Executive Summary

SENNEBOGEN, a global manufacturer of material handling equipment, faced a complex growth challenge: launching a disruptive new product into a North American market where no category demand existed – while simultaneously shifting from a dealer-led sales model to a direct-to-customer approach.

To support this shift, digitalJ2 partnered with SENNEBOGEN to design and implement a scalable revenue infrastructure powered by HubSpot. The focus was not on isolated campaigns, but on building the systems, processes, and data visibility required to support long-term growth.

The result: within one year, SENNEBOGEN generated $9.3M in new revenue, sold 17 of 18 available machines, and established a direct revenue engine capable of supporting future market expansion.

About SENNEBOGEN

Founded in Germany and established in North America in 2000, SENNEBOGEN is a leading manufacturer of material handling equipment serving recycling, scrap metal, demolition, port operations, waste management, and urban forestry industries.

SENNEBOGEN is known for engineering innovation, safety-first design, and long-term equipment reliability values that would become critical in its expansion into the urban tree service market.

The Business Challenge

Launching a New Product in a New Market

SENNEBOGEN set out to introduce the SENNEBOGEN 718 Tree Handler to the North American tree service industry – a market that had never seen equipment of this kind.

This presented several compounding challenges:

• No category awareness: Prospects were not searching for this type of equipment.
• Low brand recognition: SENNEBOGEN was largely unknown within the tree service industry.
• High purchase consideration: The machine represented a significant capital investment.
• No direct sales infrastructure: Historically, SENNEBOGEN sold exclusively through dealer networks.

To succeed, SENNEBOGEN needed more than marketing execution – it needed a direct revenue system capable of educating the market, capturing demand, aligning sales follow-up, and measuring results end to end.

The Strategic Shift: Building a Direct Revenue Engine

SENNEBOGEN made a pivotal strategic decision: before scaling demand, it would first build the infrastructure required to support direct sales and long-term growth.

This meant:

• Centralizing customer and prospect data
• Creating clear lifecycle stages and handoffs
• Aligning marketing and sales around shared metrics
• Implementing a CRM that could support a complex, long sales cycle

HubSpot was selected as the foundation for this new revenue engine.

The Revenue Infrastructure Solution

HubSpot CRM Implementation for Manufacturing

DigitalJ2 partnered with SENNEBOGEN to implement HubSpot as a unified system of record for marketing and sales.

Key components included:

• CRM architecture design: Custom deal stages, properties, and pipelines aligned to manufacturing sales cycles
• Lifecycle stage definitions: From first touch to closed-won revenue
• Sales enablement workflows: Ensuring timely, consistent follow-up
• Full-funnel reporting: Visibility from marketing engagement through closed deals

This infrastructure enabled SENNEBOGEN to move from fragmented data to a single, actionable revenue view.

Marketing and Sales Alignment

A critical success factor was aligning marketing and sales teams around shared goals and processes.

This alignment included:

• Clear definitions of marketing-qualified and sales-qualified leads
• Agreed-upon follow-up expectations
• Feedback loops from sales back to marketing
• Shared dashboards tracking pipeline performance and revenue impact

With HubSpot as the central platform, both teams operated from the same data – eliminating blind spots and dropped opportunities.

Enabling Demand Creation in a Zero-Search Market

Because there was no existing search demand for this type of equipment, SENNEBOGEN focused on market education rather than lead harvesting.

Once the revenue infrastructure was in place, SENNEBOGEN could support:

• Educational content explaining new use cases
• Video assets demonstrating real-world applications
• Event-based demand generation through live demos
• Retargeting and nurturing aligned to buyer readiness

Importantly, these activities were enabled by the system, not dependent on manual coordination.

Sales Enablement and Customer Experience

To reduce purchase friction and support customer success post-sale, SENNEBOGEN introduced an innovative concept: Growth Kits.

Each purchaser of the SENNEBOGEN 718 received a complimentary growth enablement package designed to help them generate demand for their new equipment.

This initiative:

• Addressed common sales objections
• Increased customer confidence
• Reinforced SENNEBOGEN’s role as a long-term growth partner

From a systems perspective, this closed the loop between marketing, sales, and customer success.

Results

Within the first year of launching the new revenue engine:

• $9.3M in new revenue generated
• 17 of 18 machines sold
• Strong brand recognition established in a new industry
• A direct customer communication channel created
• A scalable HubSpot-powered infrastructure in place for future growth

Why This Case Study Matters for Manufacturing Leaders

This case study demonstrates that successful manufacturing growth requires more than campaigns – it requires revenue infrastructure.

Manufacturers facing long sales cycles, complex buying committees, and new market entry can benefit from:

• A centralized CRM
• Clear lifecycle definitions
• Marketing and sales alignment
• Data-driven visibility across the funnel

SENNEBOGEN’s success shows what’s possible when technology, process, and strategy work together.


About digitalJ2

digitalJ2 helps manufacturing and industrial companies design and implement scalable revenue systems using HubSpot. Our focus is on building the infrastructure that enables long-term growth – not just short-term wins.