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The Internet of Things, Connected Devices, and Selling without Sales Staff

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The Internet of Things, Connected Devices, and Selling without Sales Staff

The connectability of devices is opening up new opportunities for optimized sales processes. Basically, this means that connected devices are replacing sales staff and their activities, a trend that is expected to continue in the next few years. The internet of things (IoT) has brought about the first great opportunity to optimize sales processes; connected devices will redefine existing partnership models of customer service.

Customer service will no longer have space for middleman, since technological development has made it possible for producers to use their own devices to directly connect with their end users. The ability to stay in contact with customers throughout the entire lifespan of the device will completely transform the current paradigm of sales models and organizational aspects of customer service.

In the past ten years, information technology has made no significant contribution to increased productivity in sales and customer service.

Putting aside the phenomenon of online stores and various electronic marketing models that have emerged with the expansion of the internet, people’s work in sales today is essentially no different than it was in the past. It’s true that sales staff have to deal with increasingly better informed buyers that are equipped with more information and that, thanks to the availability of the internet, now have global access to information. Extraordinary steps have also been made in logistics, which has significantly facilitated global trade. However, despite this, the approach to customer service really hasn’t changed much. Sales staff has also acquired tools that offer them better and easier

2 The internet of things

access to customer information, leading to a more systematic management of processes including customer interaction; however, there still hasn’t been any essential automatization of processes that would replace the role of sales staff in customer relationships. The IoT could dramatically shake things up in this respect.

The assertion above, regarding the insignificant improvement in methods of working with customers hasn’t received much support from the majority of CRM system providers. There is no doubt that CRM systems have contributed to assuring more transparent customer relationships in addition to allowing companies to more efficiently manage customer service procedures and advance organizationally and procedurally. However, CRM systems haven’t automated customer interactions. Despite the aforementioned application of information technology, we’ve maintained person-to-person interaction. The technology that’s currently being established could considerably change this part of customer relationships.

Whose needs are really being satisfied?

Maintaining the devices we use is an integral part of the purchase process which companies and households are faced with. Our printers tell us that our cartridges have run out, our cars want to visit the mechanic, our heating oil levels are critically low, and so on. An increasing number of devices are telling us that a purchase needs to be made.

In today’s world, any electronic device could in fact let its user know its status. As users, we would surely be happy if all of these notifications could be collected in a single folder accessible on our smartphones. This certainly isn’t impossible, at least in theory. The fact is that increasingly more electronic devices are connected into a provider’s computing cloud. In order for a user to receive all of these systems notifications from different devices made by different manufacturers in a single smartphone app, perhaps all we need is an agreement on a uniform standard that would make it possible to access the information from these devices in a uniform way. However, the birth of such a standard, at least in the immediate future, is extremely unlikely.There’s a continuous debate around the standards in the industry. Will there be multiple standards, or just one that connects all devices? Will the industry be hobbled by the standard wars, or will manufacturers make devices that integrate multiple standards?

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Many device manufacturers don’t even want a uniform standard. Surely, they won’t want to share their most valuable customer information; customer device usage. What manufacturers have so far only been able to predict and guess, can now be measured and monitored in real time thanks to direct access to every single device. Amongst other activities, they can automate activities connected with device maintenance and contact individual customers. If you have a vacuum cleaner that you can manage through an online app on your smartphone, its manufacturer most surely knows how often you use it, when you have to change the bag, and when you only need to freshen the air in the room. Part of the information about the device is shared with the user, who thus receives a more richly functioning product, but the manufacturers themselves have significantly greater benefit from connected devices. Their products (can) practically communicate their needs by themselves and thus facilitate the opportunity for direct sales and proactive offers for repair or maintenance services—and, what’s key, devices connected to the internet remain in touch with the customer through smartphones. Essentially, the IoT has finally made it possible for device manufacturers to establish direct contact with end users without the need for sales and service partners. This gives the power of customer service to the manufacturers themselves.

