

Source: iq! Management Consulting
SUBSCRIPTION FUNNEL LEARNINGS
Found Customer Success Teams in order to convert usage into more Business. In order to become a service provider in a digital world, teams must be created that take care exclusively of the new users. Salesforce has done this and named them Customer Success Teams. And the name says it all. Here, everything is done to provide the customer with a successful user experience of the companies’ products and services. This starts with the smooth installation of the necessary software and ends with the sale of value-adding upgrades and add-on products.
Subscription is the business model for the Economy of Things. When manufacturers become service providers, it is only a small step to adapt the business model to the new sales content. Usage-related billing models have many advantages: The customer remains connected to the company via the subscription. Although the company initially forgoes part of the product price, it can count on long-term and predictable revenues. Adobe was the first company to replace product sales with subscriptions and set a success story in motion. Zuora, a Subscription Economy service provider, publishes an annual index that underscores the success of companies that have changed their business model based on usage.
OVERALL LEARNINGS
Build a digital organization next to the „analogue“ enterprise. A separate digital unit has several advantages: Bundling of the digital resources, flexible and fast market entry, nevertheless connection to the “old” organization and simple know-how transfer possible. Read more on page X in article Y.
Create a Customer Facing IT next to Corporate IT. It is easier to leave the IT for the Economy of Things in a lean unit of its own instead of integrating it into the widely ramified Corporate IT. In this way one can limit oneself to the most necessary interfaces and otherwise operate autonomously. More about this on page X in article Y.
Find the right Partners for Ecosystems that are priority to the customer. Networked products and services should be part of a comprehensive solution that really adds value for the customer. It is important to proactively seek the right partners and the desired role in such ecosystems.