For consumers, personalisation has been an expectation for decades. From custom coffee orders to bespoke vacation packages, we expect goods and services tailored to our unique preferences. But why should customisation only be an expectation for consumers? The demand for personalisation is now sweeping into B2B sales, accelerating the shift from traditional mass production to mass customisation.
To keep up, more and more manufacturers are adopting an engineer-to-order (ETO) or configure-to-order (CTO) approach. Instead of offering a catalogue of rigid, one-size-fits-all products, manufacturers work closely with individual buyers to design and build products for a highly specific use case. But delivering on an ETO or CTO strategy isn’t easy, and your sales organisation needs to prepare before it can support personalisation at scale.
“Specifically, the mass customisation trend can result in significant operational challenges for CTO and ETO businesses. In addition, embracing this trend means constantly innovating to introduce new products, which incurs additional costs. Finally, managing collaborations among various parties, including sales, engineering, production, and customers, can become critical.”
Mass Customisation in Manufacturing,” PWC.
Product catalogues in manufacturing have never been easy to master, but the addition of customisation makes the challenge that much harder. Now, your sales reps need to present personalised products and proposals for each sale — a task that requires time and technical expertise. Reps need to stay on top of unpredictable workflows and variable pricing, all while maintaining your brand’s high standards.
Delivering scale and consistency in the age of mass customisation
Customisation can feel overwhelming, but it happens within defined areas: every product will have specific customisable features. Sales and channel reps need to understand what customisation is possible and how those different features can be configured. That knowledge will allow them to present accurate information to their buyers from day one.
But even if just a few features can be customised on a given product, that quickly leads to dozens of possible configurations. That level of personalisation can be overwhelming for buyers and sellers alike. Your reps need to take on the role of advisor: listening to buyers, problem-solving, and offering the best solution based on their pain points and use cases. And from beginning to end, reps need to provide sales materials that support their recommendations. That support doesn’t end at the moment of purchase, either. Customisation offers extensive opportunities for upselling and cross-selling — if your sales rep or dealer knows how to take advantage of them.
According to “The Go-to-Market Performance Gap,” a recent report by Highspot, 38% of manufacturers cited cross-selling and upselling as some of the most important business outcomes of their go-to-market strategy.
Even when working with a standard, consistent set of products, sales and channel reps need time and expertise to sell effectively. To keep up with a tidal wave of made-to-order products, your sales team needs modern tools that allow them to quickly study each opportunity and create effective content.
A unified platform for unique buyer experiences
Highspot helps your sales team regain control of customised manufacturing sales with organised content and resources to create winning proposals for every opportunity.
- Highspot AutoDocs gives your reps everything they need to quickly generate custom proposals and presentations. Automating content creation lifts the burden off your sales and channel teams, allowing them to focus on the work that drives revenue: identifying prospects, building relationships, and closing deals. AutoDocs also supports compliance by minimising the risk of quoting errors, brand alignment, or regulatory slip-ups.
- Sellers can build buyer confidence and accelerate deals with Highspot’s Digital Sales Rooms (DSRs). By providing a consistent flow of tailored demos, meeting recaps, and custom deal resources, reps can quickly address customer questions and keep sales moving forward. DSRs gather all the latest information to provide a single source of truth when managing complex customer orders
- Sales Plays help reps keep manufacturing sales on track with strategic content and training. With easy access to relevant messaging, value propositions, and objection handling, your reps can stay one step ahead in high-pressure sales conversations. You can also include call recordings and best practices in playbooks to help teams stay consistent and replicate winning behaviours.
- Highspot AI is the perfect match for mass customisation. Sales reps can use AI to surface accurate insights from your entire library of sales content, helping deliver precise responses to detailed customer questions. Highspot AI also automatically summarises meetings and follow-ups, helping your reps understand buyer needs and offer tailored recommendations.
AI is essential for sellers to deliver personalisation at scale. No individual rep can keep up with the details of hundreds of opportunities. Highspot AI guides reps through the complexity by suggesting the best response in each moment while still maintaining a unified experience for the buyer.
The most lucrative customer relationships don’t end at the moment of purchase. With Highspot, your reps can show customers the benefits of maintenance and service contracts that bring in crucial long-term revenues. DSRs, Sales Plays, and AI tools all help your reps deliver buyer-specific content for effective upselling and cross-selling.
Want to know more about how manufacturing trends are transforming sales? Read our full guide to find out about the impact of reshoring and smart factories.
Ready to start selling more custom products? Request a demo to see how Highspot can help your GTM team thrive in the age of mass customisation.
