Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1078362
34 SMT007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2019 a marketing manager—occasionally you find both. However, the role of marketing is a lot dif- ferent than the role of sales, and I say that if you have a great marketer, then your salespeople become order takers. If you have salespeople out selling, then you're probably not marketing. The marketer has to take all of the value, put it in a story, and make sure that they're com - municating that story to the right prospects. If you do that, with the idea of incorporating mag- netic marketing, then your salespeople are truly just order taking and closing sales rather than selling and cold calling. Beaulieu: Correct. What if you have some that are both? Those people should be coordinated well together. Today, I advise people to hire for passion, and you can teach the technology. Hire natural-born salespeople. That's where I say marketing comes in because you're doing your training, teaching them the company story, and sending them out there. Going back to magnetic marketing, if you talk about having something to offer, whether it's a webinar or seminar, it immediately puts you in the position of expert, so the customer wants to buy from you, which is what you're saying in terms of being the order taker. To a certain extent, you just have to get out there. They need to know who you are. Many times, people say, "I built this thing. Where is all the business?" It doesn't stop at that; you have to market and tell somebody. The days of befriending a buyer, taking them to play golf, and then getting the big order when you come back to the office are over. There's a little bit of that, but for the most part, as the boards get more sophisticated, companies need circuit board experts. If you're a circuit board expert or you portray yourself that way through content—such as writings or technical newsletters—then you're going to be in good stead. I prefer to use the analogy that you can go fishing or you can get the fish to jump into the boat. If you position yourself as a technol- ogy expert, you're going to get them to jump into the boat. Matties: That's certainly what I call an order- taking strategy versus a selling strategy be- cause the idea is to have magnetic marketing tuned to attract exactly the kind of prospect you want. It is one thing to be out there casting a net and hauling every- thing in; however, more im- portantly, in today's market- place, you have to define a sweet spot and make sure that you're filling that. You do this because that's where your core competency is and the highest level of efficiencies and profit are found there. Beaulieu: That's absolutely right. By casting the net, you're going to get all kinds of fish, and it will be about what you want to sell. Position your- self as an expert, which creates tribes of people with aligned interests. If you're a golfer, you're going to open every newsletter about golf. My wife, a quilter, opens up anything that involves quilting. If you're interested in RF and you're in the microwave business, you're going to open up anything that talks about RF and mi- crowaves. It has to be very focused—magnetic marketing. It's about attracting people to you. Matties: In larger companies, there are often de- fined roles, and they have a lot more resources. But when it comes to sales and marketing, of- ten, you find that there is a sales manager or