Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1406534
44 SMT007 MAGAZINE I SEPTEMBER 2021 ey see that it's not just an incremental ben- efit, but a real benefit. Now, they're more will- ing to invest time, money, and resources into implementing this program. e ROI is taking what was a half-day to get done into just a cou- ple hours or even a few minutes. Matties: I think there are also some so bene- fits from utilizing a tool, such as increasing the number of sales that you actually close. Decker-Weiss: Exactly. We start with the hard benefit and then we move on to exactly that, the mistakes in the quotes, which costs you so much or as you said, how oen you tell a com- pany owner, "How oen did you hear a call something along the lines of, 'Hey, that was a great quote, but unfortunately it took too long. We already gave the order to somebody else.'" Matties: And it may also help a company deter- mine if it's the right work for their factory. Decker-Weiss: Exactly. Matties: is is kind of a sales conversation where you're talking about workflow shi; the methodology and the way people func- tion is what you're selling. e tool is the tool, but you have to convince them to change their workflow. Decker-Weiss: I hear more frequently from C- level that we cannot just continue the way we've been doing now. We have to make a change here. Matties: Where do you rank in the priority of decisions and process change for companies? Decker-Weiss: ERP is the hungry lion that seems to get almost all the resources sucked into it, so we're somewhere behind the ERP system. at is pretty high up. For an EMS company, there's almost nothing more important than getting quotes out quickly, because that really affects their bottom line. We also go in with products and we say, "We can make your SMD program- ming 30% to 40% faster. ey say, "at's nice, but you don't get near the same kind of excite- ment from C-level." en you say, "We can get your quotes out quicker, which means it's going to mean more business to you." In that sense, we rank pretty high. Matties: Your tagline might be, "We help you close sales." Decker-Weiss: Exactly. Pretty much every demo has somebody from the sales team in it. ey really want to know that this is going to im- prove. Johnson: Streamlining the sales process can in- crease your system uptime on the shop floor by a significant amount. Matties: As well as your bottom line, especial- ly if you're taking into consideration the link into the ERP and current stock availability balanced with current pricing. at equation alone can bring additional profit to a job. is has been a great conversation. Do you have any final thoughts? Decker-Weiss: Anything that raises awareness and helps companies realize, "Hey, there are better ways to do this." As Mark said, people ask, "Who's your biggest competitor?" and I say, "e biggest competitor is the statement: 'at's the way we've always done it.'" ere's no argument to that; that pretty much cuts off all further discussion. ere really is no room for that statement anymore. Johnson: Gentlemen, thank you! SMT007 Kevin Decker-Weiss is sales director of CircuitByte. Mark Laing is business development manager at Siemens Digital Industries Software.