The majority of manufacturers are also reluctant to join certain alliances because they’re populated by competitors. As a result, hubs, such as SmartThings from Samsung, emerged and can talk to different appliances, smart meters, and other devices over Z-Wave, ZigBee, and WiFi standards (Kastrenakes, 2014).

This leads to a high number of standards, which subsequently leads to confusion among end users, preventing them from spending a significant amount on a technology that might become obsolete soon. Not only does this prevent future equipment from working with the system that consumers install in their homes, they’re also stuck with a lot of hardware that can’t be upgraded and will receive no further support. Price, as a consequence of fragmented standardization, has often been pointed out as the main reason why customers are deciding against IoT solutions. Various IoT solutions differ in complexity; they incorporate a broad range of existing and new technologies, which ensures the correct operation of the entire system. These technologies are relatively new and underdeveloped, and the standardization is partial and doesn’t ensure interconnectivity between the manufacturers of different equipment. This raises the costs of implementation, affects the security of the data, and raises privacy concerns, all subsequently influencing the price of the IoT solution. Companies therefore provide smart devices that act as their own islands and


don’t communicate with each other, thus hampering the convenience and benefits the users receive.

Customers demand simplicity and access from one point, therefore some form of standardization and consolidation is indeed necessary. If we compare the IoT industry to the computer industry, we see that accessory manufacturers, such as Logitech, and laptop manufacturers focus and develop hardware for just a couple of standards; for example, USB and Bluetooth. The users don’t want to be limited in their choice and don’t want to go to great lengths to see if the new system will be communicating with the other systems; they assume that it will just work. A viable intermediate solution to the fragmentation of standards is multiprotocol gateways, such as the Qivicon gateway by Deutsche Telekom, which can communicate with several different standards. The Qivicon platform has, for example, a built-in HomeMatic proprietary protocol, but can be extended to also include the ZigBee protocol. Modular architecture of the gateways that allow the addition of different standards might be the present equivalent of the DVD reader, which was able to read all the different standards of DVDs, simplifying the industry itself. We expect that three to five major global coalitions will form around the biggest companies in the field, each with its own platform leader, such as Apple, Google, IBM and Samsung. Each alliance will sponsor its own technologies and standards, and the standardized modules of the consortia will contribute to quicker development and affordability.It’s therefore unclear at this point how the industry might develop. Whether the benefits of owning consumer data will outweigh the benefits of sharing that data is yet to be seen.

Are you a disturbance in the buying decision process? The device knows what it needs better than we do.

Have you ever put off having your car serviced? Your car first notified you of an upcoming scheduled service a full three thousand kilometers in advance, and you put it off and put it off. Can you imagine if the same display panel in your car, in addition to telling you that it needs to be serviced, also let you view available appointments with an authorized mechanic and, with a single click, you could make a service appointment? Before the visit itself, your car would send its own diagnostics together with the reservation to the mechanic. The day before your appointment, the mechanic would give you an automatic reminder as well as an estimate for the anticipated service based on the diagnostics received.

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This principle of ordering mechanical services would certainly connect the customer closer to the manufacturer, would simplify ordering a service for the customer or make the whole process significantly more convenient, and would simplify the mechanic’s paperwork in arranging appointments for customers. Essentially, it seems like everyone involved with this would benefit.

If we really satisfy the needs of the devices that we use, the question arises whether we, as users, are really the ones that know best what the device actually needs. To take an example: if users have to buy new tires for their car, it’s very likely that they’ll be affected by advertising and sales offered by their local tire dealer. If, for example, the car collected information on where or which roads the users drive on, what their driving style is like, and what weather conditions they usually drive in, it would probably be able to select more appropriate tires. Brands of cars and their factory tests are more believable than comparisons published by online stores and various motor clubs. I also believe that it’s hard for the same tire to be the best choice for the same car in southern Spain and in Finland. Smart devices will sooner or later also offer users useful diagnostics that will make purchasing choices easier and will offer safer and more economical use—and all of this with the goal of ever greater customer satisfaction.

A convenient buying experience is one of the rare reasons why we’re willing to pay more.

