November 3-6, 2024
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Industry Expert Talks
Robot integrator: Buyers are moving from trade shows to digital marketplaces because of Covid
20 January 2022
Covid has forced companies to move sales efforts from physical events to online platforms. Sealing System, a robot integrator, started using HowToRobot because it “brings high quality leads at a low cost”, according to a marketing specialist from the company.
The pandemic has forced robotic companies to reinvent sales efforts. With a limit on physical meetings and trade shows, marketing and sales leaders are exploring new ways of finding clients.
“Covid has changed marketing and sales. Today, it is less about trade shows and more about being present on digital channels and platforms,” says Martin Søndergaard, Marketing Specialist at Sealing System, a robotic integrator specialized in end-of-line automation.
The fast-growing company increased staff by more than 30 % last year, accelerated by Covid and the increasing demand from customers. Today, the company counts over 110 employees and expect the growth to continue.
“We see a lot of demand, especially after Covid hit,” Martin Søndergaard says.
“Company executives want to keep production local and are struggling to find employees. Often, this means they have to bring in robots instead,” he adds.
Digital sales channels are taking over
As many other robotic companies, Sealing System is increasingly counting on digital channels to meet new clients and fuel their growth. The company uses everything from Google, LinkedIn and HowToRobot to get leads.
“It’s all part of a digital transformation that I think we’ll only see more of in the future. It’s just much more targeted and scalable,” Martin Søndergaard says.
While digital activity is increasing, physical events are down. In the US alone, trade show attendance dropped by a whopping 72 % from 2019 to 2020. As a result, sales leaders are considering where to place their bets for the coming year – and Covid is not the only consideration:
“Our business is highly specialized. Most trade shows, however, are attracting very broad audiences, which makes it hard for us to find relevant leads. Online we have better targeting options,” Martin Søndergaard says.
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HowToRobot solves issue with low-quality leads
Despite their huge potential, digital marketing channels and methods are not always the holy grail, according to Martin Søndergaard.
People signing up for a newsletter, for example, may take years to become customers – or may not be relevant at all. Finding customers who are ready to buy, can be more of a challenge.
This is the main reason, Sealing System started using HowToRobot, Martin Søndergaard says. By subscribing to the platform, the company gets access to a steady flow of customer leads from all parts of the world. The main difference from other platforms is the quality of the leads, he says:
“HowToRobot provides a constant stream of high-quality leads. The customers already have a project, know what they need, have an idea about their budget and are actively looking for suppliers. For us as a supplier, this shortens the time to a potential sale.”
Sealing System is using the platform to send proposals directly to these leads at no additional cost.
“Considering the quality of the leads on HowToRobot, the cost is very low,” Søndergaard says.
Just recently, Sealing System got matched with a client in the UK who needed a palletizing solution. At a value of up to €300,000, Søndergaard is happy to have discovered this opportunity:
“We are now in the next stage of talks with the client and hope to close the deal with them. Without HowToRobot, this would not have been possible,” he concludes.
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