The product configurator from FDomes is a game-changer in building trust with potential buyers and has proven to be the best source of leads for the company. Joanna, FDomes' sales director, shares how this innovative tool allows customers to visualize their geodesic dome or event tent in a personalized way, fostering a sense of ownership even before the purchase.

By providing detailed information and an interactive experience, the configurator empowers buyers to make informed decisions at their own pace, enhancing their confidence in the brand. Joanna emphasizes the importance of communication and transparency, noting that the configurator not only showcases the product but also serves as a reliable starting point for building lasting relationships. The conversation dives into the strategies behind effective sales and customer engagement, highlighting how genuine care and responsiveness can elevate the buying experience.

Joanna discusses the pivotal role their product configurator plays in enhancing customer trust and streamlining the sales process. Unlike traditional methods where potential buyers may feel overwhelmed or uncertain, the configurator offers an intuitive platform that allows users to visualize their selections, adjusting specifications in real-time.

This interactive experience not only demystifies the product but also instills confidence, as clients can see exactly what they are getting. Joanna elaborates on how this transparency is crucial for building trust, especially with international clients who may have reservations about purchasing a large investment sight unseen. The configurator effectively transforms the buying experience into an engaging journey that empowers users to make informed decisions.

Additionally, Joanna shares how the configurator has become a vital source of leads for the company. The data shows that inquiries generated through the configurator have a much higher conversion rate than those from standard forms. This is attributed to the fact that users who engage with the configurator are often more knowledgeable and invested in their choices. The configurator not only allows for exploration but also serves as a conversation starter for the sales team, making interactions more meaningful and focused on client aspirations rather than mere product features.

Beyond the configurator, Joanna emphasizes FDomes' commitment to ongoing communication and support. She notes that building relationships with clients goes beyond the initial sale; it involves creating a community where customers feel dedicated to the brand. By prioritizing responsiveness and active listening, FDomes nurtures long-term partnerships, ensuring clients feel supported throughout their journey. Joanna's enthusiasm for her work and genuine care for customer success resonate throughout the conversation, illustrating how trust and empathy are foundational to effective sales strategies.

Takeaways:

• The product configurator enables potential buyers to visualize their choices and understand the product dimensions better.
• Building trust with clients involves transparency, consistent communication, and timely responses to inquiries.
• FDomes has adapted its offerings to meet market demands, reflecting a strong customer focus.
• The configurator serves as an effective lead generation tool, significantly impacting conversion rates.
• Joanna emphasizes the importance of listening to client needs to foster long-term relationships.
• The configurator's interactive features allow users to see real-time changes in design and pricing.

Links referenced in this episode:

• Comapny Website: www.fdomes.com
• Product Configurator: https://3d.fdomes.com/
• Connect with Joanna on Linkedin.

Welcome to another episode of Trust Builders.

Today I am very thrilled to have Joanna from F Domes with me.

I reached out to Joanna because I am a huge fan of F Domes and I have the honor today to talk to you, Joanna, about your amazing product calculator.

But before we dive into that, what makes F Domes so special?

First of all, thank you for inviting me and it was a very nice surprise to find your message in my LinkedIn box.

And it's a pleasure to join and be able to share our knowledge and experience.

What makes FDOM so special?

I would say what would make it not special?

Because I think that the details and the, I would say coherence in actions and communication makes EVDOM so special.

Because I could say that it's history, that it's know how, but these are these obvious matters that all companies that are long in the business can say that they have it.

We've been in the business for 16 years now, starting with huge event tents, having clients in our portfolio like Ridley Scotford, the Martian, the movie with Matt Damon, Lady Gaga, concert in London, Davos Economic Summit, Ford Mustang, Star wars, movie premieres, and I could name a lot.

And then we've dived into glamping world.

And since then we've been developing also the glamping product.

So the fact that we adjust to clients and market needs, that we listen to our clients, that we try to and constantly we try to develop.

So from event tents we went to glamping tents.

And then now when we see because we can talk about it like it's the business podcast.

So we know that lately people struggle with permissions.

And the economic situation in the world is also drastically different since actually Covid started.

Then we had like first World, the second war.

The whole uncertainty of economics make people very reluctant to investing because they don't know what happens tomorrow.

So knowing this, learning this and listening to the market needs, we even introduced now a new product.

I don't know, have you already seen it?

It's like the FDOM stand.