It would be naïve to think that the main motivation for online shopping is looking for the lowest price of a particular product; the web offers an exceptionally easy price comparison between online retailers, and that one can quite quickly compare prices between many suppliers. However, this does not necessarily mean that these are in fact the lowest prices. Take, for example, the popular case of family car insurance; with one company, you can insure two cars in two completely different ways: one with a few clicks, through the web and without middlemen, and the other in the standard manner, by having an insurance agent visit. With a bit of persuasion and looking at all of the insurance options offered by that company, you can get a considerably better offer. Unfortunately, however, this takes quite a bit of time, meeting with “sales agents,” and negotiating. Maybe you could get an even better deal by negotiating with more “sellers.” But you probably don’t have time for that. What’s essential is that the entire online procedure takes you five minutes, or at most ten, whereas in the second case you’ll need at least an hour for an insurance agent’s visit and to make an appointment for the visit, and even more


time to make an electronic payment. The online process is not just faster but much more convenient.Consumer loans can be analyzed in a similar way. If consumers simply compared the costs of financing, it’s quite likely that not many customers would decide to make purchases on installments. Such a loan is considerably more expensive than what a customer can receive from a bank. But here as well, providers count on the fact that a convenient buying experience trumps reason. And they’re successful. Maybe it’s also because of customers’ unawareness, but it is a convenient buying experience that most often causes a person not to think too much.Both online and traditional retailers have been aware of this for a long time. This also explains why they work so hard for us to be able to make a purchase with as little effort as possible.

We find everything imaginable—from simple tricks, when we’re buying groceries from online retailers and they put together and actively promote a basket of our average past grocery purchases and along with this toss in a few “sale” items that we might be interested in, to coming up with things as imaginative as:

the Amazon Dash Button

or Amazon Echo.

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https://www.amazon.com/b?node=10667898011https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Echo-Bluetooth-Speaker-with-WiFi-Alexa/dp/B00X4WHP5E

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It’s more than clear that everything is heading in the direction where customers will need to do increasingly less in order to make and communicate their purchase decisions. Connected devices will only dramatically accelerate this. Won’t you order a repair for your refrigerator if Gorenje tells you that the coolant pressure in it is below the minimum and therefore you’re using more electricity for cooling than specified for the particular product? And if that message also includes information about the probable cost of the repair and possible appointment times for the repair?

Because of connected devices we’ll buy things we never did before.

Customer relations are largely built through communication with customers. The more direct it is the more effective it is— and more direct communication than that offered by devices connected to the internet is practically inconceivable. Until now, many device manufacturers have practically been unable to communicate back and forth with the end user, but the IoT has offered them the opportunity to build customer relations proactively through direct communication with end users. So far they’ve known practically nothing about them, but soon they’ll know everything.Can you imagine a manufacturer of an electrical hand tool that has insight into how an individual device operates in the user’s hand? When and how it’s used, and who’s using it? For all of those electrical tools that aren’t used so intensely, users can be offered an extended warrantee for a token price just before the original one expires. Customers that are identified as exceptionally intensive users can be offered preventive service checks and the opportunity for replacement equipment in case there is a problem. In any case, they’ll know who the users are with devices approaching the end of their service lives, which they’ll have to focus on with new targeted sales campaigns. This knowledge about the patterns of past use will enable manufacturers to more efficiently suggest the most appropriate new equipment. In order to be able to cover everything in the guise of long-term building of customer relations, they’ll probably also offer a solution for monitoring and comparing various users of equipment at the same company or in the same household. A solution that would monitor work with a tool by different users could also soon offer a “reward” for proper tool use. People like to compete. And, if this also extends the service life of the device, this would be well received.

An even stronger magnet will be connected devices for employers, or business users. The functionality of insight into a device’s data and optimization of


managing the device will, in many cases, represent a key competitive difference between product manufacturers. Monitoring solutions, into which (online) service books could be developed, won’t only offer servicing but will also monitor the status of repairs, and analyze the way individual users use the device, their patterns of use, and how they handle it. If nothing else, connected devices will completely change the processes for monitoring companies’ inventories and other processes that include monitoring and assessing companies’ fixed assets.

