Startups and Investors
The industrial B2B service space is full of opportunities for entrepreneurs and new ideas. They range from applications in the sharing economy to utilizing the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) infrastructure together with big data, analytics and algorithms to predict and improve asset and process performance (cyber-physical systems). Alternatively they might include using autonomous systems (robots, drones) to perform maintenance inspections in hazardous or inaccessible environments; Providing service engineers with new diagnostic tools and instant access to knowledge; Or providing new ways to improve the customer experience and personalize offerings. The applications are only limited by imagination and the reach of technology, which is continuously growing.
If you are a start-up or an investor developing or supporting a business idea to improve or, indeed, disrupt services for industrial markets we’d like to listen and help – wherever you are in the world:
We offer:
- Help with idea refinement and testing and critical, but constructive feedback
- Research and market modelling
- Early exposure to potential customers, early adopters and corporate investors through our special “Innovation Fora”
- Advice and support with business model, strategy and business plans
- Advice and support with delivery system, operations, and go-to-market
- Access and support to engage potential anchor customers and other partners and develop pilot projects or trial runs
- Mentoring of Management Team
Insights and Success Stories
Making “Trusted Advisor” Real
For years, “Trusted Advisor” has been the go-to phrase whenever service leaders describe the relationship they want with customers. It’s used in sales kick-offs, service strategy decks, and job descriptions for everyone from field engineers to key account managers. The trouble is that the more a phrase gets used, the less it tends to mean. Ask ten people in your business what a trusted advisor actually does differently, day to day, and you’ll likely get ten different answers — usually some version of “being really good at customer service.”
That ambiguity is a problem, because for suppliers of industrial equipment, components and solutions, the trusted advisor relationship isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between being treated as a replaceable vendor and being the partner customers call before they’ve even finished defining the problem. So it’s worth being precise. We define a trusted advisor as:
A service professional whose relationship with a client goes beyond basic transactional expertise. They act as a long-term confidant, providing holistic guidance to help customers make critical, informed decisions — operational or strategic. The goal, through that relationship, is to add more value to both parties through collaboration.
Two words matter most in that definition: “both parties.” This isn’t altruism, and it isn’t really about being liked. Done properly, it’s a commercial discipline that benefits the customer’s operation and your order book at the same time. This article explores how that plays out in practice — and what it actually takes to build it into an organisation rather than just hope for it.
Why I Keep Coming Back to the Si2 Service Leaders Network Summit
Why does Martina Krengel from Georg Sahm keep coming back to the Si2 Summit? She says that Si2 has created a trusted environment for open, honest discussions with peers facing similar challenges. I gained practical, immediately applicable insights, valuable connections, and fresh perspectives from real-world experiences. The strong sense of community, shared learning, and collaborative problem-solving help’s me as a leader to improve faster and create greater value.
Making “Trusted Advisor” Real
For years, “Trusted Advisor” has been the go-to phrase whenever service leaders describe the relationship they want with customers. It’s used in sales kick-offs, service strategy decks, and job descriptions for everyone from field engineers to key account managers. The trouble is that the more a phrase gets used, the less it tends to mean. Ask ten people in your business what a trusted advisor actually does differently, day to day, and you’ll likely get ten different answers — usually some version of “being really good at customer service.”
That ambiguity is a problem, because for suppliers of industrial equipment, components and solutions, the trusted advisor relationship isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s the difference between being treated as a replaceable vendor and being the partner customers call before they’ve even finished defining the problem. So it’s worth being precise. We define a trusted advisor as:
A service professional whose relationship with a client goes beyond basic transactional expertise. They act as a long-term confidant, providing holistic guidance to help customers make critical, informed decisions — operational or strategic. The goal, through that relationship, is to add more value to both parties through collaboration.
Two words matter most in that definition: “both parties.” This isn’t altruism, and it isn’t really about being liked. Done properly, it’s a commercial discipline that benefits the customer’s operation and your order book at the same time. This article explores how that plays out in practice — and what it actually takes to build it into an organisation rather than just hope for it.
Why I Keep Coming Back to the Si2 Service Leaders Network Summit
Why does Martina Krengel from Georg Sahm keep coming back to the Si2 Summit? She says that Si2 has created a trusted environment for open, honest discussions with peers facing similar challenges. I gained practical, immediately applicable insights, valuable connections, and fresh perspectives from real-world experiences. The strong sense of community, shared learning, and collaborative problem-solving help’s me as a leader to improve faster and create greater value.
