Restaurants come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it be fine dining, casual dining, cafeteria, or ghost kitchens, each establishment has its own unique floor plan furnished with different types of equipment. Because there are no cookie-cutter layouts, FES manufacturers, consultants, and dealers are starting to use visual configurations to build a highly functional front-of-house and/or back-of-house layout to fit unique needs.
Visual configurations help manufacturers present integrated equipment configurations, communicate the value of each product, and demonstrate how the equipment layout helps optimize workflow, productivity, safety, and versatility.
Sales reps lean on visual configurators to build, price, and quote the perfect product(s) for clients. Marketing teams use the solution as a digital engagement tool to bring prospects to the website to experiment with product combinations, learn about key product features, and become fully immersed to boost brand affinity.
From large-scale kitchen overhauls to simple equipment replacements, a visual configurator with floor space planning is becoming the go-to industry tool for those opening, remodeling, upgrading, or transforming to a new type of restaurant. Here are 6 key points that highlight the value of incorporating visual configuration tools into your selling strategy:
1. Real-time Collaboration
Manufacturers, consultants, and dealers working with operators can customize equipment and present a variety of room layout designs in the same meeting. They can make real-time changes by interactively moving equipment to new locations or swapping it out entirely. This enables the operator to quickly compare product attributes and determine which features are preferable versus critical.
2. Powerful Designs
Visual configurators give operators and other stakeholders a compelling way to digitally experience equipment configurations and room layouts. Using traditional selling methods like sales literature, pictures, and videos to explain how the waiting area, bar, dining, or kitchen space is going to look is not as effective. Seeing 3D equipment models in the configurator or virtual reality provides a connected, immersive, hands-on experience on how each piece of equipment fits and operates in the footprint.
3. Convenience
A web-based, visual configurator is an alternative way for operators to experience products on their own time or when they are not able to be on-site to experience physical products. It allows them to experience a realistic view that wouldn’t be attainable otherwise. This digital strategy keeps the sales process moving forward when travel is an issue, or a stakeholder has a scheduling conflict.
4. Immersive Experiences
Adding virtual reality or augmented reality to the sales process gives operators a better understanding of the overall concept and a more complete buying experience. Each stakeholder can see first-hand how important elements like space, function, and purpose factor in the room design as if they were standing in it. This solution solidifies expectations for a finished product by replacing an imagined concept with a realistic view.
5. Realism
Visual aids are known for their power and effectiveness when used to engage, inform, and persuade an audience. Studies have shown that visual information transmits faster to our brains, stays with us longer, triggers emotions, and motivates us. In fact, humans can process visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Therefore, the buyer is more likely to make a purchase when they can experience life-like attributes.
6. Lead Conversion
Sales and marketing teams leverage visual configurations to drive, nurture, and convert a lead to an opportunity through various staging processes. Through this journey, these teams can establish brand loyalty and nurture relationships with happy customers.
Reach out to us today if you’re interested in adding a visual configurator to your sales and marketing processes. An AQ representative will follow up to listen to your vision, provide recommendations, present a demo, and share pricing. We will share how manufacturers are finding success using visual configurators to construct products, build rooms, quote, and order in a seamless method.
Related links: Visual Configurations Drive Customer Engagement and Increase Sales, New Standards Set for Selling in FES
