Guided Pod Configurator: Outcome-Based Team Building

The old pod page was a pricing table. Roles on the left, rates on the right. Users had to figure out what they needed on their own. That is not how people buy services — they buy outcomes.

From "what do you charge" to "what do you need"

The new Guided Pod Configurator flips the conversation. Instead of showing 16 roles and hoping visitors self-select, we start with the outcome:

1. What are you trying to achieve? — 6 business outcomes (launch an MVP, scale operations, build a content engine, deploy a support team, etc.)
2. Here is who you need — each outcome maps to a pre-configured team of specialists
3. Customize — add, remove, or adjust roles based on your specifics
4. Review and submit — transparent per-role pricing, no hidden fees

The backend

Three new tables: cms_pod_outcomes stores the 6 business outcomes with their recommended team compositions. cms_pod_roles stores the 16 specialist roles with pricing and skills. pod_configurations captures submitted configurations for follow-up.

Two API routes: /api/pod-data returns outcomes and roles (public, cached). /api/pod-configure accepts submissions (rate-limited, validated).

Why this matters

A pricing table answers "what does it cost." A configurator answers "what do I need and what will it cost." The gap between those two questions is where conversion happens. People do not buy roles. They buy the team that solves their problem.