Aurora Live Opens Doors to Industrial Decision-Makers

In a Nutshell

CHALLENGES

• Reaching decision-makers through conventional channels

• Navigating complex technical buying groups in the industrial sector

• Finding new customers in untapped European markets

RESULTS

• Connected with target industrial customers in the Aurora Live Network via focused 1-to-1 meetings

• Created a scalable and repeatable approach for engaging new industrial customers

• Successfully expanded from a two-market pilot into a cross-regional initiative
  

The Full Story

If your organisation specialises in industrial solutions that target a wide range of sectors, this might sound familiar: long sales cycles, multi-stakeholder purchasing processes, and difficulty reaching the right decision-makers.

These are the challenges Sep Schraven, HMS Networks’ Commercial Director South Europe, was facing, prompting him to search for a different strategy to meet new customers beyond conventional sales and marketing avenues. He was introduced to Aurora Live in 2025 and decided to take a chance on its 1-to-1 meeting format to meet target customers across several European markets.

Navigating the Complexity of the Industrial Decision-Making Unit

Schraven aims to connect HMS Networks’ solutions with industrial decision-makers from an engineering or technical background. Depending on the company size, the purchasing decision may involve a multi-layered decision-maker system. While HMS Networks targets a wide range of companies, its focus has always been on each company’s specific needs and how HMS can solve its challenges. This approach allows Schraven and his team to tailor solutions to each customer.

Conventional Channels Don’t Open the Right Doors

Schraven speaks about the difficulty of reaching the decision-makers with the right background. Additionally, they have limited free time to scan the market for solutions. Conventional marketing avenues such as exhibitions and webinars are beneficial, but access to the right people is not guaranteed.

“It's not easy to find the people you want to speak to and get a portion of their time. Aurora Live helps us get focused time with companies and stakeholders within those companies that we know could be of mutual interest.”

When Aurora Live presented an opportunity to hold short virtual meetings with target customers, he was initially skeptical but eventually gave it a try. Schraven and his team have a clear buyer persona and companies that HMS Networks wants to work with, but they are hard to reach, especially with traditional approaches like cold calling.

“Aurora Live offered a promising initiative to do a pilot with. We wanted to understand if it’s something that could help us reach our long-term goals.”

Converting Short Conversations into Meaningful Discussions

On the Aurora Live platform, Schraven and his team could search for the right decision-makers who fit their customer persona, filtering by industry, company size, market, and job function. These decision-makers are members of the Aurora Live Network, and each is pre-qualified and ready to have discussions with solution providers. Additionally, each member profile includes responsibilities, priorities, and interest areas.

After shortlisting decision-makers to have meetings with, Schraven and his team next focused on preparing for the meetings, as all logistics and scheduling were handled by the Aurora Live team, saving them valuable time and resources.

Schraven also credits the Aurora Live team for helping him prepare for the meetings, advising him on the structure and topics that will maximise the full 15 minutes. He emphasises that the 15 minutes are all about understanding the decision-maker as much as possible in a short amount of time.

“We try to understand this person and their responsibilities to determine what areas might be interesting for them, and then we do a very brief presentation of our company. The key thing is managing our time wisely.”

Measuring Success Beyond Number of Leads

As a typical sales cycle for HMS Networks is between 9 and 12 months, measuring early engagement metrics is critical.

Schraven piloted Aurora Live’s meetings in Sweden and the Netherlands and received positive results, adding that decision-makers from both countries are the most aligned with HMS Networks in terms of quality and industry. This promising result led to them expanding the Aurora Live service to other regions in Europe.

The successful pilot proved that Aurora Live didn’t just generate meetings with the right decision-makers; it created conversations worth continuing and building upon.

Opening Up Opportunities in New Markets

Schraven plans to expand the Aurora Live partnership to more regions in the coming year. His goal has always been to find new customers, and he is confident that Aurora Live can help support HMS Networks in reaching the right customers in new markets.

After a successful pilot program, they trusted Aurora Live enough to scale it across Europe and have integrated Aurora Live into their growth strategy.

“The service is a door opener for us to prove ourselves to new customers. This creates a win-win situation for both HMS and the prospect.”

*The insights have been edited for length and clarity.

About HMS Networks:

HMS (Hardware Meets Software™) Networks is a specialist in industrial communication solutions, creating products that enable industrial equipment to communicate and share information. They enable valuable data and insights from industrial equipment, allowing our customers to increase productivity and sustainability. For example, their remote access solution allows customers to access their machines inside their factories from a distance. HMS Networks consists of 1,000+ skilled and passionate professionals in 20+ countries globally, working on developing, manufacturing, and selling products at the forefront of technology.