Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1361971
44 PCB007 MAGAZINE I APRIL 2021 show. Better yet, you have to demonstrate that you are the best and then show how you are the best. is means appealing to your customers' process engineers, quality managers, program managers, and other lead people: the people who will actually use and value your products. ose people will see value in doing business with you and will put that value ahead of any- thing else—including price. When you are selling for the best, demon- strate it by focusing on your: • Value • Knowledge • Technology • Quality • Reliability • Consistency • Superiority But you can't just talk the talk, you have to walk it as well. As I mentioned earlier, you can't just sell through buyers. It isn't enough to be waiting around in a lobby for the chance to go into that little room and spend 10 minutes with that harried buyer who looks nervously at his watch making sure he blocks out every- thing you're saying. To him, your words—no matter what you say—sound like the parents' mumbled words in the Peanuts comic strip. Instead, you must get beyond that guy. You must get to the people who cherish and val- ue using the best products and services avail- able today. All your marketing and sales tactics must be focused on demonstrating how good you are, how you are truly the best. Here is how this is done: • White papers: is shows that you are on the forefront of technology. Publish them and present them at trade shows and conferences. • Webinars and seminars: Now that every- one is acclimated to using Zoom, it's easy to set up, publicize, and present webinars. You can give a very technical presentation to an unlimited number of very interest- ed potential customers—people who have signed up and divulged their contact infor- mation to hear what you have to say. How much time, effort and money would that take normally? • Technical columns: Writing regular technical columns which are published in magazines such as this one is the surest way to get your name and your capabili- ties out to the market. A monthly column will get to people who don't know your company or what you do. You can estab- lish your reputation as the best by writing a column. • Technical bulletins: Reach out and touch people. Accumulate lists of qualified potential customers and send them bulletins filled with technical advice about the exact subject you know they care about, based of course, on the lists you have accumulated. • Website: Your website should be a place that the right potential customers want to visit repeatedly. is means filling your site with valuable information, as well as tips and tools that will help them with what they are working on. Everything you do, all the marketing you do, is designed to get people to your website; don't let them be disappointed when they get there. • Research and development: Years ago, your customers—those large OEMs—had their own board shops and their own experts doing their R&D. ey don't any longer and they have to rely on us to provide it for them. ey need to turn to their PCB vendors for not only the high-tech products they need today but, more importantly, to help them get where they need to be tomorrow. Get them to rely on you.