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30 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JULY 2025 M ichael Seltzer, chief commercial officer at Zentech Manufacturing, helps define his company's niche and why it has mattered to them over nearly three decades. Should a com- pany shift with the markets or stay true to its mission? Find out how Michael has helped the company truly understand its vision. Nolan Johnson: Michael, you've done good work in identifying, maintaining, or developing your service niche at Zentech. How would you define it? Michael Seltzer: High reliability. One of my col- leagues says, "Listen, if anybody can do it, then the job is not for us." If the work we do doesn't add a lot of value, if you can get it from anybody else, then you don't need us. Zentech was established 27 years ago, and this has been the core of who we are. We haven't changed; we've stayed focused on our niche. It's exciting because it's the core of who we are. When we stay true to it, everything else seems to fall into place. Your business plan is clear, your pursuits are clear. Business becomes a bit simpler. We don't change with the econ- omy or the wind. It puts everything else in perspective. When you understand who you are and what you want to be, you're not arguing over the business plan, or revisiting or changing that plan. You're F E AT U R E I N T E RV I E W by N o l a n J o h n s o n , I - C O N N ECT 0 07 Staying—and Excelling—in Their Lane not trying to figure out why you're pursuing specific opportunities; everyone is aligned. The culture that you set becomes as clear as your business pursuits. The training and edu- cation that you need to support your niche are clear. You can focus on the business instead of fixating on those existential questions, like what you want to be when you grow up. How do you define your niche? What are some of the traits and attributes that you include in defining your niche? There are several things. First, it's the people. At the core of our pursuit is understanding what training we need to offer. What competencies do we need to deliver the highest quality prod- uct to customers who support our segments? After we get the attributes of the people in the training, we consider the attributes of the customers that support the market segments that we're interested in. Then, what business metrics support those? Within each segment or business pursuit, the measurements of success will be different. Do you factor in certifications and standards as part of the list of attributes? We absolutely do. That's part of the business pursuit. It's not only customers, but also what aligns with their needs. Our certifications sup- port that alignment. I don't need to pursue a certification that doesn't support our purpose or our niche, and that becomes pretty clear in the process. There's that moment when you choose where to put your effort: Do we cultivate our existing customers and get really sticky with them, or do we develop new customers? How do you balance those choices? Regardless of the market, all companies have to deal with this question. The resources to support 200 customers at $100,000 each requires a much different infrastructure than choosing to work with 40 customers at a higher level of revenue per customer. There is a bal- ance; you can't be all things to all people. Michael Selt zer