TY  - CONF
A1  - Schuh, Günther
A1  - Rix, Calvin
A1  - Holst, Lennard
A2  - Alfnes, Erlend
A2  - Romsdal, Anita
A2  - Strandhagen, Jan Ola
A2  - Cieminski, Gregor von
A2  - Romero, David
T1  - How to Acquire Customers for Subscription Business Models in Machinery and Plant Engineering
T2  - Advances in Production Management Systems. Production Management Systems for Responsible Manufacturing, Service, and Logistics Futures. IFIP WG 5.7 International Conference, APMS 2023, Trondheim, Norway, September 17–21, 2023, Proceedings, Part II
N2  - To monetize the potential of digitalization in times of saturated markets, increased machinery and plant engineering companies are starting to transform the transaction-based business model into a customer- and service-oriented subscription business. Even though subscription offerings can create win-win situations for providers and customers, companies encounter significant difficulties in acquiring customers for this innovative business model. Historically linear acquisition processes focused on transactional product sales impede success. To identify key challenges and targeted coping strategies for customer acquisition we conducted in-depth interviews with 18 subscription managers and sales representatives from seven machinery and plant engineering case studies. In our research we uncovered four challenge dimensions: (1) lack of motivation, (2) missing skills and competences, (3) insufficient customer confidence and (4) transaction-oriented sales approach. Beyond that we derived four appropriate coping strategies (1) steering mechanisms, (2) human resource management, (3) trust building instruments and (4) systematic methodology to address them. These insights highlight the key challenges at the management level for customer acquisition that companies face when trying to initiate and sustain the transition from a purely transactional product and service business to subscription-oriented growth. Furthermore, they provide guidance how to cope with these challenges.
T3  - IFIP advances in information and communication technology - 690 
KW  - subscription business
KW  - machinery and plant engineering
KW  - customer acquisition
KW  - coping strategies
KW  - case study research
KW  - rev
Y1  - 2023
UR  - https://epub.fir.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/2938
UR  - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-43666-6_17
SN  - 978-3-03143-665-9
SN  - 978-3-031-43666-6
SN  - 1868-4238
SP  - 243
EP  - 257
PB  - Springer
CY  - Cham [u. a.]
ER  -