Sales Configurator vs Product configurator: Must Know
Technology has come a long way over the years. As the rapid advancements continue to take root in the society, technology has birthed new consumer expectations for a fast, flexible and convenient buying experience. The customers’ demands have also changed a lot, giving a challenge to companies to increase upsell opportunities along with efficiency. The good news is that the developers and manufacturers have a solution, which is, configurators.
Configurable products have been used for a while now as a means to increase production and meet the increasing customer demands. Over the years, configurators have been used to aid the sales-delivery process, helping the customers and sellers make a sale or purchase.
Product Configurator
This software is used internally within an organization as a means to check that the components in a product are compatible with each other. It is concerned with technical output for the results, usually, material lists and component lists.
Technically, the product configurator tool is perfect for companies who sell customizable products. This software is best in presenting a detailed visual rendering of a product as the product is being customized. With 3D technology now, customers can be well aware of what the product will look like and how it will operate, even before it is launched in the market officially. Other than that, the customers get access to an accurate price quote. This also stands to boost customer satisfaction, though simplifying the buying process for the customer.
There are product configurators for imagery as well, these are useful for online retailers. It helps with presenting the products in a more interactive way without spending a huge amount of money on photography. These are common tools among businesses that deal with clothing and apparel accessories, heavy equipment machinery, automotive, fitness centers, to mention a few. In the end, the product configurator is the best tool in helping the customers feel confident in their purchase.
Sales configurator
On the other hand, a sales configurator is concerned with creating orders and order documents. It is the tool used in marketing to create different sales packages for the customers, including package discounts. A sales configurator makes it very easy to sell a product to a customer, regardless of its complexities. Ideally, it is safe to say that a sales configurator has more functionality than a product configurator.
Notice that this software helps your sales team to lead customers to the right products, based on their specific needs and preferences.
Even while both the product and sales configurators solve the same problems, the logistics of the sales configurator are more advanced than those of the product configurator. It is at this point that questions like, ‘which machine do you prefer? Or what is the use of this machine?’ can be asked. Such dynamic questions are resourceful to a company as they help the customer discover new needs they have.
The Internet of Things (IoT) in sales and product configurators
You may not understand how important the product and sales configurators are to a company until you fully understand the place of technology. IoT has transformed the business world today. People are more connected today thanks to the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Now that customers know more, they demand more. Even in the workplace, your marketing team cannot meet the demands of the customers without the use of both these tools. The sales configurators become the perfect way to liaise with the customers through the web and powered by the IoT. The product configurators then become resourceful in creating the most ideal and relevant products that would benefit the target market.
Technology has definitely changed how things get done. The good thing is that today, the products in the market are useful and helpful in solving the needs in society, thanks to product and sales configurators.