Component manufacturers: why can’t your salespeople find new customers?

Are your salespeople finding it increasingly difficult to find new customers?

It’s normal.

The behavior and expectations of industrial buyers have changed dramatically.

Today, to prospect effectively for customers in the industrial sector you need to modernize your marketing and sales strategy.

In this article I explain in a few points the key elements to find new customers.

The expectations of today’s industrial buyers

It is a simple fact that buyers in the industrial sector are increasingly connected and autonomous in their purchasing process.

Industrial buyers have all the information they need to make their decisions at their fingertips.

They no longer expect your salespeople to actively sell them components.

You are aware that industrial buyers want component manufacturers to make things as easy as possible for them.

So, to prospect effectively in the industrial sector, salespeople must actually help buyers and provide them with value.

They are busy people and they want to think about their purchases on their own, and at their own pace.

Salespeople need to respect this in order to prospect effectively in industry.

It is essential to guide buyers during their thought process and to call them at the right time.

Cold calling techniques are seen as too intrusive (and worthless) by industrial buyers!

If your salespeople are having difficulty finding new prospects, it is probably because they are not meeting the expectations of today’s buyers.

Component manufacturers: it is time to modernize your marketing and sales strategy!

Since the way people make purchases in industry has changed, it is crucial that you modernize the way you sell.

To do this, it is essential that component manufacturers place their website at the center of their marketing and sales strategy.

The majority of decision-makers in industry start their purchasing process using a search engine.

So, your website must enable you to attract their attention and convert them into leads.

This will help your salespeople save valuable time that they can devote to converting the most qualified and mature prospects through a fully personalized and contextualized approach.

Only by doing this will they meet the expectations of industrial buyers.

If your salespeople are unable to find new customers in industry today, it is probably because your online presence is not optimized.

The paper version of your component catalog does not help

It can be a good thing to leave a paper version of your catalog after a sales meeting, but if you do not provide access to an online catalog, you will leave the meeting with a serious handicap.

As we already mentioned, buyers expect you to make their lives (and indirectly the lives of their customers) easier.

Since most machine design studies are now done in 3D, this inevitably involves making your 3D models available, ideally in all the CAD formats that the buyers may need.

86% of components downloaded from the Internet end up being purchased!

Is your component catalog not available online?

This certainly explains why your salespeople are having problems finding new prospects (and therefore customers) in industry.