Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on March 11, 2010

The February, 2010 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business^® states that both manufacturing and the economy have grown over the past several months. This is good news and we’ll take it! Although it is definitely not “business as usual” there are opportunities out there if you do your homework and find out what your target markets need right now.

According to the most recent report, “machinery” manufacturers report that the current economy has had a negative impact on capital sales, which seems to indicate plants are holding off buying new equipment and instead getting old machinery fixed or refurbished. This appears to be the case as the “fabricated metal products” industry reported first quarter orders are up as compared to prior two years.

The following industries reported growth in orders: Plastics & Rubber Products; Machinery; Paper Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Printing & Related Support Activities; Transportation Equipment; Fabricated Metal Products; Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components; and Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products.

As indicated by the statement made by the “transportation equipment” industry, orders are not across the board but depend on “division, plant and market served.” This is most likely true for many industries. In order to get leads into the pipeline and sales on the board, it is important to take a really close look at the current buying behaviors of your target groups. You will most likely have to create an entirely new profile for these groups if you expect to market and sell to them effectively.

I say it over and over again because it is true. When you want to learn something about the buyers and sourcing professionals you are targeting, ask them. Send out a survey. Write a personalized email. Uncover their pain and make sure you can offer a targeted, viable solution that not only eases their pain but helps them to grow too.

This is the time to be innovative in all aspects of how you serve your customers. Whether it’s a creative financing offer, lease offer, a new product, or special services, uncover what your existing and potential customers really need and let them know you understand exactly how to fulfill those needs without compromising quality.

Category: Sales, industrial marketing, manufacturing, mobile web marketing, online marketing | No Comments »
Tags: industrial marketing, ISM manufacturing report on business, lead generation, manufacturing, sales presentations

Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on March 9, 2010

If you haven’t signed up to become a seller member in Industrial Web Search now’s a great time to get started. A recent upgrade to the industrial search engine means seller members can take advantage of new features at the enhanced and premium membership levels.

Even at the basic membership level, designed to get targeted industrial and commercial buyers to contact relevant seller members, Industrial Web Search offers sellers the opportunity to control the way in which they reach out to their targeted buyer groups. Unlike legacy category search, which was modeled after print catalogs, Industrial Web Search does not allow its members to buy their way to the top of a given category, making the service effective and affordable for companies with limited marketing budgets. Instead seller members use tags, which are keywords and phrases they carefully select, to identify the products and services they represent.  This method ensures a more accurate match between buyer and seller because each one is able to clearly identify himself to the other through commonality of language. No more guessing and wading through pages of irrelevant results.

The enhanced and premium levels offer more content and presentation control to member sellers in the Company Profile area. Once a buyer-user has completed his search and clicks on a link to visit a company profile, he can further learn whether he has found a seller whom he wishes to contact. At the “Enhanced” membership level, some of the additional features include the option to attach an RFQ form and a photo gallery that holds up to four images. The “Premium Level” is almost like a micro-site, providing an integrated WYSIWYG html editor to control style, background, links, information for multiple locations, and even has an FTP link option to facilitate the download of large files containing project proposal information from interested buyers. The photo gallery at the “Premium Level” is also far more robust, allowing for multiple albums and images.

For those who are just interested in managing costs and having some control over their online marketing, the “Basic” membership level offers plenty. The Company Profile page at all membership levels includes a company profile summary, at least one link to the seller member’s website home page, downloadable vCard, active email and call links for one-click communications, integrated Google map, active link to their .tel domain, and even the ability to send the profile page to a colleague. Basic level memberships start at less than $400 for a full year’s membership. Great value for the money!!

Category: Technology, industrial marketing, industrial search engines, mobile web marketing, online marketing, search | No Comments »
Tags: industrial search, industrial web search, internet marketing, mobile marketing, online marketing

Posted By Industrial Web Solutions Marketing Team on March 4, 2010

Industrial and commercial businesses are not the same buyers they once were. The troubles brought on by the recent economic downturn have made them cautious and battle-weary. The rules of the game have changed and it no longer feels like “business as usual.”

Now more than ever companies need reassurance that they are making the right choice.  Controlled by their fears – fear of making a bad decision, fear of losing their job, fear of insufficient return on investment – buyers and sourcing professionals appear to be stuck between the ‘research’ and ‘consideration and comparison’ stages of the traditional industrial buying cycle.

As an industrial or commercial seller, if you want to be successful in your sale today, you must understand not just the practical needs of your targeted buyer groups but the inner workings of their psyche in order to learn how to effectively help them manage their fears. Your job becomes more complicated because now you have to play psychologist and determine what information they need in order to feel safe. To succeed, you must move your targeted audience from a feeling of “too much risk” to one of “manageable risk.”

So how do you do that? Ask them what’s holding up their decision. Let them know you understand their current challenges and you want to help them reach their goals successfully. Ask them to relate to you why they are apprehensive and how they imagine the outcome will be. You will most likely learn pretty quickly why they are stalling. Armed with this information either you can gather the information they need to help them feel safe or, depending on the nature of the response, abandon the sale for the time being.

The more you can learn about your client’s present state of mind, the greater your chances are of presenting him with the information he needs to be convinced that he is making the right decision by selecting to do business with you.

Category: Sales, industrial marketing, manufacturing | 1 Comment »
Tags: customer behavior, industrial buyer, industrial buying cycle, industrial marketing, sales presentations, selling