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Flex Talk: A Glimpse into PCB Sales

What do you wish PCB salespeople did that they currently don’t do, or don’t do well?

From PCB Users:

• Advocate for annual cost savings on    behalf of the customer. This would foster trust and repeat business.
• Understand our systems and market pressures outside of ordering the PCB. There are a lot of different considerations and decisions made that may not be apparent to the PCB manufacturer but    are critical to us.
• Proactivity. Offer suggestions for cost or lead-time reductions. We are not the experts in PCB design and would be interested in how we can improve.
• Provide the very best price the first time, especially with larger programs. Don’t come back with reduced pricing after I give you feedback. That wastes time and resources for both of us.

To recap: Detailed knowledge of customer’s business and proactively advocate for your customer’s best interest.

From PCB Manufacturers:

• Ask for the PO and know how to sell value, not just on price!
• Stop relying on price to differentiate and win the order
• Close more business in a timely manner
• Identify customers that find value in the quality, customer services, and fast response that we offer rather than sell on price.

To recap: Differentiate the manufacturer’s offering so the comparable factor between offers is not price alone. Interestingly, this is like the message above also: Advocate for value of the manufacturer’s strengths with your customers.

Summarizing the feedback from both customers and manufacturers, the most successful PCB salespeople are organized, take a genuine interest in their customers’ needs and business challenges, have a better than average understanding of the PCB industry, fully understand the manufacturer’s strengths and capabilities and advocate for both to find the best solution. There is room for improvement by being more proactive in solving your customers’ challenges and in understanding the differentiating value of the manufacturer to sell on total value rather than price.

My closing thought is that it truly is difficult to reach a comprehensive level of understanding of both the customer’s needs and the needs of PCB manufacturing. The information that is easily obtained is often just skimming the surface of the full picture. Salespeople continuously search out opportunities to interact with their customers outside of the conference room. Those relaxed conversations often offer the best glimpses into what people really need from their salesperson. There is no roadmap to use; every customer has different needs. If you attend an IPC show, SMTA expo, IPC Designers Council meeting or even Geek-A-Palooza, there is no shortage of salespeople trying to increase their technical knowledge while getting to know others. I strongly encourage PCB users and PCB manufacturers to do the same. The more we all know about each other’s needs, the stronger the relationships will be for everyone.  

Tara Dunn is the president of Omni PCB. To contact Dunn, or read past columns, click here. 

Editor's Note: This column originally appeared in the December 2016 issue of The PCB Magazine.

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