Is Your Manufacturing & Engineering Sales Strategy Working? The Past & Future 

It’s hard to overstate the importance of an advanced manufacturing or engineering sales strategy. With products and solutions that are often complex, you must have a strategy to engage your target audience and, ideally, make things simple. 

In this article, we’ll look at the past and future of sales strategies in manufacturing and engineering. Read on to find out if your strategy is working. 

The manufacturing & engineering sales strategy of the past 

Let’s start by defining what sales strategies looked like for manufacturers and engineers in the past. There are several common themes: 

1. Interacting face to face – Sales reps would spend most of their time meeting with clients in person, building relationships and moving gradually closer to a conversion from interest to action. 

2. Communicating by phone and email – Between physical interactions, phone calls and emails (or even fax and physical post) were the standard method of communication to follow up, keep in touch and arrange further meetings. 

3. Relying on print and paper – So much of the traditional sales strategy relied on printed media and paper documents. Invoices, orders and client details were recorded on paper, making them prone to data loss and errors. Additionally, product information would be communicated via brochures and other printed documents. 

4. Traditional presentations – Field sales reps still rely on printed brochures, PDFs and PowerPoint when presenting and pitching to customers. However, these resources are often inefficient and rigid, limiting sellers to linear conversations that are much harder to personalize and can run the risk of damaging your brand with inconsistent and out-of-date messaging. Above all, it’s not what modern customers expect when there are far superior alternatives available.   

Pros of the traditional approach 

But, before dismissing this as an outdated sales strategy, let’s consider the positives. 

Minimal disruption 😴 

Manufacturers and engineers have operated this way for decades, so continuing with these methods will minimize disruption. There’s no need to adapt to new ways of working or onboard new technology, which may seem like the easiest option. 

Lower up-front costs 💵 

Similarly, there’s no additional cost involved if you stick to what you’re used to. That said, the cost of new technology is often canceled out by the money businesses make after investing in it, which is where we move onto the cons of the traditional approach… 

Cons of the traditional approach 

Unfortunately, behind that silver lining is a big cloud with the cons far outweighing the pros… 

Difficulty selling complex solutions 🤔 

Compared to other businesses, manufacturers and engineers often have to explain more complex products and solutions to potential customers. This can be difficult when you’re reliant on paper, phones and physical meetings with no additional sales tools at your disposal. 

For example, Citrix was struggling to help customers grasp the complexities, challenges and risks of the connected world which was slowing down their sales cycle and customer acquisition. The typical objection to a new sales strategy was, “Everything is working fine at the moment, why change?” 

However, when the switch happened to a digital sales tool and sales buy-in began, everything changed. The commercial results were impressive: 

“Our new sales tool has helped to deliver over 1,000 leads and a strong 7–digit contribution to the sales pipeline within the first 3 months.” 

Mike Oliver, Senior Marketing Manager, Citrix 

Take a closer look at the results > 

Standardized approach 🧩 

One of the underlying issues with traditional methods is that everything is standardized. Sales pitches are one-size-fits-all with limited customization on marketing materials. The result is flat, uninspiring and boring in many cases – not to mention complicated. 

This makes it hard to discuss how products and solutions can help each client specifically. One way of looking at it is that marketing and sales collateral is product-led, rather than customer-led. On top of everything else, companies simply don’t stand out from other suppliers. 

Data deprivation 🕳️ 

Traditional strategies would often continue unimpeded and unchanged indefinitely. That’s because there was no real data collection involved, other than anecdotal evidence from interactions or basic records from calls, meetings and orders. As a result, the process was never improved to generate more sales or speed up the process. 

No single source of truth 🤷 

Print media and presentations typically come in their numbers. Everyone creates their own sales and marketing materials, which can become a bit of a nightmare. Each document will have different messaging or even different product details. From product developers to marketers and sellers, businesses need a single source of truth where they can access the latest, most relevant and on brand collateral. 

Costs over time 💰 

While continuing as you are might seem like the cheaper option, the cost soon stacks up from: 

• Printing brochures and other media. 

• Having to travel to and from more face-to-face meetings. 

