How Will IIoT Create More Shareholder Value?

How will IIoT drive more sales?

This question stalls many industrial IoT projects.

How will IIoT create more shareholder value?

Now that is a much better question.

Successful IIoT projects are customer and engagement focused, creating value through digital transformation.

To accomplish this, your IIoT project should encompass the 3 R's:

• Relationships
• Retention
• Revenue

New digital engagements are of the greatest value when sales is not the sole focus.

Relationships Create Value

IIoT projects are change agents. They help create new digital ecosystems and value chains. Participation in these value chains can be the difference between success and failure.

"As companies increasingly integrate their core business functionalities with third parties and their platforms, forward-thinking leaders leverage these relationships to build their role in new digital ecosystems."

These relationships are both internal and external. Digital ecosystem opportunities are abundant. Look at your supply chain, distributors, financial partners, service providers, and beyond. Be sure to understand where you fit in the ecosystem. Take part in it or create one yourself, but don't wait.

Having a vibrant digital ecosystem adds value for all participants in many ways, including:

• Lower operating costs
• Improved efficiencies and productivity
• Increased asset uptime and availability
• Reduced problem identification and resolution time
• Improved financial results (top and bottom line)

Learn more about these relationships and their value in my prior post.

Retention  Creates Value

Revenue  Creates Value

Like bad product experiences, sales interactions can negatively impact value. Too many sales relationships are reactive. But creating an ongoing and contextual dialogue with your customers creates great value.

Digital transformation should enable proactive engagements–not sales opportunities but relationship building–delivered with a clear picture of your customer’s experience with your products and visibility to how they have experienced your company and partners.

Servitization of product companies is a critical part of IIoT. It creates many opportunities to drive revenue. But selling this value is different than selling products, so organizational and ecosystem alignment is critical.

More manufacturers are shifting their focus from products to end solutions in a means to enhance their competitive advantage…It’s a fundamental change in how you approach customers as well as how you bill them and maintain the products you sell them.

Changing the sales dynamic creates value.

• Contextual access to information at the point of sale becomes a competitive differentiator
• Improved product performance delivers valuable case studies to show ROI
• Sales of new products and services to existing customers increases customer lifetime value
• Attacking new conquest customers becomes easier

Retention Value Examples

Be sure to review non-revenue related opportunities across your company. Below are a few examples to consider.

New product development is also affected. Well structured, consistent. and reliable data is foundational for new value-added services. It's required to create prescriptive application experiences.

Revenue  Creates Value

Like bad product experiences, sales interactions can negatively impact value. Too many sales relationships are reactive. But creating an ongoing and contextual dialogue with your customers creates great value.

Digital transformation should enable proactive engagements--not sales opportunities but relationship building--delivered with a clear picture of your customer's experience with your products and visibility to how they have experienced your company and partners.

Servitization of product companies is a critical part of IIoT. It creates many opportunities to drive revenue. But selling this value is different than selling products, so organizational and ecosystem alignment is critical.

More manufacturers are shifting their focus from products to end solutions in a means to enhance their competitive advantage...It's a fundamental change in how you approach customers as well as how you bill them and maintain the products you sell them.

Changing the sales dynamic creates value.

• Contextual access to information at the point of sale becomes a competitive differentiator
• Improved product performance delivers valuable case studies to show ROI
• Sales of new products and services to existing customers increases customer lifetime value
• Attacking new conquest customers becomes easier

Don't get stuck trying to show the money. Provide a clear IIoT plan that includes relationship, retention, and revenue value creation.