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Our research indicates that 57% of American manufacturing companies are growing at a rate of 5% or more annually. This means that you need a strong manufacturing sales strategy to stay competitive. This, however, is easier said than done.
Factors like rising material costs and the pressure to reduce your prices from B2B buyers make it hard to improve your bottom line. Today, we look at a tried and tested manufacturing sales strategy that will help you increase your revenue. Let’s dive in!
Create alignment between your sales and marketing strategy
As per our expertise, for your manufacturing sales strategy to be effective, your sales and marketing teams need to work together. And this starts with them sharing information.
Your marketing team has a lot of knowledge about getting new customers that are useful for sales reps to know when they prospect. Based on our firsthand experience, marketing efforts like social media posts, email campaigns, and customer surveys help sales reps better understand what attracts new customers.
With this information, your sales reps can improve their communication with prospects and, in turn, convert more leads into customers.
Automate your sales process wherever possible
As indicated by our tests, the key to a successful manufacturing sales strategy is workflow automation. And luckily, there are plenty of sales workflow automation tools available to manufacturers.
The first is lead gen forms. By capturing the lead details of every website visitor who submits a form, you can ensure that every lead is documented and nurtured by your sales reps.
Dial automation solutions are another way to improve the effectiveness of your team’s cold calls and increase your sales. When you consider that it takes 18+ dials for a sales rep to connect with a prospect, it becomes clear how much these solutions can increase your team’s productivity.
“On average, it takes 18+ attempts for a sales rep to connect with a prospect over the phone.”
CRM software is also a crucial part of any manufacturing sales strategy. From automatically managing your sales pipeline to allowing online self-service through customer portals, a CRM increases your team’s productivity and ensures no leads slip through the cracks.
Perfect your sales pitch
Through our practical knowledge, the last part of any manufacturing sales strategy is all about closing deals. Here are some tips to make sure as many of your leads convert to new customers as possible.
Come prepared
Before you make your final pitch, you’ll need to remind yourself exactly who your lead is and what they’re looking to gain from your products or services. This means reviewing all the notes you have on your potential customer and preparing to overcome any objections they may have when it comes to purchasing.
Personalize your sales pitch
Our investigation demonstrated that 72% of buyers only respond to messaging that’s created with them in mind. So you want to make sure building a personalized sales pitch is part of your manufacturing sales strategy.
To create a personalized sales pitch, you’ll want to share the specific benefits your buyer will receive after making a purchase with you. You’ll need to highlight exactly how your potential customer will use your products or services as well as what they will gain from them.
Use the sales and marketing assets available to you
Drawing from our experience, to seal the deal, you’ll want to give your buyer the resources they need to make a purchase decision. Here are some ways to do this:
- Share social proof and sales enablement content with them. Make use of the glowing customer reviews you get and the sales collateral you have to drive deals forward.
- Be transparent about the sale. To ease buyer anxiety, you’ll want to review everything from your payment terms to the warranties or guarantees your company offers.
How to implement a manufacturing sales strategy
- Connect with marketing to better understand how to get new customers
- Use data-driven insights from marketing efforts to shape how you communicate with prospects
- Use sales automation tools to increase your team’s productivity
- Prepare to handle sales objections in advance of your final pitch
- Personalize your sales pitch for the buyer you’re speaking with
- Give your buyer the information and resources they need to purchase
Uncover more sales process best practices with this free ebook!
Image credit: Cleyder Duque via Pexels
