"Buying KSB products online should feel just as familiar as shopping on Amazon."
Shopping online like on Amazon or Zalando – except you are buying pumps, valves and spare parts? This has long become part of everyday life for KSB’s customers, enabled by Michelle Helf, Head of E-commerce at KSB. In our interview she explains how her team ensures maximum customer centricity, what role online trade will play for KSB in the future, and why the company will continue its direct exchange with customers also in the era of artificial intelligence.
Stream of Stories: Ms Helf, you are Head of E-commerce at KSB. How would you describe your task to a KSB customer in a single sentence?
Michelle Helf: We are here to deliver the best possible experience for customers visiting our web sites – which will entice them to shop online.
Short and to the point. What do you find so fascinating about digitalisation?
I have always found this to be an extremely exciting topic. I am particularly fascinated by the many opportunities for enhancements and optimisation. My career at KSB started in traditional marketing, where I worked on advertising with flyers, trade fairs and posters, for example. This is when I became aware of the many opportunities for development in digitalisation. As things move quickly in this field, we have to continuously keep learning in order for the company not to be left behind. I came to the decision that I could add some value by pursuing a specialist education in this field. This is why I completed a Master's degree in Digital Innovation and Business Transformation while continuing to work.
Your work is primarily focussed on MyKSB, KSB's e-commerce platform. Could I describe this to a customer as being similar to Amazon but for pumps, valves and spare parts?
Actually, MyKSB is not that different from Amazon – Our aim is to make the customers' experience of purchasing pumps, valves and spare parts as familiar as their private online shopping.
But MyKSB is much more than a web shop. It is a comprehensive self-service where customers can access information such as product details, prices, delivery times or their individual conditions at any time – also outside of office hours and without contacting sales staff. Our vision is: "MyKSB is the login that gets your job done."
This is why we continuously keep developing our platform. To give you an example: We are currently working on MyKSB for Service Partners – a dashboard displaying bundled information. This year we are updating our web site by creating a new state-of-the-art homepage and navigation system. This will make it more modern and attractive. Enhanced user navigation will help new customers find their way instantly.
The digitaliser: Michelle Helf
Michelle Helf is Head of E-commerce at KSB and has been with the company since 2014. She started her career in marketing, before developing a keen interest in digitalisation and completing a Master’s Degree in Business Innovation and Digital Transformation alongside her work. Today, she drives KSB's digital sales strategy. Outside of work, Michelle Helf finds balance in exercising. She enjoys everything from Pilates to strength training and spinning. Other passions of hers are music and drama: She can regularly be seen visiting Mannheim’s national theatre; once she has even been an extra in an opera production.
KSB is known for its highly specialised tailored manufacturing. Conversely, the products sold via MyKSB are mainly standard articles. As a customer, when should I order from the web shop – and when does it make more sense to choose a classic sales channel including consultation?
This depends strongly on what is needed in each individual case – and especially on the degree of customisation. For products with special requirements, such as specific fluids, colour requests or complex designs, contacting a sales person directly might be the better choice. The more complex a product, the more likely it is that specialist consultation is needed – and the less suitable a pure self-service process. MyKSB does offer customers the opportunity to configure pumps and valves to their requirements. However, not all customers have got the necessary specialist know-how or they prefer not to take on this responsibility.
For all repetitive, standardised products MyKSB is the ideal choice. As these products usually only differ in output or size they are easy to self-select and order. A typical group of customers using our web service are wholesalers, plant operators and service partners who regularly order repeat pumps, valves and spare parts. Consultants also frequently access our online service. They don't purchase pumps as such, but they download the BIM and CAD data needed for their planning work. MyKSB is more than just a web shop; it also serves to provide information.
What are the benefits of this sales channel for KSB?
Enabling our customers to order online increases our sales efficiency. Our sales targets are growing continuously, and the number of sales staff cannot grow at the same pace. We therefore have to create scalable processes.
An online purchase does not take up any sales resources during the order process: The customers look for what they need, add products to the shopping cart and submit the order. This does not cost the sales departments any time – which is a major benefit, especially for standard products or spare parts in the lower price range. It would be inefficient to have a staff member work for half an hour on an order whose revenue is no higher than a few euros.
What is important to me is that the personal contact must not be lost. E-commerce does not replace sales staff; it simply takes some of the load off them. For complex topics such as framework agreements direct communication will always remain crucial. The aim is a hybrid model that allows the sales staff to invest their time into truly important tasks.
The field you work in is characterised by its fast-paced development. How do you keep up to date?
Keeping my finger on the pulse has always been one of my ambitions. Because I work on these topics every day and am often in direct contact with our customers I find out about changes at a very early stage. All our major development steps are formed in dialogue with our customers – in this way we are automatically close to the market.
In addition, I keep researching and learning continuously. I also work with our external partners who develop our web site. These agencies add some fresh input from the tech scene and they make us aware of any new trends and opportunities. This helps us to regularly look beyond our own world and respond swiftly to any changes.
"We can already see sales processes being changed by AI.“
Michelle Helf
KSB’s web site is continuously being developed. How do you go about this?
We always focus on the customers. This can be noticed in the way we word requirements: We write about them as so-called user stories, describing the problem from the user’s point of view.
When we receive requests with new requirements from customers or from within the company, we always start by asking ourselves what exactly it is the customer would like to have solved. To do so, we look at the data and talk to customers in order to understand their actual needs. Depending on the scope, we begin by holding a requirements workshop. Then, a prototype is created – a clickable web site that is not live. We use this site to conduct user tests: Do the users understand the solution easily? Does it work in the way we wanted it to?
The next step is technical planning: What data sources are needed? What systems have to communicate with each other? What other considerations are there? Only then does the actual development start, followed by the go-live. We then monitor user numbers to see how well the new feature is received.
What role will e-commerce play at KSB in five years’ time?
My prognosis: It will become much more significant over the next few years. Even today, e-commerce is an integral part of our corporate strategy. The budget and capacities we are assigned illustrate that this topic is of major importance for the future of KSB.
I can still see a large potential to be tapped into: Even though we are already active with our web shop in countries that make up about 80 % of KSB's total sales revenue, many customers and countries still process their standard business the traditional way. This is where we can clearly move more towards e-commerce, provided it is a good fit.
Artificial intelligence is much talked about at the moment. How is AI going to change online sales?
Already today we can see sales processes changing – for instance by AI-supported assistants such as the OpenAI Operator that can take on research tasks, plan trips or place orders. These developments will eventually also reach B2B – at the latest when the generation growing up with TikTok and AI enters the workforce.
Users will then prompt AI directly with their requirements: "I am planning a project, find me the right pump." This is something we have to be ready for. It’s an enormously dynamic development – and this is exactly why we have to extend our e-commerce strategically, making sure we are still meeting our customers’ expectations in five years’ time.
Does this mean KSB might only be an anonymous web interface with an input screen in a few years’ time?
Not at all! We are never going to become an anonymous online system: Our customers’ requirements are far too specific and individualised. Personal interaction and direct, human-to-human consultation will always remain integral to our business model.
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