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Manufacturing Information Technology systems
News Release from: Qimtek | Subject: Sales lead service
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 June 2006
Sales service doubles fabricator's
turnover
A sheet metal fabrication company, facing a need to cut costs, transferred sales and accounts functions to one executive, but found it needed sales support, which it outsourced.
Enterprise Fabrication Co have been trading from their current address for over 30 years Therefore they have subsequently built up a multitude of skills and an enormous amount of experience in the sheet metal fabrication industry
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 16 Jun 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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From prototypes to full-blown production and assembly, they pride themselves on specialising in doing what they say they're going to do, when they say they are going to! In January 2003 Simon Broomhead (director) decided that if Enterprise Fabrication Co was to continue trading costs needed to be cut.
He therefore took on roles of sales and accounts.
Eventually Simon realised he needed some form of sales support but was 'reluctant to employ another expensive salesman'.
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Sales outsourcing boosts medical engineering
An engineering sales outsourcing package benefitted a medical engineering company by providing an efficient way to target customers having difficulty in locating specialist, intricate products.
Machine tool sales lead service offered
FI Machine Tools is a new sales lead and sourcing market place to assist suppliers of new and used machine tools to increase market knowledge, identify potential customers.
Sales leads service helps source components
Prior to using the membership service, a machined forgings company has been successfully using a sales lead service to source quality, cost effective engineering components.
In May 2003 FI contacted Enterprise Fabrication regarding our sales lead service, after a meeting Broomhead felt the figures looked good and the presentation had clearly identified the benefits, "But I still had a niggling feeling that I was wasting several thousand pounds.
I went against my gut instinct, wrote the cheque out and waited." Prior to starting the service Broomhead had been expecting work to just land on his desk, which was not the case.
He had also expected to be quoting against other companies who were desperate for work, and therefore he would be competing on very slim margins, he now admits that although this is occasionally the case, it is not the 'norm'.
Initially Broomhead was not all that impressed with the service, he was receiving sporadic enquiries for the first month of membership and didn't feel it was the result he was looking for.
Simon had a meeting with his account manager who made suggestions about how he could be using the service so it was more suited to how Enterprise Fabrication Co worked.
As a result of this more suitable enquiries were prospected.
Broomhead was then invited to one of the Professional Selling Skills seminars hosted by FI Information.
"I really did not know what to expect.
I came out again after a few hours with a completely different view." Broomhead put the theory he had learnt into practice on his way back, making calls to some of his existing customers and asking for referrals, or if they had any more work he could quote on.
The response was massive and nearly doubled their turnover instantly, just by making use of existing customers to promote Enterprise Fabrication Co to their friends and associates.
Broomhead also makes frequent use of the free helpline, if he sees a company name when he is out and about Broomhead simply calls FI Information and gets the contact names, full company details and brief outline of what the company do, "This is still the way I find a large proportion of new customers." By using the service pro-actively Enterprise Fabrication Co has effectively doubled its turnover therefore improving, as Broomhead says, "The chance of the company surviving immeasurably." Broomhead feels it is important to work closely with the sourcing advisors and the account managers as they have massive amounts of knowledge and access to information regarding potential customers.
He also feels it is important to not be put off if a 'Request For Quote' comes through that does not suit 100%, simply use the information and follow it up at a later date.
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