Accelerating Manufacturing Sales Across Europe

“We’ve used Aurora Live’s services from way back for over 20 years. Aurora Live is really good at finding these executives that are otherwise hard to reach."
- Magdalena Rydén, Marketing Director, IFS Nordics

About IFS

IFS was looking for an efficient way to reach the right executives within their target groups, a challenge that has become tougher over the years amid a constantly changing business landscape. They needed a resource-effective way to identify and meet with decision-makers, get their foot in the door to save time on chasing leads and allow their sales teams to focus on closing deals. IFS is an IT company that sells an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. We also sell field service management (FSM) to service companies for their aftermarket care, which helps them keep track of their field and service technicians – from routes to scheduling. We also have enterprise asset management (EAM) that takes care of heavy assets for a company, such as large steel and mining companies that have expensive assets that need to be up and running all the time. Our IT system helps optimize that. The entire product suite is IFS Cloud, and all these products are available within that. We were founded in Sweden 40 years ago and today are a global company, but still Swedish, which is amazing. We’re in all parts of the world with about 6,000 employees.

"Aurora Live has helped us with that and has been one of our absolute best lead sources"

The Challenge

IFS was looking for an efficient way to reach the right executives within their target groups, a challenge that has become tougher over the years amid a constantly changing business landscape. They needed a resource-effective way to identify and meet with decision-makers, get their foot in the door to save time on chasing leads and allow their sales teams to focus on closing deals.

Executives in a company are very hard to get a hold of. If given the chance to speak to someone and explain the value of your business, it’s easier to get a second meeting. So, AL has helped us with that and has been one of our absolute best lead sources. AL helped us get in the door. Even if it’s not 100% with the right person sometimes, at least those executives can help us get to the next person who is a better match. Some customers we’ve connected with through AL are huge companies and you would need to speak to so many people before talking to the right ones. We don’t really have the resources to do that. That’s why AL is really helpful.

How IFS Works with Aurora Live

Booking follow-ups through initial 1-to-1 meetings

A 1-to-1 meeting is successful if we get a follow up meeting straightaway. It’s also when we get questions and start talking about the prospect’s current solution and challenges in that first meeting, because that usually leads to a follow up. That’s always the goal.

In February this year, one of our business development representatives took a meeting with the CIO of a company. It wasn’t the best call because the executive didn’t seem interested and had said they were set on a different solution already. But still, our representative managed to secure a follow up call. On that second call, the CIO apologized for brushing her off and offered to take another meeting. He was open to exploring at least one alternative.

Things went quickly after that. The account executive got involved and secured a physical meeting. Once we got our product across, they were really interested in what our solution had to offer that their first option did not. By September, we had signed  a deal.

Usually, it takes about one to two years to close a deal. But this was very quick. I’d say it’s because they were already prepared to decide. So, we had the right timing. We also had marketing campaigns targeting them for a long time, so they also knew about us. We weren’t strangers, but AL got us in the door. This is our most successful AL lead so far.

Bridging Marketing and Sales for Smarter, More Efficient Engagement

Strategic alignment

I would say it’s like a middle ground between marketing and sales. We look at the lists of executives available to us and make sure that AL has the list of companies we’d like to meet. That’s the first step. Then, when meeting opportunities arise, our sales and marketing functions look at the list together to make sure we don’t miss any companies. We don’t just quickly book random meetings. We study the list carefully and select the ones we believe in. We look at their investment plans and titles before booking meetings.

Adaptable approach

I’d say AL was very quick to adapt to the ‘new world’ with COVID restrictions. It was the perfect time for a transition. Online meetings are more effective. Our sales
teams were a little skeptical at first because they wanted to meet prospects face-to-face. But they soon realized that online meetings saved them a lot of time, allowing them to take more meetings.

However, it’s great that you’ve started up with the live events again too because we do want to meet prospects in-person occasionally. The good thing is that once you’ve established a relationship online, they are no longer strangers when you see them in-person. The events are more social now because you’re not just focused on getting leads anymore. You can relax and focus on building relationships instead of making sales. I think it’s been an improvement. We’re much more efficient now.

Event variety and engagement

Generally, it’s a great opportunity to meet prospects in person and to be able to network live. Especially if you’ve already met people online, the ice breaker is done. It’s important to have time for our sales team to mingle and talk to as many people as possible. AL has different kinds of events so the value is different for each – from the smaller ones to the large ones with over 700 people. It’s something our sales team must learn – that not all events are the same. I think it’s also good that there are different types of activities as well, so people are still surprised and engaged. I like the fact that AL always changes things up.

Looking Ahead

Overcoming challenges and moving forward

It’s helping us meet these executives who are so hard to reach. They become harder to reach with every day that passes. Our lifeline is being able to talk to them. It’s also a challenge when people change jobs. You may have talked to one person, but they move to a different company soon after. So, being able to reach the  executives and having the opportunity to have a dialogue with them is crucial. Especially with big companies, sometimes it’s hard to navigate and get through doors. That’s what AL helps us with.

“I like that the AL team is always on their toes and always forward-thinking. AL is a good partner to work with.”

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Why IFS Chose Aurora Live: