It's time to get serious about marketing and sales.
The impact of the recession seems to have served as a wake-up call for manufacturing leaders who for so long have deployed the few-company/limited-industry approach to growing their businesses. They tell me that they are actually thinking about what it will take to diversify and spread the risk among more than just one key customer.
Diversifying – truly diversifying – is not something that will come without some measure of initial pain. At a minimum, the surge in diversifying companies floods markets with new competitors who have capabilities, services and approaches to relationship management that have often been neglected by the market leaders.
So, what do you, as an industry leader, need to consider as your competitive landscape grows? Here are a few considerations:
Are you a leader in innovation or just revenues?
You will not maintain market leadership if you do not evolve. You have to frequently assess your customers’ needs and pro-actively address them. Learn to ask questions and minimize assumptions. If you don't, new competition with fresh eyes to the industry will bring innovations to your customers and make your products and services irrelevant.
Is communication a priority?
Most small and mid-sized manufacturers don’t have a sales and marketing infrastructure. They’ve never needed them. But, sales and marketing is a critical function in every business, especially today. Long-term relationships based on common values and a handshake are rare. It is critical that you recreate the way you communicate with your customers and prospects, especially those who you've worked with for years. Consider the messages and medium used, and frequency at which your sales and customer service staff represent your company. Are the messages consistent? Different from that of your competitors? Customer-focused? Where do your prospects seek industry expertise and how do they prefer to communicate? Take the time to formalize, observe and measure your sales and marketing processes to promote effective communication. The good news: because of technology, there are many ways to cost-effectively reach and influence customers and prospects without significant expense.
Who in your prospect's companies really buys your products or services?
Refocus your relationships on those people in the company that make the decision to buy. In many larger OEM companies, that's not the one who requests the quote or issues the purchase order. Whose life is made easier by the product or service you provide? Who needs it to be on-time, defect-free or engineered with a customer in mind? Be sure you are building relationships with that person. Don't neglect the needs of a buyer, but build relationships with the one who creates the buying requirements!
The bottom-line...don't take customer relationships for granted. Regularly re-position your company to be set apart, different, better from today's competitors, and tomorrows.
Ask Rachel Rockhold for advice and feedback. Call Rachel at 309-677-3497.
