Digital transformation has emerged as a non-negotiable priority for businesses aiming to thrive in today’s hyper-competitive environment. However, successfully scaling digital selling strategies across diverse industries can feel like navigating uncharted territory. Thankfully, technologies like Smart CPQ (Configure Price Quote) are proving to be game changers. By simplifying processes, boosting efficiency, and improving customer relationships, these tools are enabling businesses to rewrite the rules of sales and pricing.
This blog highlights how leading organizations like United Airlines and TE Connectivity have leveraged PROS Smart CPQ to modernize their sales processes, overcome long-standing challenges, and discover innovative opportunities. Whether you’re in the aviation sector, manufacturing, or beyond, these strategies have universal applicability to any enterprise looking to scale.
Why Smart CPQ Works Across Industries
Every business negotiates agreements, collaborates on quotes, and prices its offerings. Yet, these universal processes often vary in complexity depending on the market. Smart CPQ platforms simplify and unify these elements, proving that certain digital selling strategies translate seamlessly across industries.
For example, United Airlines focuses on optimizing travel agreements involving conditional discounts based on route demands, amenities, and travel patterns. Meanwhile, TE Connectivity addresses manufacturing complexities, like managing over 250,000 SKUs, tracking supply chain partners, and ensuring price compliance across 10,000 annual contracts. Despite their differences, both organizations rely on Smart CPQ to centralize pricing structures and eliminate inefficiencies. The takeaway? No matter the industry, the principles of efficiency, automation, and end-user empowerment are universally valuable.
The Challenges of Complex Contract Management
Inefficient customer contracting has long hampered revenues for businesses with complex pricing structures. The stories of United Airlines and TE Connectivity reflect pain points familiar to many enterprise sales leaders.
United Airlines’ Pre-Transformation Struggles
“Our legacy contracting process was just not great… four different tools, multiple teams.” – Arjun Gupta, Senior Manager, Sales Tools Modernization, United Airlines
Before Smart CPQ, United Airlines wrestled with an assembly-line approach to contracting. Each step — from data processing to modeling contract terms — involved switching systems and passing responsibility between teams. The result? Seven-day turnaround times for deliverables that should’ve taken minutes.
TE Connectivity’s Spreadsheet Bottleneck
Managing over 10,000 unique agreements manually through spreadsheets was unsustainable for TE Connectivity.
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Terrence Murphy
Global Head of Pricing  |
Both organizations knew they needed a smarter, more agile solution to overcome these operational bottlenecks. Automation was the obvious answer.
Automation Reduces Complexity and Delays
One thing becomes crystal clear when examining these case studies: automation isn’t just a “nice-to-have” feature. It’s a competitive advantage.
United Airlines Automates Agreements
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Joseph Letizia
Senior Manager, Sales Strategy  |
By consolidating four disjointed tools into one centralized system integrated with their CRM, United Airlines transformed its process. Automation handles contract versioning, error management, and activation seamlessly. The company’s sales team now spends less time on admin and more time nurturing client relationships.
TE Connectivity’s Need for Speed
“Having a single system of record allows us to make quick decisions and optimize pricing in real time.” – Terrence Murphy
For TE Connectivity, digitizing agreements isn’t just about improving internal efficiencies. It became imperative to maintain pace within the fast-moving industries and markets they serve. Automation will help TE reduce quote cycle times, giving them a competitive edge in responding to demands from customers in a complex and rapidly changing eco-system.
Value-Based Contracting Builds Better Partnerships
Many companies are stuck in what Joseph Letizia aptly describes as “discount-for-share” models, where deals rely solely on discounted prices in exchange for market share. Smart CPQ enables organizations to think beyond traditional discounts and align agreements with strategic business outcomes.
How United Airlines Uses Value Drivers
“We wanted to move to a more value-based selling component that our existing platform just did not allow us to do.” – Joseph Letizia
United Airlines added mobile app engagement as a metric in corporate travel agreements. By incentivizing app usage, both the airline and its customers saw benefits such as increased satisfaction rates and smoother travel experiences. Unlike simple discounts, value-based contracting fosters cohesion between the company’s priorities and the customer’s goals.
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Arjun Gupta
Senior Manager, Sales Tools Modernization |
Key Takeaways
The experiences of United Airlines and TE Connectivity reveal several universal lessons for enterprises looking to modernize their digital selling strategies:
1. Centralization and Automation
A single, centralized CPQ system reduces errors, saves time, and delivers an unparalleled customer experience.
2. Empowerment through Simplicity
Smart CPQ allows your sales team to take charge of the quoting process and generate deals faster, cutting down reliance on other specialists.
3. Scaling Across Verticals
Whether managing direct clients or complex supply chains, digitization principles apply across industries.
4. Focus on Value, Not Just Price
Moving away from discount-for-share models encourages stronger, long-term customer relationships.
5. Look to the Future
Integrated into your Smart CPQ solution, Collaborative quoting is redefining how enterprises and customers interact, eliminating any friction in the B2B selling process. It accelerates deal velocity by seamlessly blending digital self-service with sales-assisted support — delivering a faster, more personalized buying experience while giving your business a competitive edge. Implementing a solution like Smart CPQ may seem daunting, but as these success stories prove, it’s worth investing in the right tools to optimize sales operations.
What’s Next?
Implementing Smart CPQ isn’t just an operational upgrade. It’s a competitive necessity for sales leaders in both B2B and travel industries. If you’re ready to explore how your organization can streamline contracting, reduce inefficiencies, and drive value-based engagement, contact us for a demo today.