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14 SMT Magazine • December 2016 lated to the PCB assembly industry, would in- clude: • Effective contact management infrastructure – Having an environment so data mining and analytics can be performed – Tracking activity levels and marketing interactions – Managing and evaluating marketing interactions to understand interests • Understanding unique offerings that may appeal those clients of specific profiles. Profiles may include: – Client product complexity requirements - Type of equipment - Type of products designed ° Need for flex, rigid flex, microvias, large boards, multiple thermal cycle needs, board density, iTAR, quality levels, etc. – Client business levels – Client size (revenue, number of people) – Volume (of purchasing, requirements, etc.) • Ability to add and manage social interactions, mobile access to informa- tion, and self-help capabilities. This is vital as the millennial generation and digital transformations hit the market space. Once the marketing infrastructure is in place, effective sales campaigns and sales strate- gies can be applied. This should help organiza- tion answer these questions: 1. Who is aligned to my "ideal client"? 2. What is the total addressable market? 3. Can I run marketing campaigns for my largest opportunity targets? The initial opportunity may arrive through either on-line campaigns or direct sales inter- action. Then the sales organization (internal or external) takes over and works to land the ini- tial deal. The PCB assembly industry tends to be more margin-sensitive than others. Contract man- ufacturers' margins are typically tight, which drives the others in the ecosystem to behave and react similarly. Personal interaction is still king. Direct communication, understanding needs, providing a holistic solution, and con- veying a knowledgeable, customer-solution-fo- cused approach normally wins. Process Is the Same for Everyone Hundreds of resources recommend a strat- egy for a sales process after a lead has been at- tained from the marketing activities. Most have the following elements (Figure 1): SALES AND MARKETING IN A DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION REALITY Figure 1: Typical sales process from lead generation to proposal.