Main advantages (B2B)
Lower distribution costs
Companies
producing complex goods are likely spend a lot of time and money responding to
customer inquiries. Expert knowledge and internal inquiries across different departments may be
necessary simply to get a quote. By contrast, a configurator makes all the
information necessary for technically correct and precisely calculated offers
available to sales staff, allowing them to work in complete independance.
Customer service is delivered with higher consistency across the distribution
chain, at a lower cost to the company.
Quicker reaction to customer inquiries
By using a
configurator, the time needed to calculate an offer can be reduced from days
and weeks to a few hours. This enables a rapid reaction to customer inquiries
and allows external sales representatives to deliver on location. As a result,
the overall time from the first customer contact to the actual deal is
significantly shortened.
Reduced capital commitment and less
overproduction
Since production will ideally be geared to actual
demand rather than to keeping the warehouse filled, the capital commitment and
high costs associated with stock-keeping can effectively be reduced. In
addition, no more sales or special reductions are required for selling-off
surplus production.
Error elimination throughout the ordering and
production process
A configurator allows customers' wishes to be examined
and tested for their feasability at an early stage in the sales process. After
an order is placed, material lists, work plans and most project documents can
be generated automatically, with minimal scope for error. This results in
shorter production and delivery times, as well as less money spent on handling
complaints and warranty issues.
Quality improvements in customer-service
Configurators
help improve the quality of the sales process, with all related aspects such as
price, delivery time and technical feasability being avaliable at the click of
a button. Technical sketches, images or 3D-visualizations vividly demonstrate a
given product configuration and contribute to enhancing the quality of customer
service. Additionally, a configurator can support sales staff by providing
sales-arguments and information on add-ons or alternative products.
Worldwide access to up-to-date priduct
information
A
configurator ensures that sales staff and distribution partners worldwide
always have the most up-to-date product information available. Where internet
or local networks aren't immediately available, the configurator can be used
off-line. Travelling sales representatives can work from their laptops and
subsequently synchronise all their data with the central database.
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