Using email as a method of prospecting to industrial companies can be challenging. Over 75% of prospecting emails are ignored or deleted without being read. This type of treatment can be avoided simply by attempting to establish a real relationship with your prospect. Here's how.

In order to integrate IndustrySelect with the most commonly used CRMs among our userbase, we recently turned to our thousands of customers in industrial sales, marketing, and business development to find out what CRM they used to manage interactions with their industrial clients. The results of the survey were very revealing, and we thought we would share these results with you today.

Time-tested companies are restructuring, new entities are emerging to capitalize on new opportunities and others are either downsizing or folding altogether.



Companies need to pay close attention to what others in their field are doing in order to stay ahead in this complex game.

"Where can I find more like you?"



We've all said it, whether in reference to a star employee or reliable vendor. And most of us have said this about our customers. Where do we generate more B2B leads that possess the same set of needs for our products and services as do our best customers? We know they are out there, but how do we find them?



It is (and literally can be) the million-dollar question.

You might have a strong sales pitch, a quality product and a competitive price, but sales might elude you until you find the right audience for your message.



Identifying new opportunities for growth is often a matter of figuring out who needs the products or services you're selling.



Read on to learn how.

The HVAC industry is poised to become a $367.5 billion market by 2030. Although this sector is currently feeling the effects of COVID-19, there is a promising future for refrigeration and heating equipment manufacturers.



Marketing your products and services to these manufacturers is a viable strategy, but it's important to understand the unique opportunities and challenges linked to COVID-19.

Despite the overwhelming majority of manufacturing companies being privately held, it does not mean that they are not part of a corporate family. For our purposes, family does not refer to ownership by people who are related to each other. We are referring to parent companies that acquire and retain smaller businesses, usually in a related field.



Understanding company hierarchy can give you an advantage in generating sales in the manufacturing sector.

Knowing the latest information on a manufacturing company can help make introductions a seamless affair.



As a salesperson, you should be educated on your prospects and able to speak comfortably about any current events that may affect their operations.



The more you know about their business, the more confidence they will have in your ability to help them reach more customers.

COVID-19 has created an unprecedented situation for manufacturers, and many have seen their priorities shift as they engaged their crisis response plans over the past few months.



These plans might include changes in leadership, so a different person may be making purchase decisions - especially if you're offering a product or service that supports a manufacturers crisis response.



Your research process should explore how COVID-19 impacts leads, how priorities might be changing, whether or not new competitors have emerged and what kind of emergency response plans the manufacturer is likely to adopt.



These are the challenges executives are currently facing, so understanding their situation is crucial in order to empathize with and sell to them effectively.

Manufacturers are going through significant changes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While some struggle to stay in businesses, others are shifting production to focus on essential products.



Proper research is more important now more than ever before when reaching out to prospects. Executive contacts might change as manufacturers restructure existing processes, and you need to understand how the current situation is affecting a prospect to identify relevant pain points and explain how your products or services can help.

Businesses are facing an increasingly intricate vendor ecosystem. Products like IT solutions, tools and machinery, and even business services are undergoing significant changes as new digital features appear, making these products more complex to research.



In fact, the process is so complex that for 80% of businesses, the B2B buying process takes more time than it used to. As a result, the B2B buying process is starting to prioritizing research.



Salespeople can help by adopting an approach known as prescriptive selling.

We've all had similar experiences -- email or call a customer or prospect only to be met with a bounced email or wrong number voice message.



Obviously something has changed, and the question becomes not only where he/she went, but what else has changed?



If you were working from your company's database or an outside list, the thought might also have crossed your mind: Hmm, wonder how many of these records are also wrong?

COVID-19 has forced businesses to practice remote working and telecommuting. In many states, economies are reigniting, which means that some employees will be allowed to go back to the office for at least part-time work. However, many companies are maintaining work-from-home policies out of caution.



Remote working may be practical for some occupations, but for sales teams it is exceedingly difficult to be deprived of face-to-face interaction.

The coronavirus crisis has created a new status quo almost overnight. As a marketer, being reactive is more important now than ever, and there is a dire need to find a new communication style that suits your brand and audience as well as the current situation we're facing.



Email marketing is still a relevant and reliable way to connect with your audience, but you need to rethink your content strategy, find the right tone to discuss current events, connect with leads in meaningful ways and avoid cliches.

If you're used to making your pitch on the shop floor and closing the deal with a firm handshake, social distancing may have you at a loss. You can still find effective ways to approach your prospects.



In fact, as a B2B rep, you could find yourself busier than ever.

If your business is going to succeed in the manufacturing market, you need to have the right business development approaches in place.



Of course, tackling business development in the manufacturing market is easier said than done. There is a variety of factors that you have to pay attention to when appealing to this market.



Business development, sales, marketing ... what's the difference, anyway?



It's important to note that today, many roles that are technically sales or marketing roles are now "business development" positions, rebranded for a variety of reasons.