At a major European trade fair, where manufacturers of electrical hand tools present themselves, the selection of “smart tools” still wasn’t very robust. However, at this year’s fair IT solution providers presented themselves, offering “smart tools” and the IoT as the next step in developing electrical hand tools. As their key advantage they communicated building relations with users through direct communication and automatization of procedures for serving existing customers, and promoting direct after-sales activities.

• Smart tools would allow companies to anticipate the need for repair and changing parts in advance and thus offer excellent after-sales service.

• They would better know how to anticipate the need for additional equipment or consumer material and to be proactive in selling this.

• They would better understand how a product is used, and so they could appropriately adapt its further development and improvements.

• Smart tools could employ tracking to also provide security in the case of workplace theft.

• Smart tools could make it possible to register a user (review of use, similar to networked printers and copy machines), which would enable simple monitoring of intentional damage and misuse of work equipment, and especially manner of use, utility, and work intensity.

• This would make it possible to monitor use for measuring employees’ workplace performance.

• The use of smart tools would offer additional bonuses that would improve the relationship between the manufacturer and end buyer; for example, automatic warrantee extensions. If the service life of a product is one hundred hours, and a smart product reports that a product had only been used sixty hours in a particular

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period of time, it’s clear that this doesn’t involve a “heavy duty” user. Therefore such a user could be offered an extended warrantee or even a lifetime guarantee for a particular amount.

Do users really want connected devices?

The IoT rubs salt in the wounds of everyone that’s concerned about their privacy and protecting personal information. The fact is that, according to those that currently manage the protection of personal information, the IoT and “smart devices” involve excessive collection of personal information. It’s very likely that we users will gradually adapt our criteria and, like so many times before, we’ll sacrifice our privacy for the convenience offered by smart devices. Just like now nobody is concerned about online cookies, or it’s nothing unusual if a company car has a built-in tracking device, this path will also be followed by concerns about protection of privacy when using smart devices. I believe that we (consumers and private users) won’t be bothered if the companies that sell us “smart devices” use them to practically follow our every move. The question is how we’ll react to smart devices and the Big Data analysis of their information in the hands of our employers.. We’re already sacrificing privacy for our own convenience, but for the convenience of employers almost certainly not. However, because the future is certainly moving in the direction of connected devices and the IoT won’t wait for our sake, it’s very likely that interested target groups will achieve formal measures defining what purposes such information can be used for and what not—even though it will be collected and processed. Such an approach is, in all likelihood, at most the topic of some temporary regulation of the situation.

Machine learning and pattern recognition are changing the role of on-call services

The key technological problem of the IoT and smart devices is that they produce an enormous amount of data. We’re talking about so much information that in real time it isn’t possible to process it all with the most frequently used data processing methods to date. With smart devices, ever more manufacturerswill need solutions for processing Big Data and pattern-based machine learning. With connected devices and data processing, control receives a completely new dimension. The IoT changes the service paradigm. In principle, all of this data capture should allow possible failures to be substantially better predicted and also prevented with proactive operation. The measure of reliability for a device


was previously expressed in mean time between failures (MTBF), but from now on we’ll probably become accustomed to the expression “mean time between servicing.” The capacity to predict a failure that would incapacitate a device’s operation or prevent its use is probably a key indicator of the progress that will be introduced by the new approach to maintaining and servicing devices. If the theory holds that we’re capable of recognizing repeating patterns and, on this basis, anticipating events that follow the same pattern, then this means that smart devices and the IoT will reduce the need for on-call services and their emergency interventions in repair activities. In the professional world, in the future non-use time should be measured for the sake of preventive interventions, and the mean time between failures and the mean time of repair should correspondingly lose their meaning.

