You have this: a customer calls. He asks about the machine. What size? What specifications? Does it fit his tractor? How much does it cost? Is it available? The salesman answers. The customer asks further. The salesman explains. Again. And again. The same questions. Over and over again. Every customer asks the same thing. Every salesman explains the same thing. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. The same answers. The same explanations. The same questions.
It's enough to make you want to record the answers and play them on a loop. Right?
How do I know what it looks like for you? There are more people in that place than you think. I've been there, too.
Agricultural machinery manufacturing company. 8 salespeople. 150+ inquiries per week. 60% are the same inquiries.
That's what it looked like to them. Exactly the same as yours.
A customer calls. He asks about the machine. What size? What parameters? Does it fit his tractor? How much does it cost? Is it available? The salesman answers. The customer asks further. The salesman explains. Again. And again. The same questions. Over and over again. Every customer asks the same thing. Every salesman explains the same thing. Hours. Days. Weeks. Months. The same answers. The same explanations. The same questions.
Not „a lot of companies have a problem.” They've been there. In the same place as you. It is possible to get out of it. That's what this story is about.
Having a catalog is not the same as having a configurator that answers questions before the customer calls.
Most say: we already have a catalog, we have a website, customers can see the products. And the truth is: the question is not „do you have a catalog”. The question is: can the customer himself see if the machine fits his tractor, what its parameters are, how much it costs - without calling? Does the salesman waste time with the same answers that could be on the website?
Catalogs are for viewing. Configurators are for decisions. It's the difference between „see and call” and „check and order.” Sound familiar?
This is what the product configurator does.
What it is. An interactive site that allows the customer to configure the machine himself: choose the size, parameters, add-ons, check compatibility with the tractor, see the price in real time. Not as a static catalog, but as a tool that answers questions before the customer calls.
What does it look like in practice? The customer goes to the website. He selects the type of machine. He enters the parameters of his tractor. The system shows which machines fit. The customer selects a variant. He sees the parameters. He sees the price. He sees the availability. He checks the add-ons. He configures. It sees the effect. Decides. Without calling. Without waiting. No questions that the salesman hears hundreds of times. The customer finds the answers himself. The salesman only talks to ready customers. This is a configurator. Not a catalog to look through - a tool that sells.
Agricultural machinery manufacturing company. Before: 150+ inquiries per week, 60% are the same questions. After: configurator. 8 salespeople. 70% fewer questions.
Today with them it looks like this: customers find the answers themselves. Salespeople only talk to ready customers. The same questions - gone. Time of salespeople - freed up. Customers - happy, because they get answers right away, without waiting on the phone.
Figures:
- Reducing the number of questions from customers: 70%
- Traders' time for basic questions: from 40% to 10%
- Conversion from site visit to inquiry: an increase of 45%
- Average time to set up the machine: 8-12 minutes
- Customers who configure before contacting: 78%
- Customer satisfaction: up 32%
At first it seemed that their machines were too complicated for a configurator - each machine has dozens of variants, technical parameters, compatibility with different tractors. The key turned out to be a logical flow - first machine type, then tractor parameters, then variants, then add-ons. The system shows only what fits. The customer sees immediately what he can choose. There are no „does it fit” questions. - the system shows it.
One of their customers put it bluntly: finally I can check everything myself, without calling or waiting - and I can see right away what fits my tractor. Not „works great.” Concrete. His words. Two worlds: a catalog to look through - or a configurator that responds. It's the latter option that attracts customers who want to decide quickly.
The same solution is already being used by companies in very different industries:
- Production of customized furniture (configurator of kitchens, closets, dressing rooms)
- Windows and doors (configurator with thermal and acoustic parameters)
- Gates and fences (configurator with dimensions and materials)
- RES and photovoltaics (installation configurator with power calculation)
- HVAC and air conditioning (configurator with selection of power to space)
- Sale of personalized products (configurator with personalization)
The common denominator: products with multiple variants, technical specifications, compatibility - and the frustration when a salesman wastes time with the same answers that could be on the website. People in your industry are already using this.
We sometimes hear: „We already have a catalog. Customers can see the products.”
We understand. Many companies already have a catalog. It's just worth checking one thing: can the customer check for himself whether the product fits his needs, what parameters it has, how much it costs - without calling? Does the salesman waste time with the same answers that could be on the website? Catalogs are for viewing. Configurators are for decisions. If the catalog already does what you want - great. If it doesn't - we can talk about what that looks like for you.
We also hear, „It won't work with us - our products are too complicated.”
We hear it often. The agricultural machinery company thought so too. Their products had dozens of variants, technical parameters, compatibility with different tractors, add-ons, options. With a logical flow and a good architecture, it is possible to build a configurator for any complex products - the system shows only what fits, the customer sees immediately what he can choose. In their case, the number of questions dropped by 70%; the salesman only talks to ready customers. The question of project scope and price. It is worth checking if it is worth it in your case.
And: „Customers prefer to talk to a salesman.”
We know it too. An agricultural machinery company thought so too. It turned out that customers want to talk to a salesman - but about details, negotiations, deadlines, not about basic parameters they can check for themselves. The configurator does not replace the salesman. The configurator relieves the salesman of basic questions so they can talk about what's really important. In their case, 78% customers configure before contact; the salesman talks to a ready-made customer who knows what they want. We don't say: you have to now. We say: if there's ever a moment to make it count - we'll be happy to help. No pressure.
Very possibly your next step is a configurator that answers questions before the customer calls.
The salesman only talks to ready customers. Customers find the answers themselves. Just like with an agricultural machinery company and companies in various industries that already use it.
You don't have to go down this road alone. We can talk.
