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If you’ve ever heard of a product and thought about how it would work in your life, that’s the result of marketing. It’s a subtle yet powerful force in how business operates today. For the February 2024 issue of SMT007 Magazine, we gathered some of the most widely recognized authorities on marketing and selling electronics manufacturing services. They explain the sales and marketing process and what it takes to be successful in today’s competitive climate—whether you’re on the giving or receiving end.
How much thought do you give to your selling and marketing process? Who is doing it for you? The rep or maybe the applications engineer? Use this roundtable as a starting point for a deeper discussion with your own team about boosting your efforts, and your bottom line.
Barry Matties: Everyone, it’s great to be here with you as we talk about marketing—something that can be easily overlooked in running a business. Let’s start with Dan Beaulieu. You’ve worked for many years in marketing and selling. What advice do you have for your customers?
Dan Beaulieu: I tell them that you have to be known. No matter what you build, get your name out there. But it’s a building process, so be patient. We've all heard about the client who places three ads and then says, “Nothing happened.” But what’s happening is you are making people aware of what you do and why you do it better. That’s what leads to more customers.
Matties: How do you define the sales process and how do you get people to follow it?
Beaulieu: First, you warm up your leads. That’s the marketing part of it. You do some content marketing, like a book with I-Connect007, newsletters, tech bulletins, and posts on social media. The salesperson can take comfort that it’s not a cold call because it has been “warmed up” through marketing. Your book program, I would say, creates some pretty hot leads.
The next part is the reach out. I’m finding that people hate to pick up the phone and talk to a potential customer, but that’s what sales is. As we do great marketing, we also have to train the salesperson. For example, say we do a lead generation project and then give those names to the salesperson, who comes back to us and complains that we didn’t give them any phone numbers. I want to say, “Well, why don't we make the call and eliminate your part altogether? It seems we’re doing everything else anyway.”
To read this entire conversation, which appeared in the February 2024 issue of SMT007 Magazine, click here.