Of course, nothing is as bad as it first seems. Every technological prediction also needs significantly more time than first predicted to be realized and take hold. People’s habits, the organization of work underway, and work processes are difficult to change quickly; therefore a revolutionary transformation is very unlikely. Despite other predictions, the steps toward changes in the approaches to maintaining connected devices will probably take place at an evolutionary speed. At first we’ll probably use all of the information about an individual device as additional information to inspect, whereas automatization of processes based on pattern recognition and giving up former ways of maintaining devices, despite everything, probably won’t happen for quite some time.

The IoT is changing established business models; everything will more or less become a matter of a subscriber relationship and usage-based payment.

Ratings agencies ascribe a rather large amount of credit or possibility to the IoT making all devices “become” a service. Connected devices (can) offer manufacturers complete supervision over a device and, in the long term, can bind a customer to the supplier quite firmly. It’s possible to manage after-sales activities and monitor intensity of use or operation of devices, and thus nearly all of the preconditions are met for ownership to be replaced by rental with usage-based payment or a subscription. The fact that rental and usage-based payment strengthen consumerism has already been demonstrated in many places, and so manufacturers are certainly interested in this. If it’s true that more than two-thirds of purchases of durable goods are already financed today through bank loans and rent-to-own agreements, monthly payment for

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use is practically already established in the eyes of consumers. However, they currently bear all of the risks of ownership.

On the other hand, the change of the business model in the direction of rental and usage-based payment is in the interest of large device manufacturers. These feel themselves to be in a stronger position during such a change than do financially weaker smaller suppliers. Some are therefore betting on a more intense wave of market consolidation, and others see room in merging information providers and banks with device manufacturers. The digital “disturbance” has taken a considerable piece of the action from both of these activities, and in the change to the business model that the IoT will most likely bring about they may see a new opportunity to develop their operations.

Why will the IoT probably change sales the most in the short-term?

If we think about what the key role of sales staff really is, the answer is more than obvious. Sales staff more or less look for business opportunities. All they do is look for customers that have needs. Only a customer that has needs can represent potential for placing an order.

On the other hand, we have to divide sales into that which deals with how to win new customers and that which serves existing customers. It’s clear that the IoT probably cannot help much in selling things to new clients. It would also be quite naive not to take advantage of the “insight” into an existing customer offered by connected devices and, consequently, connected customers. The greatest step towards optimizing sales and increasing sales staff ’s productivity would be the automation of the acquisition of information about the needs of (existing) customers.. If the sales department manages to achieve this even before the users are aware of their needs, the sales staff can be proactive and thus provide a friendlier and more pleasant user experience.


An example from practice:

FUMIS

(by Atech Electronics d.o.o.): Supply and charge pellets based on customers’ consumption

The pellet stove was long seen as an appliance and as a piece of furniture that, foremost, needs to look good, but also provides a limited amount of heating energy. This perspective is now changing. Due to technological advancement, the pellet stove is increasingly becoming the centerpiece of the home—a heat-generating device that is self-sufficient and requires no primary or secondary heat generation source.

The IoT itself is one of the major reasons we’re experiencing a shift in the pellet stove paradigm. The ability to connect stoves to the internet has enabled stove manufacturers and distributors to offer innovative new ways of phrasing their offer to customers. They’ve become energy providers, not just stove manufacturers and distributors.

The FUMIS WiRCU modem, as described below, allows the stove to be connected with the internet and opens up a myriad of opportunities. The FUMIS 6th Sense, on the one hand, makes the stove more aware of its surroundings. It communicates with smart thermostats, such as Nest or NETATMO, and it takes into account various parameters. It improves user convenience because it measures the ambient temperature at the actual location of the consumer, and it also takes into account humidity and other parameters. In addition to receiving information, the modem also allows the stove to send valuable information about the operation of the stove to the user, the pellet distributor, and the manufacturer.

