As technology evolves, and the market for construction equipment becomes more global, it’s increasingly difficult for manufacturers to maintain their competitive edge. The biggest challenges in this environment are:
Fortunately, there are ways to respond to these challenges, without drastic changes. Here are five strategies to try:
The more complexity manufacturers can allow for their products, the longer it can take to finalize orders. Configure, price, quote (CPQ) solutions eliminate the most cumbersome and time-consuming aspects of configuration and pricing so customers can generate their own quotes in a fraction of the time of normal processes. This ensures your company can be among the first to submit a quote to customers and remain in the running for a deal. Even better, both sales and engineering teams benefit from increased productivity due to less customer hand-holding during the configuration process.
Customer requirements, regulations, and currency vary from region to region, making it difficult for construction equipment manufacturers to configure orders in different markets efficiently. CPQ software makes it easy to configure equipment options and specifications based on the unique requirements of different markets. It allows for streamlined customization, ensuring products meet specific regional regulations, industry standards, or customer preferences. It can also automatically convert pricing to regional currencies.
Effectively leveraging technology is key for manufacturers to improve efficiency and protect profit margins. This requires a workforce with a much different skill set than those in traditional industrial environments. Providing in-house training, or funding third-party education to teach employees high-tech skills, will ensure they’re able to keep up and meaningfully contribute in increasingly digitalized environments while helping manufacturers reach revenue goals.
In addition to streamlining the quoting process, CPQ solutions can also gather data on customer preferences, equipment configurations, and sales trends, similar to customer relationship management (CRM) platforms. Manufacturers can analyze this data to gain valuable insights about market demand, product performance, and emerging trends. This enables manufacturers to respond proactively to market conditions as they evolve.
CPQ software puts the configuration process directly into the hands of customers, allowing them to quickly customize and price orders without waiting for a response from sales. Many platforms even offer advanced visualization that allows customers to see 3D models of their products that update in real-time as they select different builds and accessories. This enhances the overall customer experience by reducing response times, minimizing errors, and increasing purchase confidence.