So it's more like for camping purposes.

So either you go with permissions and large resort or you can go with simple way for camping purposes, having this tent for accommodation purpose, for warehouse purposes.

Because this is what clients need.

They need easy product, cheap product with no permissions, no hassle, just click and order.

I think this is something that makes evdoms different, that we have resources, we have engineers, architects in house that can listen to the market and find the answers to the most killing problems for clients who want to Actually develop in hospitality.

It makes sense to move that direction to adapt as quickly as you guys did and listen to your customers.

So that brings me to something that you and I had previously talked about in our conversation.

You guys actually have a lot of clients, not only in Europe, but in the United States and Canada.

And selling a geodesic dome or an event tent, I imagine is very difficult to do it overseas.

Right.

There's a lot of trust that needs to be built.

So how do you.

How are you able to build that trust in those relationships across an entire ocean in a product that you physically have to like, experience and see?

First of all, I think it's our website and the quality of the materials and again the coherence.

So you have, when you enter the website, you can see it all.

It's very transparent.

You have the portfolio, which is like the case studies, the interviews, blog posts, you have configurator.

And so it shows that we basically give you the whole experience and whole range of information that you can check on our website without digging into Internet and checking if this company really reliable.

Who are they?

Their website is one pager and nothing more.

So let's just check the opinions.

And then people spend a lot of time like searching on Google who or what that company is.

We have it all straightforward and then going through the website describing everything.

The portfolio tab, when you actually, if you're from the US or from Canada, you can basically select your region and find the examples of the resorts powered by fdoms.

Then of course we have the contact form and the configurator.

So people feel safe because they can enter the configurator without yet interaction with the salesperson.

Which is sometimes treated quite bonding by people.

So when they get to the configurator and they are able to play and they can see that each selection of the DOM size, the render changes, they can enter inside, they can look around the DOM on each side.

Then they go with the interior selecting the insulation, no insulation, curtains, flooring, then outside covers.

So they have all these tabs that they can play.

It's playing and adjusting the fact and the fact that you're changing the selection in the side tab and actual render changes.

So you can see straightforward the selection you're making and then also the price changes.

So you know how your selection impacts not only the visual aspect of the domain, but also its price.

And then you can deduct, okay, I'm able to invest in this element because this one is crucial for me.

But maybe I will skip on that because it changes the price.

And without even yet communicating with us, they are able to safely at their own space in the evening with the tea, go through the DOM and check how it looks and, and then if they want, of course when they send this PDF file to their emails, we have the information.

If they want to be contacted, then we have the starting point and this is where we take it from because the configurator is just the beginning.

But I think that the fact that all the information are on the website along with the configurator make clients safe with us.

And I would say it's the first step of building trust and kind of relation with the clients all over the world.

It's really funny.

So I'm in the process of writing a book on building trust and the four core elements of building trust in the trust builder framework are competence, reliability, integrity and authenticity.

And you literally checked every single one of those off right now.

Because you can't build trust without these four sort of cornerstones, right?

And when you are, when you are having a website that educates buyers and it you're as you're explaining, it's not by accident, it's fully intentional that you guys are doing it because you want to educate your buyers, you want to make sure it's the best choice for them.

And I think that comes across very well.

It's like you're not trying to have a biased, oh, you know, push this, you know, you're not persuading people, but you're letting people choose an experience and see if it's the right choice for them.

So you get to control the conversation and you get to own that trust building component.

And I think that's what really is so special about eftelms.

I remember when taking over the position of the sales director I said that my philosophy in sales department in fdoms, it's not selling.

It might sound funny like being a salesperson saying, okay, my aim, it's not selling.

My aim is building the relation because selling is easy, but building trust, building relationship in a way that later on you keep in touch with the clients.

Because we do not only sell doms, we try to create the community.

And that is why I'm so often invited to our clients resorts and we have these interviews, we have the side visits, case studies.

They are open to dialogue because they were cared for in the process of pre sale.

And sometimes this process takes three months, but sometimes it takes three years.

I have a client from Romania, I think that this project took five years to get the doms up and running and I was invited for the opening and we managed to build this relationship that we are in touch.

And apart from the fact that we are like selling and showing, showcasing the product, being a specialist in a field.

So advising people, telling them when we meet with our clients on zoom calls from first of all, it's also availability.

We are in Europe, we are like on Warsaw time zone.