First of all, users’ convenience increases because they can remotely control the

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stove through the (FUMIS) smartphone application. Users also have insight into the operation of the stove and its statistics, and they can modulate the heat output. The following pricing model, which charges the user according to the monthly consumption of pellets, helps users because they don’t have to worry about buying pellets and it provides them with favorable payment terms.The information about pellet consumption, as already mentioned, actually changes the notion of the stove. It’s therefore only a medium for energy and the distributors, or producers, are the energy providers. This innovative pricing model doesn’t charge consumers for the stove; it merely charges for the energy produced. The consumer rents the stove and is charged based on monthly consumption. The following steps illustrate the process:

• 1. The consumer “leases” the stove and signs a combination of a lease agreement and “power purchase” agreement. The stove is either free of charge, or a small fee is paid up-front. The contract includes an agreement that the distributor will periodically supply pellets to the consumer, and that this distributor is in charge of all servicing because he actually owns the stove.

• 2. The distributor adds a certain amount of pellets to the stove, which is based on regional data about consumption, the time of year, the type of stove, and so on.

• 3. The user is charged according to the monthly consumption of pellets. The distributor receives information from FUMIS LevelTronic (described below) about the burning rate of the pellets. Because the system follows the consumption and current level of pellets in stock, users are automatically supplied when the system recognizes that the pellets are running low.

The producer therefore not only receives information about the operation of the stove, but can also collect data about technical issues, defects, and other issues, which can be useful for future improvements of the stoves. As they can remotely access the stove through Wi-Fi, they can also check the set parameters and combustion process in real time. This can be done with the online servicing tool FUMIS WebPro, which not only allows them to check the set parameters, but also to offer remote assistance to solve simple issues. For example, they can check whether the issue was induced by the consumer not reading the instruction manual properly.

The ability to remotely check the stove drastically decreases service and maintenance costs because customers that live in remote places don’t have to be visited for trivial issues. The producer therefore not only has more control


over the stoves on the market, but can also share more information with the distributors, who can subsequently sell more stoves.

The distributor, on the other hand, is more inclined to cooperate with the producer of the stove because he also receives access to tools such as FUMIS WebPro. If the customer has signed a lease or power purchase agreement, the distributor receives a monthly income that might exceed the price of the stove. The pellets are also automatically purchased from the distributor and, because they have a wealth of information about consumption, they can precisely predict the consumption for the season. The distributor is subsequently in a better position to negotiate the price of the pellets because the information about consumption and the prediction of the consumption for the season is based on all the data collected from the stoves on the market and is therefore easily available.

Who is this solution for?

The flow of communication creates value for all the participating parties in the value chain. First, the user has a more intelligent stove, which responds to the environment and autonomously takes care of the pellet supply. Secondly, the distributor can save costs by conducting preventive service and maintenance with online tools, and can sell more complementary products, such as pellets. Finally, the manufacturer has better quality control over the entire value chain and can improve future lines of stoves. In summary, the ability to connect the pellet stove to the internet opens up a myriad of options, which can provide benefits for everyone involved.

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FUMIS LevelTronic – Biomass Level Sensor

LevelTronic is a non-contact distance meter that uses ultrasound to measure the distance between the sensor and the material that is being measured. It is designed to compensate for the cone of depression, which forms in the con-

FUMIS - technology

FUMIS WiRCU

WiFi Access Point for Heating Devices Equipped with Fumis ControllersWiRCU enables wireless communication with your heating device by smart phone or tablet PC. It enables the Fumis app, compatible with iOS and Android to keep you updated with the current state of your heating device anytime and anywhere.

802.11 b/gInternalProprietary protocolMicro USB connector MSD class (firmware update/power supply)RJ11 (communication)from micro USB connector, 5Vdc; 350mA maxIP20 (at recommended mounting position)

Wireless type: Antennae:

Host controller connection:Connections:

Supply:Ingress protection class:

Specifications:


tainer when the material is extracted. The particular construction requires no maintenance. LevelTronic comes with a connecting cable that directly fits to FUMIS

Installation with Fumis controllers:ALPHA series of combustion controllers. The producer only needs to use the PCPRO controller set-up programme, enable the LevelTronic option and set the full, warning and empty levels.

General purpose usage:LevelTronic outputs a PWM signal. The duty cycle is proportional to the mea-sured distance. The output PWM signal can be filtered to DC voltage and measured with voltmeter or AD converter.

