A Distributor Portal That Turned RFQs Into Quotes
Knowles sells specialty components through a distribution channel into a dozen different markets. Four years on from the first CPQ build, distributors raise their own RFQs and get tier-correct pricing back — and the platform is still expanding.
The Challenge
Headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, Knowles Corporation supplies micro-acoustic, audio processing and specialty component solutions to mobile consumer electronics, communications, medical, military, aerospace and industrial markets. Roughly 7,000 employees.
Selling components through a distribution channel makes quoting structurally hard. Distributors don’t buy at one price — they buy at their own negotiated tiers, and which price a given part carries depends on who is asking, through which branch, for which business unit. Those distributors are themselves branch networks, so a corporate buyer and a local branch need different views of the same pipeline. And the parts in play aren’t always in the catalogue.
Every request for a quote that has to be interpreted by a person before it can be priced is a delay between a distributor asking and Knowles answering.
The Solution
Cirrius built the sales and quoting platform in stages, beginning with CPQ, marketing and reporting in 2022 and expanding into a distributor-facing Experience Cloud portal.
- A distributor portal for RFQs. Distributors raise their own requests for quote and track status, rather than routing everything through a phone call or an inbox.
- Tier-correct pricing, enforced by the platform. Distribution price lists, price breaks and publishable-tier visibility rules mean each distributor sees their own pricing — with inside sales retaining floor-price and discount controls.
- RFQ-to-quote conversion. Requests map through to CPQ quotes and quote lines, including quick quotes and non-catalogue write-in parts, with PDF quote generation and an approval and rejection workflow behind it.
- Routing to inside sales. RFQs are assigned by territory and claimed by the right inside sales rep, with notifications rather than chasing.
- Branch and corporate views. Branch-level RFQ lists sit alongside a corporate roll-up, so a distributor’s head office and its individual locations each see what they need.
- Business unit and region segmentation. Plus historical order visibility distinguishing open from shipped.
- Marketing and funnel reporting. Connecting form submissions through to qualified leads and attribution.
The Result
The clearest evidence is the shape of the relationship. Knowles engaged Cirrius in January 2022 for marketing, sales, CPQ and reporting. Managed services began in 2023 and have renewed every year since — through 2026. In late 2025 the engagement expanded again with a fractional pod covering Experience Cloud work, advisory and expansion, followed by further Experience Cloud and sales advisory in 2026.
- A distributor self-service channel. where quoting previously required a person in the middle
- Pricing integrity across tiers, branches and business units. enforced by the platform rather than by memory
- Four straight years of managed services renewals. with the platform continuously extended rather than frozen at go-live
- An agentic roadmap. Agentforce is the next conversation
The Pattern
Channel sales punish ambiguity. When a distributor’s price depends on who they are, which branch they’re ordering through and which business unit the part belongs to, the only durable answer is a platform that knows all three — and a partner who keeps it current as the channel changes.
Selling through a distribution channel?
Let’s talk about giving your distributors a quote without a phone call.