Equipment manufacturing (EM) plays a key role in the economy. EM companies’ products are almost too many to name. They make it possible to perform medical procedures, run automated distribution facilities, produce electronics and food, motor vehicles and rocket ships – and so much more. EM customers use these products to fuel their own success, whether it be by making, distributing, or servicing their own customers. As individuals and as companies, we all benefit when EMs do well and suffer when they don’t.
The traditional EM approach to selling and serving customers is relationship-based. Some of the most successful sales reps travel along with customers for many years. Much of the insight regarding these customers and their needs lives in the heads of long-term account reps and field service managers.
No matter how and where customers prefer to do business and interact with their EM, you can manage the entire engagement consistently in the CRM software. Invitations and records of past virtual meetings, phone conferences, and face-to-face meetings. Emails, instant messages, shared documents and contracts, photos and diagrams—you can attach all these things to a customer record and keep them easily accessible. Your customers might not know that you’ve brought a new set of tools into your business, but will anything at all change for them?
For one thing, communications from your company might be more timely. A response to a sales or service inquiry may arrive faster than before, because the equipment manufacturing company’s employees could act and coordinate their steps immediately instead of researching the account or waiting for somebody else do to so. Even promotions can be more meaningful and compelling, because it’s easier to incorporate known customer interests and plans into your marketing.
Sikich recommends Microsoft CRM solutions that we deploy and support, and which we can help you evolve as needs change. We use a proven, nondisruptive approach that follows your priorities for productive change.
CRM may be easy to use, but it’s still a complex software product. Technology providers can take missteps if they are not deeply familiar with their customers’ industry and business model or with CRM technology. Poorly planned and managed CRM projects can fail or may never deliver the benefits companies hope for. Some customers invest in technology that is too difficult to use. Or, they omit one key step—getting buy-in from sales leadership. In those situations, user adoption typically starts small and stays that way, eventually causing a CRM project to fizzle out.
After Paul lost his job selling specialty equipment for food manufacturers, he was glad to land at an equipment manufacturing business that makes automated production equipment for companies that manufacture soups and sauces. Paul’s new employer has customers and production facilities all across the country, but expects Paul to work from home.
In his previous job, Paul used spreadsheets to track his results and had a basic app to manage communications, meetings, and commitments with customers. When he invested the time to keep these tools updated, they worked for him, but as soon as he got busy or forgot to enter a detail immediately, errors crept in and some customers were left hanging when they expected a response.
Paul finds the account and reads the previous rep’s proposal and conversation notes. He feels that this customer is likely going to be open to a meeting to discuss next, best steps. He leaves a voicemail for the contact and follows up with an email.
Next, Paul reviews all active customers assigned to him. Several are planning equipment upgrades and new purchases. That means he can begin working with them, already well aware of their needs, budgets, and schedules. He realizes he will probably not have the painful income drop that he suffered in other companies as the newcomer in a sales role. The personnel change doesn’t interrupt the flow of business, and Paul can pick up where the former rep left off. He spends the rest of the day making calls, sending some more mail, and getting updates from customers, all of whom sound welcoming. A production manager says that he heard about a new ingredient-mixing tool the company is working on, and during the conversation Paul quickly accesses a SharePoint folder to share news about the product’s capabilities and ETA. The customer and Paul agree to meet next month so he can develop a proposal.
In the afternoon, the manager wants to know how things are going. Paul clicks on a button to create a summary of what he’s been working on, sends it to her, and they chat over Teams. He feels good about his first day at the new company—he can already show some results and feels at home in the new organization. Later that evening, Paul finds an encouraging response from the first customer he contacted and sets up a Teams meeting for the next day.
The EM’s VP of sales and distribution calls Doba and asks her for another opportunity to continue doing business together. He tells her that they have recently hired new account reps and upgraded their CRM technology. He is asking for six weeks to turn things around, and if the EM’s efforts don’t work out, he will help Doba transition to another supplier. She agrees to this without making any promises.
Next, Doba receives both an email and a call from Sean, her new rep. He knows that some dentists are asking for a particular handpiece design that the EM did not offer before, but the company now has a new product that could fit these requirements. He offers to ship a sample to Doba’s company or to any dentist who wants to try it. She is surprised and pleased that he is aware of the dentists’ request, and immediately thinks of one who would be happy to test the new handpiece.
Sean gives Doba leads of new dental practices that open in her region, which the previous EM rep never did. Soon, she notices that delivery lead times have shrunk. When she helps a dentist put an equipment order together, she can ask for delivery within ten days. This used to take as long as a month, and it was often difficult to schedule installation for a particular day. She can only assume that the EM now has a better feedback loop between sales and production, and that Sean has a more effective and accurate way of forecasting and planning.
Doba no longer feels that she’s doing business with a traditional EM, but with a customer-focused, highly motivated, fast-paced company. Before the six weeks’ trial is over, she tells Sean and his boss that she is looking forward to continue working with them.
Sometimes, Sikich has to help a client turn around a CRM project that is taking too long, runs over budget, isn’t delivering what the company expected, or meets with user resistance. In those situations, we often find that the EM’s previous technology partner allowed the effort to become too complicated. Just like we do in new projects, we follow your priorities and make sure the effort is contained and predictable.
Contact Debbie Altham, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing, at debbie.altham@sikich.com or (303)597-2471 to arrange for a demo or set up a free consultation.
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