Measurable distance (from top of the sensors):

Accuracy:Power supply voltage: Power consumption: Temperature range:

Output:Resolution:

Dimensions:

10cm - 2,0m10mm9V - 30V DCtypical 10mA, max. 20mA-20°C to +70°C (at max. 40% humidity), +60°C (at max. 60% humidity), +25°C (at max. 95% humidity)5V PWM, frequency 2kHz1cm (cca 20mV/cm)75.9 x 39.4 x 18.9 mm

Specifications:

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An example from practice:

FrodX PSA(Printer Support Assistant)

Monitoring the pulse of networked printers and multipurpose devices for automated supply of consumer material and ser-vices.

For a printer user, the essence of a convenient purchase of a cartridge or toner is receiving an offer for the consumer material in a timely manner and proactively when it is running out, without having to look for it and inquire about it with suppliers. If an order can also be confirmed with a single click, it’s hard to think of a more convenient buying experience. Given this, the share of users that would like to look for even more advantageous offers for cartridges is quite small in comparison. The essence of success in all of this is that suppliers present an offer before the consumers are aware of the need and start searching for all of the products available on the internet. If the user receives a “sales-price” offer just before a systems notice from the printer driver about low ink levels, the likelihood of a “convenient purchase” is at the highest possible level and the retailer is entirely relieved of having to take action.By a similar principle, the collection of systematic messages about printer operation could also let us be proactive in offering maintenance services for the printer, and at the same time offers us exceptional insight into the habits of users and their printing needs. In a similar manner, this information and information about device usage supports a proactive stance in sales of new printers and multifunction devices, only that here the process of creating and sending offers isn’t automated and impersonal through e-mail, but the system primarily serves to remind and inform retailers, who in this manner can focus on the most willing customers and not forgo potential sales opportunities. Joining the PSA and CRM system facilitates an optimal increase in the quality of offers.


PSA also plays an important role in obtaining feedback about user experiences. It shows us, for example, that problems recur after a device is serviced. With such valuable information, we can offer clients a solution before they notice the problem themselves and turn to a different supplier and expand their dissatisfaction to include not only the device, but also us as suppliers. Because a repairman or retailer deals only with actual causes and not hypothetical ones (e.g., “you sell bad products”), he can act preventively and, in the case of problems, he can also clarify the circumstances to the customer and offer a solution before this becomes a critical problem for the customer and causes damage to the company’s reputation.With information about usage load, we can therefore predict failures in advance and prevent them. In doing so, we lower the costs of repair services during the warrantee period and, through the care shown for customers after they purchase the device, the quality of repair services, and preventing failures, we significantly improve user loyalty.

Who is PSA intended for?

The specific service is intended for everyone that sells and repairs printers and multifunction devices that, regardless of the different manufacturers, wish to have uniform user experiences in monitoring the status of devices and auto-mating the sales process for supplying consumer material and repair services.Such an example of electronic operations combines online sales and the CRM system in order to keep the operating record of a customer’s devices in one place throughout their entire life cycle.

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Use-based sales advertising

Based on how your customers use a particular device, you can much more accurately predict when you’ll have the opportunity for an up-sell or cross-sale. Based on information about use that you receive from the device connected to the IoT, you can define when the customer will most probably be interested and willing to make a purchase. When you send this information to your sales staff, they have a much greater chance of concluding a deal because they’ll make contact with a customer that has a need for your product or services and they won’t lose time unnecessarily with those that aren’t even interested in what you’ve got to offer.

Greater precision in marketing

A good understanding of how customers use your devices and awareness of their needs makes precise segmentation possible. Using this, you can completely personalize your (marketing) communication and adapt it to the individual needs of a particular segment of your (potential) customers.

Shifted sales priorities

Sales aren’t a department that “only takes orders.” Well, at least it shouldn’t be. Sales staff has to use their time more effectively and not only wait for orders, but actively obtain then. With the IoT, sales receives a tool that makes it possible to proactively move toward increasing the volume of orders received and find or create new sales opportunities.

