Why a workshop is necessary before buying a configurator.

Author: Andreas Fidler

What is a configurator workshop?

A workshop is held before the start of the project or before the start of implementation. In this workshop, the scope is defined, a prototype is created and a specification sheet is written. This is the only way to guarantee that the project runs smoothly and that the desired result is achieved.

Why is a configurator workshop necessary?

Before you make an investment, whether it is hiring a company or using internal resources, you certainly always want to know what costs you can expect. Of course, you can quickly get a price indication, but this only tells half the truth. Before the requirements are clearly defined, an offer is unprofessional and in most cases leads to additional costs and discrepancies in the course of the project. In order to take away exactly this fear from our customers, we always conduct a workshop. Since interpersonal relations play a very important role, this is also the perfect time to get to know your counterparts and to assess how well the cooperation will work. Without a configurator workshop, you would run the risk of only gaining this knowledge during the course of the project. In these workshops, customers can easily express their wishes and concerns.

How long does a configurator workshop take?

Basically, you can expect about three hours. But depending on the complexity of your product or the configurator, this workshop can take up to 10 hours. Afterwards you will receive a protocol and the elaborated documents. In the following three to four weeks, a prototype, the specifications and an offer will be developed. As a guideline for you: on average, we need a total of 40 hours for this process.

Do customers need to prepare for the workshop?

We always leave it up to our clients whether they want to prepare or not. We work with a proven agenda with all the important questions to cover all the necessary topics. But even more important than the preparation is the choice of the right participants. This is because the various participants from different positions in the company pursue different tasks and goals that the configurator must support. They therefore use the configurator for different reasons, and this can lead to inconsistencies. The task of the workshop organizer is to understand and unify their points of view. Be careful: this must be very well thought out, otherwise it can lead to the configurator not appealing to anyone and not being used. This is also the greatest danger: if the needs of the users are not addressed correctly, the configurator could fail due to lack of acceptance.

Configurator checklist

Avoid stumbling blocks.

What is the process and what is included in the workshop?

1. Insight into your company and internal processes. How do you sell your products, how are quotes created, how do you produce, where do you store your data, ... ? All this is important to understand your value chain and to be able to integrate the configurator into your landscape.

2. However, the most important thing for the concept creator is to understand your product and its possibilities down to the last detail. Therefore, the positions of sales and product management must also participate in order to be able to work out the product tree together. This visually represents your product, with all its features and dependencies. This gives you a simple overview in the technical world. Non-technicians can participate and it is understandable for every participant what is being talked about. Click here for an example of a product tree.

3. If you want to address several target groups with the configurator, or have several different users, it is even more important to define personas. What are personas? Your configurator is like a new employee. In order for it to become an efficient sales tool, we need to understand the people it will encounter in its work. With the personas we create together, we want to get a good picture of these people. To do this, imagine yourself having a personal conversation with your customer - as if they were standing right in front of you and answering your question: "How can I help you?"

What information do your customers already have?
How does a consultation proceed?
What questions do your customers ask, what questions do you ask?
Which advantage of your solution would you like to inform your customers about in particular?

Based on these ideas, we formulate together how the configurator can become a personal contact for your customers. If this is not done, you run the risk of overloading the configurator or designing it for the wrong user group. This is crucial for the success of your configurator and whether it is ultimately used or not.

Below you can see an example of defined personas.

4. Now the remaining points of the agenda are worked off. These include calculations, languages, currencies, visualization, interfaces, etc. This rounds off the workshop and clarifies any remaining questions.

5. At the end of the workshop, you will receive the interview protocol, the elaborated product tree and the personas. After your approval, we start with the next steps.

6. Next, we create a prototype. This is already adapted to your corporate design and shows you how your configurator can look. We want to provide you with a first visual impression so that the finished configurator is more tangible and thus makes it easier for you to make a decision.

In the image below, you can see very clearly that there is hardly any difference between the prototype and the finished configurator. This gives you considerable risk minimization and you already know what the finished configurator will look like before you place the order. Here you can go directly to the configurator.

7. Of course, this also includes the appropriate requirements specification, which clearly specifies which functions the configurator must contain. Since not everyone works with specifications on a daily basis, let alone understands the technology of a configurator, we write them as comprehensibly as possible and provide a glossary.

8. Finally, these documents are handed over with a transparent and customized offer at a presentation. Of course, adjustments can still be made at this stage.

Do I have to choose Combeenation after the workshop?

We would be very happy about the further cooperation. However, the purpose of a configurator workshop is that the result can be used universally. You can choose from the following options:

Implementation by Combeenation
Implementation by your digital agency on the Combeenation platform
Independent implementation on the Combeenation platform
Implementation with another provider

What does a workshop cost?

It is not in our interest to make a profit with configurator workshops. For us it is important to offer our customers the best possible start, so that together we can implement a successful configurator that will increase their sales. We have therefore decided on a fair price of 2.490€. This price includes the implementation of the workshop, the requirements specification and a finished prototype incl. UI design.

Is it possible without a workshop?

Of course! For very small projects, which can be implemented under 60 hours, the additional effort would probably not be worth it. There are also individual cases where customers want to start without a workshop. We solve such special cases on the basis of monthly hourly billing.

When was a workshop successful?

A workshop was successful when all participants were well advised, all questions of both sides were clarified and common goals were agreed upon. In the end, what counts is the satisfaction of the customer through a qualitative and complete specification, an appealing and beautiful prototype and a transparent offer.

Conclusion

A configurator workshop before purchasing a configurator is necessary to guarantee a smooth project with the desired result. The workshop helps to clearly define the requirements, precisely define the costs and eliminate the risk of additional costs. The workshop usually lasts between 3 and 10 hours, depending on the complexity of the product and the configurator. During the workshop, aspects such as your value chain, product logic, user:inside and all functional requirements are determined. The workshop is therefore an important step in ensuring that the configurator is tailored to the needs of your company and can therefore be used successfully.

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