I have just returned from the USETEC
exhibition in Cologne, Germany, where Riley Surface World exhibited as
part of a UK Pavilion of industrial machinery dealers and publishers.
There were evident signs of the Eurozone crisis, with both exhibitor and
visitor numbers down on previous years. However, this did not stop the
mercenary hoteliers of Cologne from doubling their tariffs during the
show week.
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| USETEC exhibition Cologne, Germany |
The
traditional role of the sales person in the surface finishing industry,
along with most other forms of manufacturing, has evolved alongside the
growth of digital marketing. The old concept of the commercial
traveller, with company car and expense account has become rather
outdated as our ways of communication become more sophisticated.
Companies
that wish to expand their market share now invest a great deal more in
online marketing than they do in direct sales. The power of Google in
particular means that there are always plenty of buyers in the market,
and those buyers will now find you, rather than you looking for them.
The secret is to express clearly the products and services they are
seeking in a way which the search engines understand.
The
quality of company websites, the functions they provide and the
usefulness of downloadable material means that prospective customers are
brought much closer to the buying decision than was the case with
traditional marketing practices. This means that subsequent telephone
conversations and meetings with buyers are less to do with sales and
much more to do with technical issues. And once the customer becomes
involved in the ‘nitty-gritty’ of the project, he or she is well on the
way to making a purchasing decision.
At Riley Surface World,
we have invested heavily in the structure and content of our website,
so that prospective customers will always find what they are looking
for, providing we have it in stock. This brings me back to our new
emphasis on buying.
Our
experience of marketing used surface finishing machinery
internationally is that there are plenty of buyers around the world, but
not enough sellers and insufficient machinery. This problem is not
confined to the surface finishing sector, as dealers in all forms of
industrial machinery are reporting the same problem. This is why events
such as USETEC are vitally important.
There
is a misconception about trade shows, reinforced by the old John Cleese
sales video. It is that they are dominated by men in suits standing in
booths and waiting for buyers to come along. The reality of USETEC is
that it is a dynamic networking forum, where we can identify buying
opportunities from other international dealers, create factory clearance
events and match up buyers with sellers. This process sometimes
involves complete process lines being moved across to the other side of
the world.
Even
in the digital age, it is still necessary to set aside time for trade
shows, trade association events and conferences. This is where it is
possible to meet with your counterparts from other countries, discuss
industry issues, identify opportunities and do deals. And here’s the
good news: the government actually gives you some money for making the
effort!
The
USETEC show enabled us to buy some significant items of plant and
machinery from other dealers that would otherwise be difficult to
acquire. We were also able to get our message across to the wider
European market that we are buyers first and sellers second. These
efforts by us and our colleagues from other metalworking sectors told
the world that the UK is serious about developing its manufacturing.