• Spending hours trying to create impressive presentations on unimpressive software platforms. 

The future of manufacturing & engineering sales strategies 

You won’t be surprised that modern manufacturing and engineering sales strategies make the most of new technologies. There are a wide range of tools available that have been designed specifically to make selling quicker and easier. Below, we’ll look at some of the ways they can assist manufacturers and engineers… 

Automation enhancements 🤖 

Automation is part and parcel of most modern software packages. We’re not talking about specialized artificial intelligence (AI) tools that require coding and a deep understanding of machine learning. Instead, most software comes with pre-built automation features that take care of mundane tasks. 

That includes: 

• Automated email workflows to contact leads following an enquiry or customers after a sale. 

• Automatically optimizing ad campaigns using A/B testing to find and use the most effective variation 

• Analyzing customer journeys or marketing performance and suggesting improvements based on best practices. 

This allows sales and marketing teams to focus on what they do best – generating high-quality leads, engaging with potential customers, and closing deals. 

Data accuracy and accessibility 📊 

Data is paramount for sales success. It can enhance sales forecasting, enable precise buyer profiling, and support informed decision-making at every step of the customer journey. With that in mind, it’s important that sales and marketing teams can access accurate, real-time data when they need it. 

As with automation, this isn’t something you have to spend hours on. Most sales technology has analytics and can connect to CRM systems to maintain clean and easily accessible customer data. Having that immediately available can improve your messaging to buyers and responses to their enquiries, enable confident decision-making, and improve information sharing across your organization. 

Crucially, analytics can also monitor your own marketing and sales content. By knowing what works and what doesn’t, which content generates leads or sales, and where customers are losing interest, you can continually optimize the journey for leads and customers. 

Scalability and global reach 🌍 

Sales technology also makes it easier for advanced manufacturers to scale up their strategy. With the right tools, there’s less reliance on sales reps making lots of calls, attending meetings and making pitch after pitch. Did you know, for example, that meetings between sellers and B2B buyers only account for 17% of the modern purchasing journey? 

New technologies give buyers the information they need, accessible on their terms. This makes it easier to scale up without the need for hordes of new hires and reach a global audience without necessarily having a global presence. Needless to say, that gives you far more potential to expand revenue beyond the limitations of physical geography! 

Holistic sales and marketing 🤝 

A holistic approach is one of the most central features of a modern manufacturing and engineering sales strategy. Put simply, this means aligning different teams within your organization to share customer insights and work towards a common goal. It diverges from the traditional approach where sales, marketing and product development teams work in silos to their own goals and standards. 

Another way of looking at this is buyer enablement. It’s the process of helping potential buyers make an informed decision about purchasing your products. As discussed in our guide to buyer enablement, this can take place before and after a purchase is made. As a result, it can improve both conversion rates and buyer retention. 

With the right technology, you can shift the focus from making sales to enabling buyers – and reap the rewards that come with it. 

Simplicity 🪄 

Fundamentally, communicating complex solutions in a simple way is key. For example, take ABB, a technology leader in electrification and automation. They wanted an interactive experience for customers to explore their Digital Manufacturing Ireland facility they’d constructed to and learn more about the advanced technologies on display. 

This isn’t easy for a company that optimizes how things are manufactured, moved, powered and operated. However, with an interactive experience, which runs on touchscreens and video walls throughout the facility, customers can now explore the facility and dive into different areas and specific technologies to explore deeper content. 

Take a closer look at the results > 

Embrace the future of advanced manufacturing and engineering sales 

Technology is changing the way sales are secured in manufacturing and engineering. At POP, we help advanced manufacturers and engineers convert interest into action and retain more business with our intuitive buyer enablement platform. 

Create customizable buyer experiences, complete with interactive visuals, 3D models and so much more. Buyers will be able to visualize products and explore all their features and functionalities, with or without the help of your sales team. 

Above all, we help you make complex concepts seem simple, ensuring buyers understand the true value of your products. 

If your manufacturing sales strategy isn’t working, don’t hesitate to contact our team to arrange a demo. Call us on +44 (0)117 329 1712 or email hello@popcomms.com.