Staying—and Excelling—in Their Lane

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Michael Seltzer, chief commercial officer at Zentech Manufacturing, helps define his company’s niche and why it has mattered to them over nearly three decades. Should a company shift with the markets or stay true to its mission? Find out how Michael has helped the company truly understand its vision.

Nolan Johnson: Michael, you've done good work in identifying, maintaining, or developing your service niche at Zentech. How would you define it?

Michael Seltzer: High reliability. One of my colleagues says, “Listen, if anybody can do it, then the job is not for us.” If the work we do doesn't add a lot of value, if you can get it from anybody else, then you don't need us.

Zentech was established 27 years ago, and this has been the core of who we are. We haven't changed; we've stayed focused on our niche. It’s exciting because it’s the core of who we are. When we stay true to it, everything else seems to fall into place. Your business plan is clear, your pursuits are clear. Business becomes a bit simpler. We don't change with the economy or the wind. It puts everything else in perspective.

When you understand who you are and what you want to be, you're not arguing over the business plan, or revisiting or changing that plan. You’re not trying to figure out why you’re pursuing specific opportunities; everyone is aligned.

The culture that you set becomes as clear as your business pursuits. The training and education that you need to support your niche are clear. You can focus on the business instead of fixating on those existential questions, like what you want to be when you grow up.

Johnson: How do you define your niche? What are some of the traits and attributes that you include in defining your niche?

Seltzer: There are several things. First, it’s the people. At the core of our pursuit is understanding what training we need to offer. What competencies do we need to deliver the highest quality product to customers who support our segments?

After we get the attributes of the people in the training, we consider the attributes of the customers that support the market segments that we're interested in. Then, what business metrics support those? Within each segment or business pursuit, the measurements of success will be different.

To read the entire interview, which originally appeared in the July 2025 SMT007 Magazine, click here.