ServiceNow takes another shot at Salesforce with new CPQ product

Last April, ServiceNow bought configure, price, quote (CPQ) startup Logik.ai. This week the company announced the release of the ServiceNow Configure, Price, Quote solution built with the acquisition’s technology.

While CRM in the pure sense is about collecting customer data, it’s ultimately about managing the sales process. As salespeople put together complex deals, they have to build price lists factoring in every component, the cost of each, and the final quote. This is one of those practical parts of the sales process—the kind of work that always tends to get bogged down in paperwork.

ServiceNow is aiming to modernize this process by shifting it from spreadsheets emailed back and forth to a workflow managed by AI, says Terrence Chesire, VP of CRM and industry workflows at ServiceNow. “We're replacing traditional CRM with an AI-native system of action, one that breaks down silos, automates workflows and uses AI to free your teams,” he said at a recent press event announcing the new approach.

“Following our recent acquisition of Logik.ai, ServiceNow CPQ brings a modern, AI-powered CPQ that helps sellers navigate solutions, rather than complex product catalogs, while configuring quotes that match buyers’ needs with company pricing and compatibility rules,” he said.

Holger Mueller, an analyst with Constellation Research, says this is a smart move by ServiceNow. “Complex quotes are always a lot of manual work, and thus error-prone," Mueller told FastForward. He said the announcement also has the added benefit of sticking it to Salesforce in the process.

Taking on Salesforce

ServiceNow and Salesforce have been playing a little game of tit-for-tat this year with each company going after the other's core business, all while trying to convince enterprise customers that theirs should be the agentic platform to rule them all.

Up until this year, ServiceNow concentrated mostly on the service component, especially help desk-style ticketing and workflow known as ITSM (IT service management), as well as HR, finance and customer service. Salesforce covers the broad range of CRM including sales, customer service and marketing. Both companies began targeting agentic AI workflows in a big way this year.

Mueller says this week’s announcements are intended to put Salesforce on notice. “ServiceNow is putting forth its first agent portfolio and it's good to see the vendor focus on generic agents, as they will help customers in all industries. The notable difference is, of course, CRM where ServiceNow has thrown out the challenge to Salesforce and we will see how the first CRM-focused ServiceNow agent will do,” he said.

In April, ServiceNow made it clear it was moving into Salesforce’s territory. More recently Salesforce signaled it was setting it sights ServiceNow’s core ITSM business. Apparently two can play that game.

ServiceNow CPQ is expected to be available at the end of this year.

Featured image by Donny Gonzo on Wikimedia Commons. Used under CC0 license.