Case study: Sales for a Finnish IIoT & Cloud solution

Our client is a Finnish solution provider for the automated monitoring of cold chains for food and pharmaceutical products. Sensors record the temperature during storage, transport and production, and wirelessly transfer the collected measurement results to a cloud-based platform. There, the data is analyzed and visualized in real time.
At the beginning of 2018, the company decided to expand into the German market. Initially, an attempt was made to establish sales from Finland, which proved difficult. The domestic export promoter then recommended PBS Sales as an external sales team for the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland).

After an initial telephone conversation, the first meeting took place in Munich just two weeks later. We quickly agreed: PBS Sales would take over future sales in the German-speaking countries.

Together with our new client, we defined the sales strategy for Germany. The focus was initially placed on the pharmaceutical industry. In addition, we would use our strong network amongst large logistics providers, such as Lufthansa or Kühne & Nagel, to acquire new customers. The aim was to address the food safety market segment in a second phase.

During a two-day workshop on location in Finland, we got to know the team, defined the target customers and were trained in the basics of the end-to-end solution.

Since mid-2018, we have been pressing ahead with the market launch. As a first step, we translated marketing materials and the website, and supported our client in price structuring for the German market. In the classic sales tasks, we conducted our first telephone conversations and visited decision-makers in purchasing and quality.

After only one month, we succeeded in generating the first leads. The first order was secured after ten months. Our first major customer was an internationally active logistics company with 20,000 employees. Since then, we have been continuously expanding the new customer business.
For interested parties, we carry out the two-week test phase, submit the offer and follow it up until the contract is concluded. For acquired customers, we set up first level support and answer any inquiries that arise.

The particular challenge in selling the end-to-end solution is to position it amongst the target group in opposition to conventional, manual data loggers. Although these are initially less expensive to purchase, the IIot/Cloud solution reduces the total cost of cold chain monitoring (total cost of ownership). Our experience in selling Industry 4.0 solutions helps us to convince potential customers of their advantages.

I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with our Scandinavian client. We communicate weekly via Microsoft Teams. Leads, offers and customer information are maintained by us in our client’s CRM system. At the same time, we are in constant contact with the Sales Manager for Europe and the technicians. We meet at least once a quarter for important customer visits and product training.

Our client’s sales targets are challenging, especially for an innovative start-up that is new to the German market. But especially working with an innovative product, which is set up individually for each customer and therefore requires proximity to the them, is something that never fails to excite me.

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