PROJECT DETAILS
REFERENCES / AUCOTEC
PORTFOLIO / AUCOTEC
LOCATION
Germany, Europe
GROUP SIZE
21 participants
DURATION
4 weeks
AUCOTEC AG
AUCOTEC AG develops engineering software for the entire life cycle of machines, plants, and mobile systems – with more than 35 years of experience. Their solutions range from flow diagrams to control and electrical engineering in largescale plants, to modular wiring systems in the automotive industry. AUCOTEC software is used worldwide. AUCOTEC AG commissioned FRANSCHA to give 21 employees an in-depth introduction to social selling in a workshop series with a total of four live coaching sessions.
Hanna Schreier is Online Marketing Manager at AUCOTEC. She supports the team in social selling and plans the company's social media strategy , with a good eye for detail.
Hanna Schreier,
Online marketing manager
How would you describe your current interaction with LinkedIn after our social
selling training?
As a current snapshot: I observe a lot and have also seen great developments amongst my colleagues across the company. From a marketing perspective, we try to develop new ideas and understand the target group even better. It's a lot of fun to develop new strategies and actually see the results.
What were the motivations for AUCOTEC to have your sales and marketing teams
trained in social selling?
We were looking for a way to address our target groups faster and more specifically, in a new approach. The path to social selling was obvious. For many colleagues, this was already a familiar concept, while others felt more insecure about the topic. For us as a company, it was clear that we didn't want to just go ahead and proceed without guidance. We wanted to call in professional support right from the start, which would introduce us to social selling in a targeted and effective way.
Why has marketing turned to social selling now?
Over the past few months, our marketing team has grown, allowing us to further expand our social media activities. The next logical step was to position ourselves even better than before in order to increase attention, increase reach and gain more followers. This also brought up the topic of social selling, which I am now working on intensively.
What were findings in the workshops or after the workshop series?
Success in social selling doesn't always come immediately from networking or a single post. It requires work and is more of a marathon than a sprint. Quite simply, it’s important to be consistent, keep your eyes on the goal, and adjust your strategy accordingly.
Workshop Social Selling by FRANSCHA for AUCOTEC.
Was there a moment that was a highlight for you personally?
Each session had highlights. In the second session, a participant shared that he was able to make an appointment through his LinkedIn activity that he wouldn't have been able to get otherwise. As a result, there was a big "aha" moment here. It was also great to see that the participants had no fear of embracing the new topic. The team supported each other and also gave each other tips afterwards.
Were we able to keep the participants engaged?
The workshops were very interactive thanks to the FRANSCHA team – and our team took the opportunity to immediately implement what they learned. The training still has a reverberating effect now, even after the workshop series has ended. The participants are still eager to learn. Everyone is now at a similar level of knowledge and truly embracing Social Selling.
We also tested Social Selling with a small group first to see if the topic would be embraced by our team. And it was. The next step is to expand the social selling team.
How did you perceive the training compared to other trainings?
Your coaching sessions were the first virtual training sessions I had participated in. Originally, the workshop series was due to be a one-day workshop on site, but circumstances due to the pandemic forced us to rethink. We decided to spread the content over a total of four. days. The sessions were short and intensive; during the breaks, the participants were able to apply what they had learned. This created a greater learning effect. Besides, everyone could participate regardless of location.
Your coaching was not a lecture in the sense of one-sided communication, but you strongly respond to the participants, involve them, gave individual tips, and personalized the sessions (profile checks of the participants and application of industry knowledge). That was really great!
Were there concrete results and successes after the training? Did the workshops
fulfill your intention to provide new impulses?
Absolutely. A lot of new food for thought was imparted, and our participants soaked it up like a sponge. Everyone can find, define and build their own personal brand, and the company then benefits from this as well. All in all, our hopes and expectations were exceeded. Now it is time to develop smaller groups and individual training from this: Who has what needs that can be supported or covered from marketing, for example? After all, social selling thrives on the individual contributions of employees – this is how they and the company become close, trust is built up, and it's all about personality and not just technical contributions. We can learn a lot from each other here.
Looking to the future: What's next for you? What are the next steps?
Keep at it! We will ensure that social selling remains present and is actively lived. In addition, we want to address and solve the individual questions of the participants. To this end, we have already held a barcamp in which we clarified the challenges and how we can help the employees. The participants also helped each other in this barcamp. Here it is important to stay on the ball, to motivate and to approach the topic strategically.
How do we continue individually and with the AUCOTEC brand? What can we deduce and how can we integrate the topic into everyday work? If we talk again in a year's time – What would be the desired scenario for AUCOTEC in the field of social selling?
If we talk again in a year's time – What would be the desired scenario for AUCOTEC in the field of social selling?
The goal is for team members to establish themselves as experts in their fields in the various channels – and thus build a profitable network with unique profiles and value-added contributions.
Any last tips you can give?
Just give it a try! You as Team FRANSCHA are a very professional contact for
the topic and do your job really great!