How to sell 3D scanning and digital twins to clients: what 11 practitioners say

At a glance

Start from the client’s problem

Dylan Gorman of PilotByte opens every request for “a scan” with questions: what will you do with it, what value do you want out of it – a pretty model, measurements, centimetre accuracy tied to site control? The answer changes the pitch, the capture and the deliverable. Barry Bassnett asks “why” three or four times until the real problem appears, because without it a twin is a paperweight.

Kelly Watt’s order of questions: what is the business problem, who owns it, which human workflow becomes digital, and can the ROI be quantified. Zlata Karpushina of FJ Dynamics adds that the same technology means different things to architects, BIM teams and facility managers – serve everyone and you serve no one. And as Ben Williams of Exyn puts it, nobody buys a buzzword.

Sell the outcome, not the technology

Barry Bassnett’s pitch to a CEO is time: people lose a large share of their week looking for information, and cutting that hits the bottom line – so the product is time saved, not a twin. Dylan Gorman’s hangar client didn’t need technology at all, just the true floor area of each hangar to bill correctly.

Deliver it in a form people can use. Mehdi Boroumand says most clients hate raw point clouds and want clean 2D or 3D. Rami Tamimi’s trick for surveyor clients is to hand over the data in their own format and layers, so seamlessly they may not realise it came from a point cloud. Kelly Watt warns that a huge point cloud is too much for a field worker on a phone.

Tell it as a story – and keep it simple

Juraj Holub, a public speaking coach, says technical people stop sounding boring when they describe a real project: the problem, the search for a solution, the new reality. Don’t overestimate what the audience knows – spell out terms like Gaussian splatting and use an analogy. Zlata Karpushina describes the job as translating specifications into business value.

Dylan Gorman won a first contract by presenting a scan of the client’s own site in their boardroom – the whole office came in – and keeps winning by being simpler than competitors who overcomplicate. Filip Fejdi of WOOW Studio notes that buyers are often confused by the vocabulary itself: digital twin, VR tour, how it fits their systems.

Prove it

Cases sell. Dylan Gorman’s first stockpile report revealed that a contractor was misreporting the volume of dirt on site – and that client is still a client seven years later. Barry Bassnett’s paper mill tagged every grease point on a 360° tour after a missed greasing cost three months of production, and now wants it across its global network.

When nobody believes it, lower the risk: Igor Vereninov says Emlid sold its first receivers at INTERGEO with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Filip Fejdi says references from the buyer’s own market work best – developers move when competitors do – and Juraj Holub says the right customer story for a similar problem is what shows credibility.

Grow the account: one problem first

Kelly Watt “sells down”: solve the first problem with a smaller project, then the trajectory to do more follows – and service providers should build long-term programmes with their clients rather than one-off projects. Barry Bassnett’s advice is the same: solve one problem and the organisation will bring you the next ones.

Existing scans are a base for upsells. Nikhil Sawlani of MultiSet AI suggests offering navigation to clients you have already scanned, and Rami Tamimi suggests delivering what was ordered, then showing a Gaussian splat fly-through that may trigger the next job. Arek Szadkowski of Esri describes the same pattern with Gaussian splats: providers deliver them as an add-on extra to show extra value, and the positive feedback plants seeds for future orders.

Where to find clients

Dylan Gorman starts with existing relationships and goes where developers are – even town hall meetings where new developments are discussed – then offers to show a scan. Juraj Holub treats networking as a learnable skill with a one-line answer ready: we help X do Y by doing Z. Rami Tamimi says educational content builds trust before any sale.

Trade shows are the other channel. Olaf Freier, who organises INTERGEO (and so has a stake in it), says exhibitors need a clear goal – brand, product, thought leadership, leads or network – and argues face-to-face trust is worth more as AI makes screens harder to trust. Igor Vereninov found Emlid’s next product idea in a single booth conversation.

Mistakes to avoid

Zlata Karpushina calls the one-button promise one of the most dangerous in technology, because wrong expectations disappoint even with a good product. Barry Bassnett warns against pitching “we can do everything”, and Dylan Gorman never claims survey grade – deliverables are “for your reference only”, with licensed work going to surveyor partners.

Dylan Gorman also warns against tech for its own sake – LiDAR on a roof inspection “because LiDAR” – and against amateurs who leave a bad taste with clients. Kelly Watt adds the opposite risk: cheaper substitutes on jobs that need terrestrial scanning fail and get redone.

Questions

How do I sell 3D laser scanning services?

Start with the client’s problem, not the scanner: Dylan Gorman asks what the scan is for, Kelly Watt asks who owns the problem and whether ROI can be quantified, and Barry Bassnett asks “why” until the real problem appears.

How do you show the ROI of a digital twin?

Barry Bassnett sells time saved searching for information; Kelly Watt quantified the DFW airport twin with the airport’s financial controller and measured technicians’ wrench time.

What should I deliver to a client instead of a point cloud?

Per Mehdi Boroumand and Rami Tamimi: clean 2D or 3D models in the client’s own format and layers, plus a virtual tour – most clients get lost in a raw point cloud.

Are trade shows worth it for 3D companies?

Olaf Freier (INTERGEO organiser) says yes with a clear goal and preparation, and argues face-to-face trust matters more in the AI era; Igor Vereninov (Emlid) found key customer insights at the booth.