How to become a partner in your customer's success

In today’s manufacturing market, the transition toward servitization and recurring revenue models involves a cultural and organizational challenge that is often underestimated: you cannot sell "outcomes" while continuing to manage service in a purely reactive way.

Every time a machine stops, your value proposition to the customer risks losing credibility. In fact, the invisible cost of this loss of trust is often much higher than the expense of a single technical intervention.

In this edition, we refocus on the customer and on building long-term relationships. In our latest article, we explore how the role of the Customer Success Manager in B2B can make a difference throughout the entire product lifecycle. This strategic vision was also a core topic in our recent Expert Talks episode with Szilárd Halász, who explains why proactivity is the key to maintaining solid customer partnerships.

Customer Success: standing by your customers for their success

Servitization is often reduced to new sales models, such as leasing or pay-per-use. However, there is a cultural obstacle that many overlook: you cannot sell “outcomes” if your organization is structured only to react to breakdowns.

In our latest article, we look closer at how to shift this approach, analyzing:

• The role of the Customer Success Manager in the manufacturing market.
• The three key moments along the product lifecycle where this role becomes essential to drive the adoption of value-added services and secure customer loyalty.
• How to build a successful team guided by clear, measurable KPIs.

Read the article

Expert Talks with Szilárd Halász: Customer Success as a strategic B2B lever

In manufacturing, many still operate under a purely commercial logic: the sales network offers what is available in the warehouse, and customer service only steps in when a machine has already stopped. This purely reactive approach erodes margins for both the manufacturer and their customers.

In one of our latest Expert Talks episodes, we discussed this issue with Szilárd Halász, a manager with over 20 years of experience in organizations like Electrolux Professional and Riello. In the transition toward servitization (where the business model shifts from selling hardware to recurring, service-based cash flows) financial risk moves to the manufacturer. This is precisely where the role of the Customer Success Manager becomes necessary.

The key, according to Szilárd, lies in integrating IoT data, predictive maintenance, and a partner ecosystem to support customers in using equipment optimally throughout its entire lifecycle. Key highlights from the interview include:

• Preventing downtime: Online monitoring of machine performance and work cycles drastically reduces the Total Cost of Ownership for the end customer (Things5 Connect was built exactly for this).
• Retaining partners to protect margins: Partners choose original spare parts if the manufacturer guarantees accessible documentation and fast technical support (Things5 Support gives technicians 24/7 direct access to manuals, troubleshooting procedures, and alarms).
• Strategic value: Customer Success is the tool to anticipate market needs and plan production effectively.

Watch the full episode on YouTube to discover how to rethink your after-sales strategy in the data era.

Connected commercial kitchens: a single, integrated ecosystem is possible

Recently, during a webinar held in collaboration with APPLiA and EFCEM Italia on connected commercial kitchens, we reflected on why massive investments in IoT and proprietary clouds have often yielded lower-than-expected returns. This approach has left users stranded in a labyrinth of siloed applications that do not talk to each other.

Instead of simplifying operations, this technology has ironically pushed operators to disconnect their machines, as it became an obstacle to daily kitchen workflows.

Together with EFCEM Italia, we mapped out a completely different scenario, putting kitchen operational processes back at the center. Key insights from the webinar include:

• Open ecosystem: Real value is created when machines communicate within an horizontal ecosystem that can be accessed from a single touchpoint, even across different brands.
• Regulatory push: The Data Act, ESPR, and the Machinery Regulation will make data accessibility and exportability a legal requirement. Anticipating this shift today means gaining a strong competitive advantage.
• Generative AI is already part of daily life: Operators expect natural interactions and simplicity when managing their equipment as well.
• Leverage existing assets: There is no need to replace hardware to be AI-ready. You can enable artificial intelligence on your currently installed base without touching the firmware.

At Things5, we tackle this challenge every day: we help manufacturers build ecosystems where technology empowers people and transforms data into a shared asset, rather than an isolated resource.