Many of our conversations with manufacturers eventually come around to a central idea: our sales channels are unique, and only a few companies sell like we do. And yet, when you ask them how a dollar arrives on their P&L, most responses have striking similarities:
- They make a product
- They sell that product directly or indirectly to a person or company that needs it
In our work helping manufacturing companies with their digital marketing, we’ve found that while they have different variables, most companies follow similar patterns. The bad news is that you’re probably not as unique as you think. The good news is that because you follow a similar pattern as other companies, tools like HubSpot can help you tame the chaos, follow the money trail, and simplify your manufacturing sales and marketing funnel.
5 Sets of Questions to Tame Your Chaos
When we meet with new customers, they typically have a list of targets they want to achieve or goals they want to work toward. To help them streamline, we ask them questions that build toward a strategy and create a more scalable sales and marketing model. Our friend, and author of Muting the Megaphone, Kate DiLeo calls this “following the money.” Here are five sets of questions to get you started.
- When you look at your current customers, what major segments exist? What role does each of those segments play in your business in terms of volume?
- What customer segment makes up the bulk of your revenue?
- How did they come to do business with you?
- Do you sell to them directly or indirectly? What influence do you or can you have over who sells it?
- In what ways are you creating demand among your most profitable customers? Are you nurturing these customers along their journey in any way? What’s working? How do you know?
A Focused, Simple Manufacturing Sales and Marketing Funnel in Action
Let’s say you asked yourself the previous list of questions. Once you clear away all the other noise in your channels, you discover that contractors are your most profitable customers.
For contractors to specify or sell your product in a bid, they need to know your competitive differentiators and technical specifications. So, we create a fact sheet that speaks directly to contractors about why your product is the best option for their application.
Then, we send out these targeted resources as part of an automated email campaign and make them available on demand.
Because your team understands how data supports their goals, they’re motivated to track sales activity in HubSpot, so you have accurate deal and revenue reporting and customer journey analytics.
Suddenly, you’re speaking directly to your most profitable customers, providing your top sales channel with the info they need to win and creating ongoing demand for your product.
Our Best Manufacturing Sales and Marketing Funnel Advice: Begin With the End in Mind
The fastest way to simplify your manufacturing sales and marketing funnel is to begin with the end in mind. Ask yourself: How does a dollar arrive on our P&L, and how can we build systems and processes to support that? When you know the answers, the path to revenue is clear and provides your team with clarity about who they’re supporting, how, and why.
Need a HubSpot Partner for Your Manufacturing Company?
Because manufacturing companies can have more complex sales channels, we’ve found they get more value out of HubSpot – especially because HubSpot can handle the complexity. Is it a little harder to get the initial setup done? Yes. But we’ve done it before and are happy to guide the way.