce Communications Cloud. This trial provides access to the advanced features of Revenue Cloud (the only way to access FREE to RLM for now), allowing you to experience its full potential. We will then activate the core functionalities within your Salesforce organization, enabling you to utilize Revenue Cloud effectively: Free RLM Org.
- Contract Lifecycle
Management Setup => Contract Lifecycle Management => General Settings. Activate options on the screen like in this image
- Pricing Waterfall
Setup => Salesforce Pricing => Salesforce Pricing Setup. Activate options on the screen like in this image
- Document Generation
Setup => Document Generation => General Settings. Activate options on the screen like in this image
- Dynamic Revenue Orchestrator
Setup => Dynamic Revenue Orchestrator => Dynamic Revenue Orchestrator Settings. Activate options on the screen like in this image
6. Service Process Definition Settings
Your trial organization is now fully set up and ready for exploration! This trial period will last for 30 days. After that, you can create a new trial organization to continue exploring Revenue Cloud’s features.
Conclusion
RLM surpasses the role of merely substituting CPQ; it emerges as a superior and more versatile solution, tailored to address intricate business frameworks. By adopting RLM, businesses can achieve a strategic edge through improved process efficiency and boosted revenue growth.
In the next articles, we will continue showing in a simple way Salesforce RLM in topics like how to configure product, qualification rules and Pricing waterfall, Transaction Management & CPQ, Contract Lifecycle Management, Dynamic Revenue Orchestration and Billing. Also, if you would like to continue reading Salesforce things you could visit our blog, we will be happy to continue helping you and explain Salesforce products and Salesforce app development.
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