As a provider of turnkey robotic solutions… what questions might hold your customers back from purchasing your solutions?
If you have primarily offered integration services in the past, you may notice a change when you move to selling pre-engineered, off-the-shelf solutions.
Customers might ask different questions than when you were only selling services.
Here are 15 questions your customers might ask:
1. What Are the Differences Between This Solution and Alternatives?
Compared to integration services, turnkey solutions are more like a “product.” This means customers will compare similar products on the market.
If your customers are asking about your competitors, this is a good thing!. Get to know what other companies provide similar solutions to you so that you know how to respond.
2. What Is the Lead Time to Receive the System?
A significant benefit of turnkey solutions is that they are quick to deliver because the components are standardized… which should also be true of the delivery times!
Provide your customers with a clear, realistic estimated of the delivery time based on your current production capabilities.
3. How Long Will Installation Take Once on Site?
Ease and speed of installation are critical selling points for turnkey solutions. Ensure you have a detailed step-by-step installation process that is easy for customers to follow.
A good idea is to discuss potential challenges specific to the customer’s facility early-on, so you can anticipate them.
4. How Will It Integrate With Our Existing Production Lines?
A potential objection to pre-engineered robotic solutions is that they might not integrate with other processes in the customer’s facility.
Explain the modular design of your system and how it can adapt to various configurations. This is also an area where you can show your expertise as an integrator.
5. What Are the Performance Specifications and Capabilities?
As with any technology product, your customers will scrutinize the technical performance of your solution.
Be ready to provide comprehensive data on your turnkey application, including cycle times, payload capacity, accuracy, and any other relevant metric. If possible, validate your claims with previous real-world data from prior installations.
6. What Is the Total Cost and Pricing Model?
Cost transparency is crucial. Customers are often considering a turnkey solution because they want a clearer cost than they would get with a custom solution.
Offer detailed pricing models that clearly explain all costs involved, including hardware, software, installation, and potential customization fees. Standardized pricing packages can also streamline the buying decision
7. How Can We Modify It for Future Changes in Operations?
Your customers may be concerned about the flexibility of your solution. They may want to know if it can adapt to future changes to their product lines or operations.
With the right programming software, your robotic solution can have high agility with easily reconfigurable components.
8. Can It Handle Different Product Sizes or Variations?
Flexibility for handling different product lines or variants is often a key requirement. As a robotic solution, it’s likely that yours will inherently include this level of flexibility.
Give a clear understanding of the range of sizes that your turnkey solution can handle. Explain what steps are required to adapt the solution to different variants.
9. What Is the Expected ROI and Payback Period?
New robot users are often concerned with the question of when is the right time to invest in robots for their business.
The return on investment (ROI) and payback time are useful measures to for you to know when selling turnkey solutions. Help your potential customers to calculate these for their deployments.
10. What Kind of Maintenance and Support Is Included?
Post-sales support is a vital aspect of any automation solution. It helps to give your customers the confidence that they have made the right choice and builds trust that can lead to future sales.
Clearly outline your technical support, maintenance and other services.
11. How Customizable Are Programming and Interfaces?
Despite the standardized components of a turnkey solution, customization is important for many customers. This is particularly the case with programming software, which may need to integrate with other software package.
RoboDK offers extensive customization options from integrating with many CAD/CAM packages all the way to customizing the graphical interface.
12. What Kind of Training or Documentation Is Provided?
The training you provide with your turnkey solution can have a tremendous impact on its success in your customer’s business. Provide as comprehensive training and documentation as possible.
If you are using RoboDK as your programming software, we offer an extensive range of training resources for free to RoboDK users.
13. How Reliable Is It Expected to Be Over the Lifetime?
Reliability is paramount for production-grade systems. With turnkey solutions, you can offer more accurate reliability metrics than you might for more custom robot deployments.
Where possible, provide empirical data on metrics like system uptime, mean time between failures, or any other relevant reliability metric.
14. Are There Any Limitations We Should Be Aware Of?
No robotic system can do everything. Honesty about your solution’s limitations can go a long way to preventing misconceptions and dissatisfaction.
When your customers are well-informed about what your solution can and can’t do, they are more likely to appreciate its strengths and get the most from it.
15. Can You Show Me?
Finally, often the best way to show the capabilities of a robot is to demonstrate it working.
Often, the best way to do this is to invite the potential customer to your business and show the robotic solution in action! If you can’t do this, an alternative is to show videos or case studies.
When you address these questions with authoritative responses, your customers will see your expertise and reliability as a provider of robotic solutions.
And with <a href="https://robodk.com/RoboDK’s powerful robot programming software supporting you and your customer, you can confidently offer turnkey solutions that are easy to program and use.
If you are using (or considering using) RoboDK as a component in your turnkey application… let us know and we might feature you on this blog!
What questions do your customers ask you most? Tell us in the comments below or join the discussion on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or in the RoboDK Forum.. Also, check out our extensive video collection and subscribe to the RoboDK YouTube Channel
