In this first article from Sales 4.0, I am pleased to share some experiences on what really works in selling Industry 4.0.

The universe of what we now call Industry 4.0 is rapidly expanding to encompass technologies including AI; process robotics and autonomous devices. Industry 4.0 started as the Fourth Industrial Revolution of manufacturing but the use cases are growing at pace into the energy; infrastructure and logistics industries to name just a few. Before the idea of Industry 4.0 was conceived I was leading the growth of some of these technologies in tech businesses and more lately helping Industry 4.0 companies grow as an advisor. I would like to start with an Industry 4.0 success story.
Ocado (www.ocadotechnology.com) is an award winning, multi billion pound technology company.

To some it may be an unlikely exemplar of what is possible with Industry 4.0 today, as many will know it as an online retailer in UK. However, while maintaining its public face online selling groceries and on the roads of Britain with freshly branded delivery vans, Ocado has been executing a revolution in how our groceries get into to our kitchen cupboards and refrigerators. Over ten years ago, to optimise their grocery delivery business, Ocado started to develop their own software after failed attempts to integrate off the shelf applications. Ocado’s Smart Platform now integrates the upstream supply chain with customer’s online orders, warehousing and order fulfillment. This is delivered with AI, IoT, Process Automation and Robotics integrated on a cloud platform and enabled by 4G mobility. At the heart of the operation is “The Hive” warehouse where over 1000 robots work in a 3D matrix among a handful of human operators to sort and move over 10,000 grocery items every hour, ready for delivery to customers.

Technology has now become Ocado’s core business with the announcement of deals to sell their platform and warehouse tech to US grocery giant Kroger and French supermarket Casino, among others. This transformation culminated in a £1.5bn Joint Venture spin-off of the online retail operation earlier this year. The result — at £8bn, Ocado is now valued more like Amazon than grocery rivals such as Tesco or Asda. So, what does Ocado’s success tell us about selling Industry 4.0?

What Industry 4.0 can do is much more important than what it is…

Awareness of Industry 4.0 is growing very rapidly — as can be seen in the graphic below, related Google searches increased by ~70% globally in the last twelve months.

But, when I talk to middle to senior managers in tech companies and end-users, there is a real lack of agreement on what Industry 4.0 really is and there is even less clarity about what it can do. When it comes to sales, what works is not talking about the tech but about what it can do for end-users — in terms of efficiency, operating cost reduction or safety for instance.

Be focused and relentless about the Value Proposition

The performance improvements mentioned above are the elements that are going to get the deal over the line. These are the things that your customer can attach real value to and will support a business case. This makes it essential to understand what business problems your tech addresses, how it does so and what results the customer can expect. This is more achievable when you are focused on few potential use-cases (see below). Be brutal about how the solution delivers value — is it direct value (or does it rely on factors out of your control?); is it easily measurable?; does it address your customer’s priorities?

Testing the value prop frequently is really important and customer interaction here is critical — end-users are experts in their business — you are probably not. Finding the right people, testing your ideas early, getting buy-in from one or two customers will build your domain knowledge, understanding of the business problem and critically the value of your tech. Executing well will also turn those first customers into the greatest ambassadors for your business!

Choose industry use-cases carefully and stick with them

In most Industry 4.0 solutions, the performance and value will be quite specific to some industry sectors or verticals. Each vertical has specific priorities; problems and needs, dependent on a huge range of factors. Understanding real-world problems can be difficult for very tech-focused companies but this is critical to gaining traction for your tech. You will understand what the tech does and what technical problems that solves. The key is to understand the operational and commercial value of that and to identify the verticals where it will get the best results for your business (in terms of speed v scale). For early phase companies, I would usually advise speed over scale.

In a recent assignment with an early phase AI driven start up, I identified the tower operations of mobile telecom and power transmission companies as potential sectors for their software. Although globally there are probably 10 times more power transmission towers than telecom towers, the telecom industry was the one that was really successful first because it was more commercially dynamic (not least due to the advent of 5G) and the solution has value across multiple use-cases.
It can be quite easy to “bounce-off” a vertical — common issues are not getting enough basic understanding to be clear or credible, struggling to find an entry point and engaging with the wrong decision roles in end-users. It is really worth engaging with a vertical from multiple angles to get a range of insights before you plan your next move. Once you have chosen a vertical, stick with it until you have solid evidence.

Reach beyond the business case with vision

While its critical to attach quantifiable value to get the deal over the line, at the same time, its important to give a vision which while being less simple to quantify promises something more game-changing and is likely to get support from the C-level. e.g “as well as doing the task 4 times faster with 80% less risk to people, we can harness all the data gathered to provide value add services to your customers improving margins, customer service and retention”. Do your research and make sure what you are suggesting is credible and that there are no show-stoppers to delivering it.

Conclusion

While there is a lot of excitement, there is a real lack of clarity and understanding about what Industry 4.0 really is. But that doesn’t matter — we are in the business of selling tech, not concepts.

Most decision makers in end-users want to understand the possibilities of Industry 4.0, what it can do for them more than trying to understand what it its. To achieve that we need to focus hard on use-cases where our Industry 4.0 tech is most valuable and to understand that value we need to learn the priorities and business problems — this is a perfect example of the importance of the Why and the How (1).
Using some of these approaches, you will win Industry 4.0 deals, build industry use cases with great customers and grow your business. By doing so, you will be among the people that define not just what Industry 4.0 is, but what it can do for industry, the economy and for all of us.

(1) “The Golden Circle”: Start with Why — Simon Sinek — 2009.

Look out for the next articles in the Sales 4.0 blog series covering topics to include: How is Industry 4.0 changing the B2B Sales Process?; Hot issues for startups selling Industry 4.0 and; Who make the best Industry 4.0 sales people?