Challenges
Selling complex, engineered-to-order products was error-prone and time-consuming. Relying on 2D drawings and spreadsheets risked specification errors and sales delays. The company needed to streamline and optimize its custom solution sales cycle.
Solutions
A power grid leader leveraged PTC’s augmented reality technology to accelerate complex sales cycles with virtual product demonstrations
Leading the power grid industry with cost-effective customer solutions
Power grid companies answer a global call, providing service to hundreds of millions of people every day. One industry leader stands out by providing cost-effective products, systems, software, and service solutions across the power chain. To address power quality problems, this power grid company provides capacitors and filters—highly customized systems that improve the power quality of electrical networks by eliminating disturbances and improving power factors in line with grid requirements.
Product customization can present challenges in the sales cycle
Selling complex, engineered-to-order products was a costly and time-consuming process for the power grid company, as customers had very specific requirements about what would or would not work in their environments. Adding to that, prospects and customers often got information from multiple suppliers relating to different pieces of the power grid solution. It could be challenging for them to determine how it all fit together or where a particular part or system fits into the overall picture.
The company’s engineers and sales representatives had to work with customers to ensure compatibility with their required specifications, communicating critical information for complex systems that had yet to be built. Early in the sales cycle, it was difficult for the customer to visualize their product order since there were no ready-made catalogs or manuals to reference.
Customers had to rely on design images, 2D drawings, and spreadsheets to imagine the finished product. This took a substantial time and risked costly mistakes and delays in the sales cycle. It was clear that the power grid company needed to improve the sales process and cost-optimize these engineered-to-order solutions.
Turning to PTC to transform the sales process and improve the customer experience
Adding to the momentum and improvements from their recently developed design configuration software, the power grid company realized that with more of the right technology, they could enhance the customer experience, improve purchase confidence, and boost sales effectiveness.
Having an established relationship with PTC from a CAD and PLM perspective, they decided to invest in PTC’s Vuforia augmented reality (AR) technology to increase customer understanding and expedite the sales process. Using Vuforia Studio, they created immersive 3D virtual product demonstrations to help customers better visualize and understand the offered solution. With the AR technology, customers could see and interact with the exact product they were purchasing to ensure it met their needs.
As an efficient AR authoring environment, Vuforia Studio enabled the company to leverage their existing 3D CAD models to create immersive experiences based on variants specified in their configuration software. The AR experiences created in Vuforia Studio then allowed the customer to see a full-scale digital representation of the proposed solution in their own environment, showing the exact placement within the greater power grid system. This allowed the customer to easily identify any inaccuracies or issues that needed to be corrected before the final system was built and shipped.
A clear improvement emerges
Customer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. AR has eliminated the need for customers to rely on abstract drawings and numbers in order to understand the proposed solution during the sales process—all in favor of a quicker, more personalized solution. With many reporting that the sales and service process is unlike anything they’ve ever seen in the industry, the company has witnessed a whole new level of purchasing confidence from their customers.
They are going even further with their AR transformation by piloting an addition to the service cycle. They are using Vuforia Studio to develop real-time instructions to help customers and outside vendors assemble the customized capacitor systems in the field and perform routine maintenance and service.
Vuforia technology has helped the power grid leader meet the needs of their customers by accelerating the sales experience, enabling purchasing confidence, and improving the overall customer experience. With PTC technology in their corner, they’re looking forward to the future of customer service ahead.
With many reporting that the sales and service process is unlike anything they’ve ever seen in the industry, the company has witnessed a whole new level of purchasing confidence from their customers.
This content was originally published on the PTC website.