© Small Business Marketing Solutions ~ White Paper Number 0006 ~ Dave Duncan ~ 2008

Marketing a Manufacturing Services Company...

Many small to medium sized manufacturing service companies such as machine shops, sheet metal fabricators, plastic injection molders, platers, painters or electronic assemblers have little or no idea on how to market themselves to gain new opportunities. How do you find new customers? How do you get them to look at your organization? How do you set your self out from your competitors?

 

It is a tough statement, but use a little common sense. You need to look at different industries and see which ones are using your services. As an example, when you went into that casino and saw the sheetmetal enclosure around the slot machine, did you look at it closely? Could you make it? The gaming industry is huge and buys a lot of sheetmetal parts, machined parts, plastic molded parts and electronic assemblies. Next you ask yourself, why would they want to buy from my company? Maybe you make enclosures very similar to the slot machine for the medical industry. Maybe you offer special coating capabilities that you see on the slot machine. Can you make it for less? With better quality? With faster delivery?

 

All marketing is about is identifying opportunities and presenting yourself as capable of supporting needs for customers. You have heard the term, "Branding". It means that when someone thinks about machining something, they automatically think about your company. How can you get them to do that? You have to market to them and brand yourself. Marketing is not only done to prospects for new business, you have to constantly market to your existing customers and make that brand register with them also. Not only for new business within their company, but for referrals they will give you to other companies. Everyone wants their supplier to stay in business; it is in their best interest to help you.

 

You need to convince customers and prospects that you can service their needs. The confidence that you build with them gives them the confidence to do business with you. If they trust you, they will take that chance with their management to present you as a potential vendor. If they don't feel comfortable with you, they are not going to risk their job on doing business with you.

 

Your best bet in this situation is to find a marketing company that can assist you in finding the markets and solicit the ones with whom you are qualified to do business. The marketing company will work to brand your company and open markets, but you will still need to take the opportunities when they arrive and make sure you are ready to take advantage of them. Opportunity only knocks once. You need to work closely with a marketing company to make sure that the opportunities are taken by your sales staff and turned into customers.

 

Choose your marketing company carefully. Do they understand your business? Can they identify markets for you in which you can participate? How will they contact prospects on your behalf? How will they "Brand" your company? Are they in the mainstream of electronic marketing? Do they present a common sense approach or just Fluff?

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