But we talk with clients who are nine hours, six hours behind or six hours ahead.

And we adjust our schedules for our clients so we are available for them.

We have this response time that is very quick.

But then also advising them during this call.

So even if you don't choose F doms, remember to make sure that the other supplier or the other accommodation type meets this and that criteria, this and that certificates.

Because at the end of the day you're responsible for people who you are hosting at your resort.

So if anything happens, if you select a wrong supplier, not reliable structure, it may cause you quite hard like, you know, effects.

So making them aware, advising them how to select the land.

We take it from the beginning.

Recording webinars with specialists in the field like with Ruben from American Glamping association with our clients so that we can give the clients as much information as they need from the very beginning, regardless if they're at the stage of purchasing a DOM or maybe at the stage of purchasing a land which is like just baby steps in glamping word.

Yeah, definitely experience that part of your business as well as a potential buyer.

And I felt really supported.

I want to go back to the configurator for a minute.

I remember it being so incredibly helpful to be able to walk through virtually.

And when you add the internal modules and you have a bathroom and now you have a mezzanine bedroom section on top and you feel how the space changes, how much space you have in the living room area, etc, how important compared to the other parts do you feel that is that someone can walk through it and really experience it?

I think it's crucial configurator we know what is our conversion depending on the source of lead.

And we can see that the best conversion is from a lead that came to us from a configurator.

Because I can say as a woman and as a person who was designing my house and trying to imagine the elements when the architect was telling me, okay, so this will be too big or this will be too small.

I just couldn't imagine it.

I don't have this spatial, I would say imagination that I see things.

No, I Need to see it in the picture, in writing, in drawing.

And I think that a lot of people are like that.

So having a tool which actually shows you how it's going to look when you put it all together, it gives you this vision.

And then we also have this, I don't know, have you dig into that in the configurator.

But it's possible there is a tool in the configurator that you can actually move your mobile and the dome will appear wherever you want it to stand.

So if you're on your land, you can use it and you can see a DOM actually placed on your parcel.

It makes people feel as if they already had a dom.

So it's building like this need and oh, I like it, I would like to have it.

Or I can see how it looks.

I can already see this couch here and maybe some TV stand here.

So it turns on the whole planning process.

So I believe that configurator, even though at the moment it's a little bit outdated, because we are still working on developing it and adding our new products that we already have on the website, but not yet in the configurator, it's still very appreciated by our clients.

One other thing that I really appreciated as someone using it, was the little question mark that you have on most of your items.

And as someone who is buying a geodesic dome for the first time, or an event tent or whatever it might be, I don't know how this kind of insulation impacts or this kind of canvas shell impacts my insulation or whatever it might be.

But having that little explanation really made a big difference for me in terms of education.

I didn't need to read an entire buyer's guide or whatever, but it was right there.

The right information at the right time and the right amount of information, yeah.

These are the crucial information.

You want to give people as much information before they reach you with the questions, because they can digest them at their own pace and they can go through the elements that are most crucial for them and compare them.

Because, let's be honest, we are not the only DOM supplier, we are not the only tent supplier.

And it's obvious that people now compare offers and compare suppliers.

So if they have it all on the website and they can see the differences in the properties of the outer cover, they can already put it together and they know to whom they need to reach out for the offer, for the exact offer and for the further communication, because they can do this preliminary selection of what they want.

So giving this information, I think Also builds trust because we are transparent of what type of membranes we are using, what type of steel we are using, how many thicknesses of the frame do we have.

So this kind of shows that we are not trying to hide anything and sell you something that you don't know what you're buying, but it's all there on the plate just for you to take it.

So you mentioned already previously that the product configurator is your best source of leads.

How else does it impact your lead generation or your sales process?

Of course, we use different campaigns.

So we use Google campaigns and social media campaigns to generate leads.

And then depending on the content of the campaign, we either navigate clients to the configurator or we navigate them to the contact form.

And we've been, of course, testing both.

So trying to use more directions to the contact form because maybe if someone is more interested, they will put the question, they will start the communication.

But it turned out that it's not like this.

It turned out that there is, as I said, bigger conversion on the person, like from the person who is visiting the site to the person who is actually sending the configurator form to us.

And then so this is the first bigger conversion.

So the person on the site more often would go to the configurator and configure the DOM rather than fill out the website form.

The same with the campaigns.

So there are more configurator forms configured than forms filled out after the campaigns.

