Looking for a way to stop your sales team from drowning in spreadsheets and proposal templates? Tired of chasing down approvals or fixing mistakes in quotes? This review is for you. I’m taking a no-nonsense look at Apparound, a GTM (go-to-market) platform that’s supposed to help B2B sales teams move faster and close deals without the usual quoting headaches.
If you’re running a sales team, responsible for quoting, or just want to know if Apparound is really worth the hype, read on. There’s a lot of buzz about “streamlining” and “digital transformation” in sales—let’s see what actually holds up.
What is Apparound, Really?
Apparound calls itself a “CPQ” (Configure, Price, Quote) and proposal software for B2B. In plain English: it’s a tool where your reps can build quotes, generate proposals, and (ideally) get them out the door faster—without a parade of emails and version control nightmares.
It’s cloud-based, works on desktop and mobile, and tries to centralize everything from product catalogs to digital signatures. The pitch is simple: you spend less time on admin, more time selling.
But does it deliver? Let’s break it down.
The Core Features (and How They Actually Work)
1. Proposal Generation
- The Promise: Build and send branded, accurate proposals right from the platform.
- Reality: The template system is decent. You can pull in products, pricing, and terms from a central library. Formatting is better than Word copy-paste jobs, and you don’t have to babysit the process.
- What’s Good: Less manual work, fewer mistakes. Reps can stick to the latest pricing and terms.
- What’s Not: If your deals have lots of customizations, you’ll still need to double-check. The template system isn’t magic—it relies on how well you set up your content and rules.
Pro tip: Invest the time upfront in organizing your product catalog and templates. Garbage in, garbage out.
2. CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote)
- The Promise: No more price errors or “Can I discount this?” emails. Reps get guardrails for what they can and can’t sell.
- Reality: The CPQ engine is solid for standard deals. It handles bundles, cross-sells, and approval workflows pretty well.
- What’s Good: Moves the quoting process out of spreadsheets. Approvals can be routed automatically, which cuts down on bottlenecks.
- What’s Not: If you have a lot of edge cases or super-complex pricing, expect some initial pain. You’ll need to spend time mapping out your rules (and probably get IT or sales ops involved).
3. Mobile and Offline Access
- The Promise: Close deals on the go, even without WiFi.
- Reality: The mobile app works, and offline mode is better than most. Handy if your team is meeting clients in person or at trade shows.
- What’s Good: No more “I’ll send you the quote when I get back to the office.”
- What’s Not: Complex quotes are still easier to build on a laptop. The mobile experience is best for updating or sending out simple proposals.
4. E-signatures and Document Tracking
- The Promise: Send, sign, and track proposals without switching tools.
- Reality: Built-in e-signature is convenient, but don’t expect the feature set of DocuSign or Adobe Sign. For most B2B deals, it’s “good enough.”
- What’s Good: You get notified when prospects open or sign proposals, which is actually useful.
- What’s Not: If your legal team is picky about e-signature providers, double-check that Apparound meets your compliance needs.
5. Analytics and Reporting
- The Promise: Know what’s working, what’s stuck, and who needs a nudge.
- Reality: You get dashboards on quote status, pipeline, product mix, and rep activity. It’s not Salesforce-level analytics, but it covers the basics.
- What’s Good: Clean visibility into how long quotes are sitting and which products are selling.
- What’s Not: Custom reporting is limited. If you want deep-dive analytics, you might need to export data or use another tool.
What’s the Real-World Setup Like?
Here’s where most CPQ tools fall down: the rollout. Apparound isn’t plug-and-play, but it’s not a nightmare, either.
- Implementation: Plan on a few weeks to a couple of months, depending on how complicated your pricing and approval chains are.
- Data import: You’ll need clean product and pricing data. If your current stuff is a mess, budget time for cleanup.
- Training: The UI is straightforward, but some reps will take longer to adjust. If your team is used to working in Excel or Word, expect a learning curve.
- Integration: Apparound offers connectors for Salesforce and other CRMs. If you want a seamless workflow, get your IT folks involved early.
Pro tip: Start small. Roll it out to one team or region first, iron out the kinks, then scale up.
Where Apparound Shines
- Mid-sized B2B Teams: If you’ve outgrown Google Docs but don’t have a full-time admin for Salesforce CPQ, Apparound hits a sweet spot.
- Mobile-first field sales: Teams who do a lot of in-person selling will appreciate the offline mode and mobile app.
- Standardized offers: If 80% of your quotes follow the same playbook, this will make things a lot faster.
Where It Falls Short
- Highly Customized or Complex Deals: If every quote is a snowflake, you’ll still need a lot of manual review (or a more expensive, tailored system).
- Heavy-duty Analytics: Good enough for most teams, but data geeks will want more flexibility.
- Integration-obsessed Workflows: If your sales stack is highly customized, expect to spend time on integrations. The out-of-the-box connectors only go so far.
Pricing: What to Expect
Apparound doesn’t publish its full pricing online (classic SaaS move), but expect it to be mid-market. It’s not the cheapest, but it’s miles less than the big enterprise CPQ platforms. You’ll probably pay per user, with add-ons for advanced features.
Don’t be shy about negotiating. And make sure you factor in the time (and maybe consulting costs) to set up your catalog and rules.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Trying to automate everything: Some deals just need a human touch. Don’t force the tool to do what it can’t.
- Skipping the data cleanup: Bad product data makes for bad quotes, no matter what software you buy.
- Rolling out to everyone at once: Get buy-in from a pilot team first. You’ll spot issues before they become expensive headaches.
Is It Worth It? The Honest Take
Apparound isn’t a magic bullet, but it’s a practical tool that’ll save most B2B teams time and hassle—if you put in the work up front. It won’t fix broken processes or make your reps sell more by itself. But it does cut out a lot of the usual noise around quoting and proposals.
If you’re buried in manual quotes, chasing signatures, or patching together spreadsheets, it’s worth a serious look. Just keep your expectations realistic: no system is set-and-forget.
TL;DR: Keep It Simple, Iterate as You Go
Don’t overcomplicate things. Start with your most common deals, get those humming, and only then roll out the bells and whistles. Tools like Apparound are just that—tools. They’re only as good as your process and your data.
Iterate, gather feedback from your team, and don’t be afraid to adjust as you go. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s fewer headaches and more closed deals.