Marketing Myths in Manufacturing
A lot of manufacturers are often mistaken about some common marketing myths in manufacturing that affect their business.
Change is very difficult
Technology has evolved rapidly, particularly with cloud-based solutions that easily integrate into existing systems such as your ERP and supply chain systems. With these tools, digitization is much easier to implement.
It is important that everyone believes that change is important and achievable. Involve all stakeholders early on to encourage buy-in. Ask the following questions to make sure everyone is lined up:
How can we make sure that everyone understands and supports this vision?
Which competitors are doing well? What can we learn from them?
What experiences ensure that partners and customers love what we are doing?
These conversations can put an end to the notion that digitization is an impossible task and clarify your goals for it. Next, determine which digital capabilities are most important to you. The right partner can help you prioritize your project in phases with a crawl, walk and run approach. Once you start one phase, you can move on to the next. An effective partner must also work with you to review performance, find new opportunities to drive efficiencies and improve the partner and customer experience at all times.
Myth 2: The data and systems dispute is too complex
Manufacturers have historically relied on highly complex systems designed for functions such as pricing, inventory, and ordering. These systems work independently and are difficult to integrate. That leads to mediocre customer experiences, increasing churn, and putting revenue and margins at risk.
Modern systems, such as cloud-based relationship management (CRM) platforms designed for manufacturers, bring everyone to the same page. This is done through application programming interfaces (APIs) on the back end that connects data across systems, breaking down silos so everyone can do their jobs better. From there, you can unravel complexity and simplify processes. For example, you can automate manual work and forecast more accurately with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). If a product is at risk of breaking, you can proactively fix the problem so the customer doesn’t need to contact you.
During the pandemic, custom tent maker TentCraft found a way to serve new customers by relying on its connected digital ecosystem. When demand plummeted for their flagship product, promotional tents used at events, leaders turned to a new opportunity to provide medical tents to healthcare facilities. With visibility into changing demand with Salesforce and the ability to track leads in a whole new market, everyone from executives to those on the shop floor worked to align supply chain and operations to meet the new need.
Myth 3: Employees won’t use digital tools
Think about how employees use their non-working hours to quickly break this myth. They stream entertainment, surf social media, and spend countless hours on their mobile phones. COVID-19 extended its use of digital tools for work. Non-essential employees were suddenly forced to work from home, hold phone or video meetings, and send information via email or other digital applications. Many found that they enjoyed these new ways of working, and they were easier and faster.
Manufacturers have traditionally relied on face-to-face interactions, but in a remote world, employees need digital tools to keep business moving and find growth opportunities. CRM platforms create easy-to-read data profiles that capture all interactions with customers and partners. This allows employees to participate from anywhere. It also encourages collaboration between employees who can view the same information at the same time and work toward shared goals.
In addition, these systems segment populations and can identify new opportunities. You can visualize data in AI layers and dashboards for deeper insights, such as next best steps or ways to personalize experiences for your customers.
Your employees can learn to use new tools and technology with simple online training programs.
Myth 4: we don’t need to constantly evolve
Once you’ve aligned your organization, embraced the right technology, and started delivering the best customer and partner experiences, you may not want to change a thing. But technology is always evolving, enabling improvements in experiences few could have imagined.
If you’re not anticipating the future, you’ll be left behind when a competitor launches a new product or service, or a buyer changes their mind about your relationship. Always stay up-to-date in your industry, use social listening, and survey your community to understand pain points for customers, partners, and employees.
Listen to feedback channels and update old ways of doing things to create more value for your partners and customers. Make sure to include all relevant departments, such as marketing, commerce, sales, service, product, and IT, to understand all customer and partner issues. A strong digital foundation makes it easy to spot trends and act accordingly.
This is how Milan-based 100-year-old De Nora Water Technology stayed competitive in recent years and why it was able to rapidly develop new products and services to help fight the pandemic. The company provided self-service, sustainable on-site disinfectant generators to municipalities and private companies. He used Salesforce to visualize data and identify virus hot spots without local vendors. Technology helped him manage a flood of leads and double his annual growth opportunities.
