Virtually There
Date: 27.05.22
As more and more of our lives go online, we look at how Trelleborg Sealing Solutions has faced up to the challenges of supporting its customers in an increasingly digital world. -By Donna Guinivan
THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS HAVE BEEN VERY DIFFERENT,
with the Coronavirus pandemic turning the status quo in many areas upside down. Face-to-face business transactions were no longer possible, driving conversations that usually took place between engineers over a desk, online. This left many companies behind, but for Trelleborg it was a challenge they were prepared for.
“Digital communications are not new,” says Robert Zahiri, who heads up global marketing communications. “If you look at the buyer’s journey, the earliest stages in making purchasing choices have progressively moved online. Engineers turn to search engines to find potential suppliers, browsing websites, reading about companies online or looking at reviews. That has become the norm.”
Generally, that research resulted in a visit from a sales engineer. When that could not happen, digital communications moved from the first stages of a buyer’s journey to its entire length, from initial contacts to the final purchase and beyond.
“This was a trend that we anticipated would happen; the situation last year just accelerated the process,” continues Robert. “Our focus in developing our digital presence is
obviously about making sure that we are heard in the online environment, but more importantly it’s about providing a service to make engineers’ lives easier.
“Over the last few years, we’ve invested heavily in an extensive selection of resources. These include calculators, selectors, convertors, material compatibility tools and technical whitepapers. Our renowned CAD service and sealing solutions configurator provide proven solutions with drawings that engineers can place into their designs. And for those new to sealing, we offer a wide choice of e-learnings, from basic lessons to more specialized tutorials. During 2020 and 2021, we saw substantial use of these offerings.”
Social media has also become a critical part of the new digital reality. “Our team focuses on providing added value content over our channels and making sure our product experts feel comfortable and are effective at joining online conversations.
Sales teams forced to work from home supported engineers virtually by offering advice on social networks.”
And, Robert highlights, it’s not just the young ones who have taken this approach. “Our most successful person in this area has been with the company for over 25 years. He’s relished new technology and as an expert in his field, he’s worked with many engineers on product development after making contact via LinkedIn.”
Webinars have become one of the biggest new go-to points. “We ran online webinars prior to the pandemic, but it would just be a few per year. During 2021, our engineers
recognized that these were a great way to replace customer visits when groups of engineers would meet together, so 32
took place.” says Robert.
“There were a little under 3,000 registrations for last year’s live webinars and they are becoming increasingly popular. We ran a webinar for our Seal-Glide® coating and a training session in Chinese. For each of these alone we had between 400 and 500 attendees; those are truly impressive figures.”
With exhibitions and customer events cancelled, during lock downs there was a need for other ways of meeting and sharing ideas on a larger scale.
“For the last few years we have hosted virtual conferences for our customers within Europe that were well attended and valued. These allow us to interface on key issues, presenting our innovations to support novel product development. Our most recent virtual conference included 50 global speakers and panelists delivering sessions from 20 different locations.”
Our 2021 conference with the theme ‘The Future of Manufacturing’ focused on current technical trends and their impact on the transformation of manufacturing processes. This
event live streamed a series of 37 industry-focused, in-depth technical sessions.
Robert told us: “We checked out other companies that had tried to do this, and we wanted to do much better. So, we engaged a professional moderator and film team, involved
renowned guest speakers and Trelleborg experts, hosted the events in iconic venues, as well as incorporating some fun aspects such as live music and a cartoonist; trying to make the streaming experience represent attending the in-person event.
“Spaces for our physical conference were always limited.
Streaming it live meant that nearly 1,000 attendees took the advantage of being virtually present.”
When asked if things are returning to the way they were or if they ever will, Robert said it is unlikely. “There will always be the place for face-to-face meetings but with lessons learnt, digital is here to stay.”
Moving online
“Digital communications are not new,” says Robert Zahiri, who heads up global marketing communications. “If you look at the buyer’s journey, the earliest stages in making purchasing choices have progressively moved online. Engineers turn to search engines to find potential suppliers, browsing websites, reading about companies online or looking at reviews. That has become the norm.”
Generally, that research resulted in a visit from a sales engineer. When that could not happen, digital communications moved from the first stages of a buyer’s journey to its entire length, from initial contacts to the final purchase and beyond.
A digital presence
“This was a trend that we anticipated would happen; the situation last year just accelerated the process,” continues Robert. “Our focus in developing our digital presence is
obviously about making sure that we are heard in the online environment, but more importantly it’s about providing a service to make engineers’ lives easier.
“Over the last few years, we’ve invested heavily in an extensive selection of resources. These include calculators, selectors, convertors, material compatibility tools and technical whitepapers. Our renowned CAD service and sealing solutions configurator provide proven solutions with drawings that engineers can place into their designs. And for those new to sealing, we offer a wide choice of e-learnings, from basic lessons to more specialized tutorials. During 2020 and 2021, we saw substantial use of these offerings.”
Social media for all
Social media has also become a critical part of the new digital reality. “Our team focuses on providing added value content over our channels and making sure our product experts feel comfortable and are effective at joining online conversations.
Sales teams forced to work from home supported engineers virtually by offering advice on social networks.”
And, Robert highlights, it’s not just the young ones who have taken this approach. “Our most successful person in this area has been with the company for over 25 years. He’s relished new technology and as an expert in his field, he’s worked with many engineers on product development after making contact via LinkedIn.”
Successful webinars
Webinars have become one of the biggest new go-to points. “We ran online webinars prior to the pandemic, but it would just be a few per year. During 2021, our engineers
recognized that these were a great way to replace customer visits when groups of engineers would meet together, so 32
took place.” says Robert.
“There were a little under 3,000 registrations for last year’s live webinars and they are becoming increasingly popular. We ran a webinar for our Seal-Glide® coating and a training session in Chinese. For each of these alone we had between 400 and 500 attendees; those are truly impressive figures.”
With exhibitions and customer events cancelled, during lock downs there was a need for other ways of meeting and sharing ideas on a larger scale.
Virtual events
“For the last few years we have hosted virtual conferences for our customers within Europe that were well attended and valued. These allow us to interface on key issues, presenting our innovations to support novel product development. Our most recent virtual conference included 50 global speakers and panelists delivering sessions from 20 different locations.”
Our 2021 conference with the theme ‘The Future of Manufacturing’ focused on current technical trends and their impact on the transformation of manufacturing processes. This
event live streamed a series of 37 industry-focused, in-depth technical sessions.
Robert told us: “We checked out other companies that had tried to do this, and we wanted to do much better. So, we engaged a professional moderator and film team, involved
renowned guest speakers and Trelleborg experts, hosted the events in iconic venues, as well as incorporating some fun aspects such as live music and a cartoonist; trying to make the streaming experience represent attending the in-person event.
“Spaces for our physical conference were always limited.
Streaming it live meant that nearly 1,000 attendees took the advantage of being virtually present.”
Here to stay
When asked if things are returning to the way they were or if they ever will, Robert said it is unlikely. “There will always be the place for face-to-face meetings but with lessons learnt, digital is here to stay.”
ALL ACCESS
Trelleborg Sealing Solutions provides a multitude of online resources, free of charge.
Where to go? https://www.trelleborg.com/en/seals/resources