Blog 9: Harnessing Functional Configurators for Enhanced Customer Engagement
“Listening twice to what you wish to hear,” this age-old sales adage plays a crucial role in offering advice and drafting proposals. The essence of sales is not just about presenting your solutions but genuinely understanding and responding to your customer’s needs. But, as sales conversations increasingly migrate from face-to-face interactions to digital platforms, the dynamics change. Here’s where the power of functional configurators comes into play.
The Shift to Digital
The digital era has transformed the traditional sales dialogue, moving it from direct conversations to interactions through a website’s configurator. This transition can be daunting for sales professionals accustomed to steering the conversation and directly addressing customer problems.
The Limitation of Product-Centric Configurators
Many online configurators focus excessively on the product itself, requiring a degree of product knowledge that not all customers possess. This approach overlooks the broader context of the customer’s situation and needs.
The Role of a Configurator as a Sales Agent
A truly effective configurator does more than just tailor products; it asks the right questions to understand the customer’s specific circumstances and challenges. By focusing on functional questions, it can offer customized advice, suggesting products or solutions that genuinely address the customer’s needs.
Conclusion
Configurators should prioritize functional specifications over product details. This shift can prevent potential misalignments in customer interactions and ensure that digital platforms provide accurate and relevant solutions. Embrace the functional configurator as a tool to deliver the right answers and foster meaningful customer engagement.