“How much do you charge to change a roller shutter?” It arrives on WhatsApp, with a crooked photo and no measurements, and answering it means a phone call, an explanation about slats and a trip out to measure. Once the customer can see the difference, they choose their own slat and their motor, and the measurement reaches you with the area already worked out.
The first message comes in before the workshop has even raised its own shutter. It is a photo of another one, jammed halfway, with a question: “how much do you charge to change it?”. There are no measurements, no way of knowing whether the slat is PVC or aluminium, or whether the box is external or built into the wall. Three more like it follow, plus a two-minute voice note from a residents' association wanting to change the shutters on the stairwell, and someone asking whether “that motor thing with the phone” can go on an old shutter. About thirty a week arrive like that.
The workshop is run by three people and two vans. In the morning, one goes out to fit and another to measure; in the afternoon they manufacture. In between, someone answers the phone and explains, for the fifth time that week, the difference between the thermal aluminium slat, the security one and the perforated one. It is hard with words alone: the customer says yes, they understand, and in the end asks for “the normal one, the usual”. The app motor and the wind sensor never even come up.
This week they have been out to measure at six houses and two have not replied to the quote. At another, the measurement the customer took to save the visit was made inside the frame and the shutter came out four centimetres short; another one had to be made. And the association from the voice note wants a price for fourteen windows to show the residents on Thursday, with and without a motor, in whichever colour the majority decides.
Thermal aluminium, PVC, extruded security, perforated or external venetian with adjustable slats: over the phone they all sound the same. Every explanation is a long stretch on the phone, and the customer ends up asking for the cheapest. The slats that pay you best go unsold for want of an image.
What it costs youHours on the phone and sales below what the customer would have paid.
The customer measures inside the frame, outside the guides or rounds to whatever looks right. If the shutter is made to that measurement and comes out short or will not go into the box, the piece is made to measure and cannot be reused. If you do not trust their measurement, someone has to go out and measure, whether you win the quote or not.
What it costs youShutters made twice, or visits that are never charged for.
The switch motor, the app motor with schedules, the sun and wind sensor and the anti-lift lock are extras that raise the value of every window. But if they do not appear in the quote with their price, the customer does not ask for them, and whoever goes out to measure does not always remember to offer them.
What it costs youThe extra that raises the order most is left out.
A roller insect screen, a compact box for a refurbishment, a colour different from the rest of the façade: every new question means redoing the calculation and sending another message. With five or six changes, the quote for one window turns into a conversation lasting several days.
What it costs youSmall quotes that cost as much as the big ones.
Fourteen windows, and the chairman wants a price with a motor and without, in white and in anthracite. Every version is another calculation, and what reaches the residents' group chat is a sheet of figures with one word per option. Nobody can picture the façade in one colour or the other, and the answer keeps being put off.
What it costs youFourteen-window jobs that are delayed for months or go to another workshop.
Put a number on the enquiries you answer by hand; the values are only an example.
€ a year
The values are an example: replace them with yours. The calculation is a simple multiplication and does not come from any study.
The five slats are shown in 3D in their colour, and the shutter goes up and down with a button. On the external venetian, the slats are tilted with a control to see how they look. A label on each slat explains it in one sentence, so no phone call is needed to understand it.
Raise and lower in 3D with labels
The customer types the width and height in millimetres and sees the dimensions on the shutter, with a person for scale beside it so centimetres are not confused with metres. The area is worked out automatically and goes onto the order sheet. With your rules loaded, it warns when the measurement falls outside what you make.
Measurements, dimensions and a person for scale
Nobody has to remember to offer it. Tape, crank, switch motor or app motor with schedules and voice control, sun and wind sensor and anti-lift lock are in the same flow as the slat, and each one adds its indicative price as soon as it is ticked. The customer sees what it costs to go from tape to motor and decides for themselves.
Operating system and sensors with an indicative price
The workshop redoes no calculations: insect screen, box type, colour and motor are added or removed and the price changes by itself. At the end out come a PDF for the customer and an order sheet for the workshop with the slat curtain, the box and the guides, the motor and the insect screen.
A PDF for the customer and an order sheet for the workshop
The three versions the chairman asks for (with a motor, without, in another colour) are seen together, with what changes highlighted and their price. With the QR code, each resident opens the shutter on their phone and sees it over their own window in augmented reality before giving an opinion.
Comparison tool, QR code and augmented realityChoose the external venetian, move the slat tilt and lower it; then go from tape to an app motor and watch how the price changes.
An open demo, with no registration, with example products and prices. It is designed for manufacturers, dealers and installers: private customers are welcome to try it, but we do not sell the product.
In 20 minutes we will show you how one of your customers would use it from home and how you would use it while measuring, with your slats, your colours and your price list.
Most projects for manufacturers fall between €14,500 and €35,000, depending on the catalogue, the manufacturing rules and the integrations. Maintenance and hosting from €190 a month. We start from a base that already works: you are not paying for development from scratch.
Would you rather talk it through? Call 662 061 421 or write to grup3d@grup3d.es.
There are more short answers in frequently asked questions about 3D configurators and who we are in 3D configurator company.
They can enter their measurement and see an indicative price straight away, and that already separates the ones asking out of curiosity from the ones who really want to change the shutter. Before manufacturing it is worth confirming the measurement in person, but by then you are visiting someone who has chosen slat, colour and motor and knows the approximate price.
Yes. As well as tape and crank, there is the switch motor, the app motor with schedules and voice control, the sun and wind sensor and the anti-lift lock. Each one adds its price from your price list, and the customer sees what automation costs before asking for a quote.
Yes. There are three types of box: external, compact for refurbishments and concealed in the façade. The customer sees how each one looks over their window and the chosen box goes onto the order sheet with its guides, so the workshop knows what to make without asking again.
Developments start from €6,500 for a visual configurator of one product family; most projects for manufacturers fall between €14,500 and €35,000, depending on the catalogue, the rules and the integrations, plus maintenance from €190 a month. With shutters, the figure moves with the number of slats, colours and operating systems, with the insect screens and with the link to your management software. We pin it down in a 20-minute demo, with your price list and your range in front of us.
Yes. It is linked from your website and, when the usual photo arrives with “how much do you charge?”, you answer with the link or the QR code. The customer chooses slat, colour, box and motor from the sofa, sees an indicative price, and their request reaches you with the full configuration before the van goes out to measure.
Yes, the roller one, as an extra on the shutter, visible in 3D and with its price. If you also make pleated, sliding or fixed insect screens, they are added to your version with their maximum sizes, their colours and their price, just like the slats.
See all the door and window configurators → · See all the 3D configurators by sector →
Sliding, swing or pedestrian · automated
See page →Walls, floor, ceiling, doors and control panel
See page →PVC, aluminium or timber · 6 opening types · 6 glazings
See page →A guide to ordering a roller shutter without mistakes: how to measure it, which slat to choose (aluminium, PVC, security, micro-perforated or venetian), which box and which motor.
Read the guide (in Spanish) →