For B2B salespeople in the manufacturing market, experiencing rejection from a prospect is rough. A simple "sorry, we can't move forward with this offer" from a prospect can equate to week's worth of lost time and effort for the seller.



So, how should you handle rejection from a potential prospect? In the fifth and final part of our series Common Objections in B2B Sales & How to Overcome Them we're tackling the sticky issue of rejection.



Fortunately, there are several easy steps you can take to make handling rejection in sales a more straightforward process.

As 2019 ends and 2020 begins, it's a busy time for salespeople and marketers targeting manufacturers. The October-December rush inspired by Manufacturing Day is winding down, and professionals are designing and improving new sales techniques for the next major sales cycle.



If you want to outpace the competition, you'll need to be on the cutting edge of the market. Here are five B2B sales strategies that can help you get more customers in 2020.

Twitter is a rich resource for those looking to connect and build relationships with U.S. manufacturing companies. Today, we're covering some top manufacturing Twitter accounts worth following for sales, marketing and business development professionals targeting prospects in manufacturing.

Welcome to Part Three of our "Perfect the Pitch" series, where we cover how to craft the perfect sales pitch from start to finish.



In our first two parts, we went over how to tell if a pitch isn't working and how to write a sales pitch that will convert prospects into clients.



Today, we'll be laying out our best tips and tricks for how you can close deals. This guide will cover five essential elements of any closing that you can use to secure lucrative contracts with high-profile manufacturers.

In the first part of our "Perfect the Pitch" series, we covered how salespeople and marketers in the manufacturing industry can identify when a pitch isn't working. We gave you some tips for understanding what manufacturers are looking for in a pitch and the best times to pitch to manufacturers.



Today, we're going to be taking this series one step further by covering how you can write a sales pitch that will convert prospects into clients.



We'll be covering six vital elements every successful sales pitch targeted towards manufacturers needs to account for.

For salespeople, the perfect sales pitch is the holy grail. It may not exist, but it's certainly worth searching for. The right pitch can drastically increase a salesperson's success rate.



However, developing a great sales pitch isn't always easy - particularly for salespeople in the manufacturing market.



In Part One of our "Perfecting the Pitch" series, we'll be covering how to know if your pitch isn't working - and the first steps you should take when going back to the drawing board.

In manufacturing, the clients most in need of an upgrade are often also the clients most resistant to change.



Resistant clients (particularly those with small or medium-sized operations) are a recurring barrier for sellers in the manufacturing industry.



The amount of capital required to purchase new manufacturing technologies and machines can be daunting for clients, particularly those with an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality.



Today, we'll be covering how you can identify potentially tricky clients and build their confidence in your services.

MNI will be at Fabtech this year in Chicago at McCormick Place Nov 11-14 booth A5974



Since I will be manning the MNI booth at FABTECH 2019, I thought I would write a little on the benefits of attending a trade show.



It's obvious that trade shows are the place for you to network with others in your field. Trade shows are also the best arena to gain more industry knowledge, discover new vendors, gather leads, and see the newest advances in technology.



Here are my top 5 reasons for attending a trade show.

For any B2B business leader, finding new clients consistently is a must. This article by IndustrySelect covers the ins and outs of B2B telemarketing and email marketing to help you know which to use.

Email campaigns that use current and well-researched data to prospect potential clients have an average ROI of 3,800% - that's $38 in return for every dollar spent on an email campaign. The takeaway here is that if you have a great email campaign tailored to your brand's voice and use good data to get it to the right prospects, you'll see positive results.



Email marketing metrics you should be paying attention to (and what to shoot for)



There are a variety of metrics you should be monitoring for your email marketing campaigns:

Sales and marketing is a little bit like a job interview. Ideally in both situations, all involved parties get something valuable. But if you walk into a job interview without knowing anything about the company you are applying for, chances are it will be an uncomfortable experience.



The same holds true for sales and marketing professionals. Although it can be quite daunting to initiate a sales relationship with a new company, researching and understanding a prospective client's business before that first sales call is an essential process, especially in the manufacturing industry.

All marketers have experienced the frustration of having a great list of prospects they can't contact because of an email provider's opt-in requirements. In your quest for an Email Service Provider (ESP), you will quickly discover that most ESPs prohibit you from importing a 3rd party list. But there are a few services out there that will.

It's no secret that the business world can be cut-throat, seemingly more now than ever before. As the digital age revolutionized investing and startups, every industry became crowded by competitors, any one of whom would be more than happy to take the spot your business occupies on the totem pole.



Here's how breaking down your list of potential customers into certain categories can help your business stay ahead of the competition and accelerate profits, customer experience and efficiency for your organization. It's called segmentation.

For this three-part series on B2B email campaigns, we've gone through the steps of building a surefire email list and crafting a message that converts.



So now that you've got your campaign ready to go, how, exactly do you best execute it? In the third and final part of this series, we are going to show you how to do just that.