But then also when we are checking the source of the lead.

Yeah, the bigger sale is from the configurator.

Would you say it's impacted also the length of your sales process?

Not really.

Not this one.

I think that at the moment, it used to, I would say in the previous life, before all the permissions and all these procedures that are now so tight and all over the world.

But yes, there were times when permissions were not that much into effect and people could set up the doms easier.

Yes, the configurator was like as if they were at the shop.

They were like setting up the DOM in the configurator and they were like, I want this dom, I want five.

So they knew we were just checking shipping costs and basically as well, because configurator is one.

You may think that you want something, but then there is sales department and there is our work to find the best solution for your actual needs.

So even if we have this form from the configurator, we always ask questions to make sure that the selection that you made is really Something that you need or that is required by your permission processes.

And the first thing being the framework thickness, for example.

This is always our first question.

If you contact us, if you send us a mystery client or whoever, the first question in all the emails would be could you please send your Google Map pin or the postcode so that we can verify your location for snow and wind loads?

Because now this is something that is checked worldwide and we are the only company that actually checks it per client, per location.

So even though they start, then we can amend the configuration, but we have the base with them.

With the contact form it's more, I think for the clients who are just starting and they don't know yet what they want.

Maybe, maybe they are checking the ground, but the configurator are more straightforward clients.

So would you say then actually that when you say they're more straightforward clients that it's more used by glamping resorts rather than private people?

No, more people who are either farther into the process.

So they already know that they want the doms and they have the permissions, they know the work that they need to do and they are convinced to the doms.

Whereas I would say that contact form is more checking the ground and thinking about it, maybe not having the ground yet, the land yet, maybe having the land, but not that much into the process yet.

So we see that we need to I think go more into descriptive form of showing the product for the contact form and less descriptive, more with the questions.

Very straightforward when it comes to the configurator.

That makes sense.

Now beyond the configurator, what are some other ways that you build trust with your clients?

For sure, availability.

So if we want to conduct a company and we have sales department, the major KPI that you need to put on your sales department is response time.

So if I ask the question, I want the answer straight away.

Because the selling process and building trust is playing ping pong.

There is a question, there must be an answer.

Of course it is a struggle to be in different time zones.

However, we still are able to basically answer all the queries or the emails of course, apart from like bank holidays or weekends, but within I would say maximum 12 up to 12 hours is maximum for the first answer for the client.

And then when we are in touch with clients, we also keep the one day maximum window for communication.

And if we know that we don't have the answer, we are at least back with the information that we don't have the answer yet.

So showing the client that you remember about them that you're in touch, that they are not forgotten, that they are cared for, that they know what's going on in the background.

So they know that they are waiting for calculations from the engineer and that it takes two or three days, let's say.

So they know what's going on, they are prepared, they know what the worst thing is.

Leave your clients hanging in the abyss of not knowing what's going on.

So when you know, like, even as a client, I know we have, we are clients as well.

We are not only salespeople, so.

So I know how much I appreciate the contact, but also not being into the sales only.

So listening to the client, I think we forget how important listening is.

So do not overload your clients with information.

Ask them about their idea, about their vision, about their plans.

Let them feel excited for this project and kind of be excited with them.

To be honest, each and every project I was doing and leading with my clients was huge joy for me because I could see how happy they are.

I was happy.

I could see my product in Texas.

I remember entering a DOM in Texas and I remember how hard this project was.

How like the client decided on Chinese domes that he had to replace because of the quality.

And we were manufacturing very fast and he was very like, we have even the interview with him on our YouTube channel.

And then I entered after this 10 hour drive, the Dome and I stood there, I looked around, I was like, I'm in Texas.

And I felt, oh, we are not in Kansas anymore.

Like, it's like you're in the Dome in Texas and you're like, oh my God.

And I, we did it together.

Being in the headquarter in Poland, now visiting Texas.

So how amazing it is also for us to see the outcome of our work.

This is so rewarding.

And the nice words from our clients.

It's so rewarding that I think it's even more rewarding than these numbers that are in your spreadsheets.

Like, the joy of clients when they see or when I hear from my client from Romania that she cried when the doms arrived because the process was so hard for her.

These are these moments that are very important in sales and it's very important as well to share them with your audience because it shows that you care.

And caring about your clients is something that your clients like and want and should get.

