Reconfiguring the Bucket List

‘Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed
  as if it could not be,
And some folks thought ’twas a dream they’d dreamed
  of sailing that beautiful sea

The Dutch Lullaby, by Eugene Field

With the cancellation of our large family reunion in the Adirondacks due to Covid, we were fortunate to be able to re-engineer our summer travel plans with a smaller crew.  We went to a popular RV rental site, found a camper our truck could tow, and we became one of the 20% uptick statistics of first-time KOA campers in 2020*.   Covering 3,000 miles and 7 states with my husband, two teenage girls, and Rolo the chocolate lab, I discovered that despite our inexperience at camping, my bucket list has been forever changed to accommodate new ways to explore our beautiful country.  Although we don’t think long-term RV ownership is for us, as we like vacationing with a full kitchen, there is no doubt we will rent a RV again to explore the last 8 states we have not yet traveled to. 

Outlandishly, one thing I did not expect to add to my bucket list during a pandemic, was the “need” to own a boat.  This new idea came about with three revelations:  1.)The beauty of exploring Lake Tahoe on my sister and brother-in-law’s boat, 2.) our experience renting a boat near our cabin on Lake Granby, CO and 3.) the of the introduction to the dreamy “Build My Bayliner” website that has enabled me to fully envision this new goal.

Who Knew Configuration Can Be Fun?

Someone recently shared the link to the “Build My Bayliner” site on social media that was built with Oracle’s CPQ Cloud (Configure, Price, Quote tool). Building things as a kid used to be entertaining for me, but somehow as an adult, I feel we’ve somehow managed to drain the fun out of everything.  I confess I have sat through several CPQ design meetings where the discussion of how to configure which ball bearing goes with which widget makes me, “Wynken, Blynken and Nod” off to a more dreamy place.

Bayliner, on the other has figured it out!  They caught my eye with a tool that visually builds your boat as you go through their configurator.  What you may not recognize with the front-end of their builder, is the breadth of the tool and what is behind the scenes. A few examples:  

• There are several pre-packaged selections
• Your selections only allow you to select relevant options that the manufacturer can actually build – helping avoid any errors
• Pricing options are built into the tool allowing for consistency and transparency

What you don’t see with the front-end of the tool is the pricing engine itself, nor the full quoting capabilities that CPQ offers.  The quoting tool will allow you to create custom quotes for your customers based on the selections they made and allow you to put in any relevant product or contract language associated to the products selected.  You can even connect the contract with your favorite eSignature tool to expedite your sales.

Call to action

I greatly encourage you to check out the Bayliner website for two reasons. To me, it is a model way to setup your CPQ system to make it engaging, intuitive, visually effective and informative each step of the way.  Secondly, it is a fun way to build the boat you never knew you needed, until now.   

If your business provides a lot of choices, maybe it’s time to get onboard and investigate how Oracle CPQ Cloud might help you best setup your options to satisfy and delight your target audience.   It gives your sales people a tool to upsell different packages and the configuration and rules engine helps greatly reduce any errors along the way.

What steps are you taking to catch your next fish?

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No proprietary information has been shared. This post and this blog are solely the opinion of the author.

*Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/2020/08/how-to-go-camping-during-covid/