Product configuration: part of the solution to part of the problem
25 June 2010
It is an old law of nature that still applies: the battle for clients is won by those companies who are best at understanding clients’ needs and offer a suitable solution for them. In many industries ‘product configuration’ is used as a method of offering a product that meets a client’s specific needs. But does this kind of configurator get the job done?
Product configurator
Using a product configurator, a more or less generic product can be offered in client-specific variance and efficiency profits can be made. This is a big step forward compared to a situation without a product configurator. But increasingly we find that the international market is far too complex and too dynamic to think that a product configurator solves all problems. A product configurator is often only part of the solution to part of a problem. The two most important reasons why a product configurator is often not enough:
1. Your client doesn’t think in bills of materials
Most product configurators do what the name suggests: they configure products. They use the language of bills of materials, routings etc. But this is not the language in which the customer formulates his needs! A good sales support system has to be able to speak two languages: the language of customer needs and the language of product specifications. This kind of system should also offer the possibility of maintaining both sides of reality independently from each other and at the same time make connections between both sides of reality. In other words: the client has to be able to explain what he expects from the product while the system should be able to find the correct technical specifications to go with that explanation.
2. You don’t sell bills of materials and routings
In a sales process, it’s not only a product being sold. A commercial transaction has far more dimensions than only the physical product. Think of payment conditions, delivery conditions, transport, additional insurance, service conditions, legal conditions etc. To keep your client happy and secure your margins at the same time, it is not enough to supply the right product. Not only the product must be put together, the whole commercial transaction has to be put together. Traditional product configurators do not offer you these possibilities.
Head start on the competition
These days, many companies have found that the switch from a traditional product configurator to a Guided Selling system offers many advantages. It makes it possible for them to improve their understanding of client needs, to produce quotations quickly and completely, and especially: to supply according to their offer. Because of this they increase their head start on the competition. Are you curious to know if this could work for you? We’d like to make that discovery with you.
Otto van der Tang is Managing Director at Sofon - supplier of sales support software. As Otto has a lot of contact with clients, he has a clear insight into how companies that deliver customer-specific products and services can realize improvements within their sales and quotation process.
Comments
No entries