Like just hearing you talk and explain it, you're genuine enthusiasm and your genuine just empathy for, for the struggle they go through.

And then your joy of the success of making it and completing it.

And having the dome there definitely shines through.

It's like.

And I think that that is part of why you guys are so successful, because it is that genuine caring that comes through when you work with your company.

So love it.

The crucial element is.

And I was always, I remember when I started with brand development career years ago, I was like, I hated the word strategy.

I was like, oh my God, it's so such a huge word.

And people try to overuse it, but actually we can name it the other word.

But have a plan.

Do not act ad hoc.

Do not do spontaneous.

Spontaneous decisions are great, but don't make spontaneous decision in marketing planet.

So when you build, when you introduce a product to your portfolio planet, when you build the brand planet, when you decide to build a configurator, ask yourself a question, who is your target group?

How to attract this target group?

How to make this tool useful, how to go through the user experience, Consult with people smarter than you.

We have, and our CEO, she has this approach as well.

And she's very open and also genuine in it that when she employs people to her company, she likes to employ people who are smarter than her in the field because we can learn from each other.

So I have great sales team, I have great marketing team.

When I go with my ideas, I'm just like bombing them with my ideas and they're like, hold on, hold your horses.

We need to plan it.

So yes, like planning, thinking about it, meeting.

So I love working in Scrum model.

So meet every day for 10 minutes, make baby steps in your project, and then you will collect the results quicker than doing this huge bunch of materials at once.

So planning, I would say, is the most important thing.

First target group, and then plan it, have it organized and find the right people to help you.

Perfect.

Only the best leaders are hiring people that are better than them.

Right.

So when people are interested in checking out how this configurator works, I believe you have a webinar on your YouTube channel that walks them through so they can really get a better understanding of how it works.

Right, Exactly.

So we have, we have recorded several videos and one of them is a webinar with our clients with, as I told you, the American Glamping association, the interviews with the clients, and one of them is dedicated only for configurator.

So how to configure your dom.

And then my colleague from sales, he's clicking through the whole process and explains each and every part.

So if someone wants to see how the configurator works, how it can be addressed.

What can you pick there, what information you can find there?

It's all there in this video.

Perfect.

So I'm going to link this definitely in the resource section so people can go and check that out as well as a link to the actual configurator.

So if they are interested in getting a geodesic dome, they can start configuring.

Definitely.

Awesome.

Now question that is a surprise is what is one book that you have read in the last six to 12 months that has changed your life?

It's so funny.

I actually it's quite funny because I'm.

I'm quite sporty person and a colleague of mine, he.

I borrowed a book from him about peak expedition and it's like it's not even Broad Peak Expedition.

There was an expedition on Broad Peak.

Two Polish climbers died and two survived.

And the book is about the team that goes there to find the bodies of the guys who died.

So it's based on facts.

It shows how one situation can be perceived differently by different people and how narration changes depending on who tells the story.

So.

So apart from the fact that it was about the tragedy and about the expedition, it perfectly shows human behaviors and how they act.

And it leaves you with this feeling of you don't really know if this one person did good or bad.

It's all about your set of rules, values and that we cannot really judge people because everybody has different narration.

That sounds like a really interesting book.

I will send you a link to it.

Yeah, no, do that.

I grew up with a father who was super into Roald Amundsen and the expeditions that he did and I saw the fram and this sounds like a really interesting book along those lines to read.

So, Joanna, thank you so much for coming and joining us here today.

Being so open and sharing with us so many insights and details of your work so far.

If someone wants to get in touch with you, how would they go about that?

I think LinkedIn is the best way to find me.

I have the open profile, you contacted me on LinkedIn and we are here having this conversation.

So yeah, in terms of marketing, brand management, brand development, sales, geodesic DOMs, F DOMs.

I'm more than happy to assist.

Perfect.

So I'll put that link in there as well so people can reach out again.

Super enjoyed our conversation.

Thank you so much.

And I truly hope that once I will have.

No.

I wanted at this point I want a little geodesic dome to be my office.

That's what I want at this point.

So you should go.

I.

I will show you the tent later on after the recording.

You need to see it.

I love this personally.

It was in the US on the glamping show.

Now, in.

In October, the tent was more popular than the dome.

People loved it because it's so different.

It combines safari tents, but with the durability of the geodesic dome because of the outer cover.

So I will show you this.

You will see.

You'll love it.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Have a good day.