Automated quote generation

The IoT makes it possible for the process of creating quotes and orders to be completely automated. Based on the information that a device sends to your system in real time—that is, as soon as the need arises—you prepare a quote for ordering the mate-rials or parts that will soon have to be replaced. You therefore save your customers time that they would otherwise use for making inquiries and make it possible for them to keep operating continuously without unwanted interruptions due to failures or a lack of material.

Summary: Key functionalities with which the IoT and connect-ed devices add to marketing, sales, and customer service.


Improved customer loyalty

With the help of the IoT, you can make your customers’ lives much easier, offer them the greatest use of their device, and save them from possible trouble with the device before it even occurs or the customers notice it. Being proactive and having useful solutions ensures the best user experience and increases customer loyalty.

Greater payment flexibility

Because it’s possible to manage after-sales activities and monitor intensity of use or of devices connected to the internet, nearly all of the preconditions are met for ownership to be replaced by rental with use-based payment and a subscription. This benefits not only buyers but also suppliers because it will create many opportunities for new business models.

Creating added value for users

The information that you collect from all of your devices can be combined to create a unique database. Based on the patterns that can be obtained from them, you can create recommendations for how to most optimally use these devices so that the benefit is the greatest, offer your customers the highest-quality support, and improve the quality of your products based on the desires and needs of their end users.

Just-in-time service

Based on the information received, you can much more precisely predict when there will probably be a device failure and you can order replacement parts in advance and have the repair carried out in the shortest time possible. This reduces waiting time and prevents dissatisfaction of customers for whom a failure and possible long waiting time for replacement parts and repair could prevent continuous operations. Receiving information from a device also enables you to monitor its operation at all times and prevent possible minor failures or to notify customers of incorrect use or overuse of devices.

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What can you do yourself to start taking advantage of the power of information from your customers’ connected devices in your business?

• To start with, it’s key to look for answers to the following questions:What information from connected devices would be useful to you in building customer relationships and would contribute to more effective marketing, sales, and after-sales services?

• What kind of benefit would you have to offer your customers for them to consciously give you access to information from their devices and to accept personalized marketing communication based on what their device use reveals?

• When looking for the answers to these two questions, further activities largely present only technological challenges, which have been discussed in this guide. The result of this will in all likelihood be a more extensive integrated project that will add a new key entity to the CRM system—your customer’s device—and will connect it with services for machine learning and Big Data processing, which will represent the next big step in implementing information technology at most companies.


or contact:

Matija Geržina

Head of Sales & Marketing

Phone: +386 (0)8 200 88 25

[email protected]

Sara Turk

EMS / ODM Business developer & Marketing

Phone: +386 (0)8 200 88 27

[email protected]

Žiga Boštjančič

FUMIS Business developer & Marketing

Phone: +386 (0)8 200 88 37

[email protected]

Atech Electronics d.o.o.

is a partner with proven capabilities and

experience, helping you to address the

opportunities in the IoT world.

www.atech.si/get-in-touch

Are you wondering what the technical possibilities for connecting your devices to the IoT world are?

For more information, please visit:

www.atech.si

http://www.atech.si/get-in-touch

www.atech.si

Works cited:

Kanellos, M. (24 July 2014). Will the Smart Home Be Hobbled by Standards Wars? Hardly. Accessed 12 August 2015 from Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelkanellos/2014/07/24/will-the-smart-home-be-hobbled-by-stan-dards-wars-hardly/

Kastrenakes, J. (24 January 2014). The Dumb State of the Smart Home. Accessed 12 August 2015 from The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/24/5336104/smart-home-standard-are-a-mess-zigbee-z-wave

Palazzetti, M. (11–12 June 2015). Smart Technology. Interview with Marco Palaz-zetti, GRUPPO PALAZZETTI. (S. P. GmbH, interviewer)

Porter, M. E., & Heppelmann, J. E. (2014). How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition. Harvard Business Review, 64–88.

In co-operation with

FrodX:

Igor Pauletič

Phone: +386 41 668 757

[email protected]

Matic Moličnik

Phone: +386 40 667 573

[email protected]

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