Progressive Distributor - Beyond features and benefits

Beyond features and benefits

Market segmentation and application focus is the best approach to selling power brushes

by Jeff Welday

It’s not important for distributor salespeople to know how power brushes are made. However, it is important for salespeople to know they represent a recognized leader of high-quality products, and it’s critical for salespeople to have an understanding of how and where these products are consumed.

Having provided machine shops and metal fabricators with industrial brushes for more than 100 years, Weiler attributes much of its success to a combination of high-quality products and a unique approach to distributor training.

In today’s increasingly competitive manufacturing environment, providing clear, measurable value to customers is essential. Because of this ultra-competitive business climate, there is a growing push to restructure sales processes from a product-based approach to more of a market-based approach, focusing on the industry segments that can best be served rather than attempting to sell specific products.

At Weiler Corporation, we have moved away from “features and benefits” product training and instead emphasize market segments and applications where proven cost savings and value have been documented. Other than the basic product information, does the distributor salesperson truly need to know how a product has been made? The answer should be no. The distributor’s primary knowledge of the product should center on how and where it’s used, and what solutions the product can provide.

Know the application
The range of applications for power brushes is enormous. At its simplest, it can be removing rust or paint from a piece of material; at its most complex, it may involve creating a precision-controlled radius on an aerospace turbine blade or other critical jet engine part. Beyond that, there is a vast middle ground of applications.

Given the range of functions that power brushes perform, it is easy to match them to the myriad of industries that call for these functions: automotive, welding and fabrication, aerospace, and general job shop machining, for example. Consequently, the distributor should identify facilities where such work is performed, such as the maintenance department in a large manufacturing plant, an aerospace engineering facility, or an automobile manufacturing plant.

The distributor sales force needs to understand which brushes are applicable for each application. For example, abrasive nylon filament brushes are ideal for automated deburring processes in CNC machines, whereas a wire knot wheel is consumed in volumes in pipeline construction and general welding and fabrication.

Gain detailed knowledge
Once salespeople understand the application, it is crucial to uncover as much information as possible about the customer and his or her business by asking the right questions in order to determine their specific challenges and pain points. This knowledge should be far more in-depth than address and contact phone numbers. When a distributor enters a prospect’s operation and asks about their process, he or she should already have a solid understanding of what they manufacture.

While this upfront work can be time-consuming, the Internet has shortened this time commitment exponentially. Finding out what a company does, what it produces, and what markets it serves is usually no more than a few mouse clicks away. Distributors can even read some of the press releases on the company’s Web site to not only get a sense of their business but also catch a glimpse of the issues affecting their industry.

Once the pre-sales work is done to identify companies that might have a need for power brushes, the distributor has entered the sales process. The most essential task in the sales process is to ascertain the prospect’s needs. Although it may seem logical to first ask whether a company needs brushes or what kind of brushes they currently use, that can actually be a real sale-stopper. If the prospect says they do not currently use any brushes, distributors may find they have reached a dead end.

Instead, they should ask, “Do you require surface conditioning or burr removal as part of your manufacturing process?” Posing this question helps the distributor better understand the prospect’s manufacturing process and determine whether there is an opportunity to sell brushes to a company that doesn’t even know it needs them.

From there, it is imperative to determine whether the prospect can pinpoint any bottlenecks in their process they’d like to remove. For example, if they say they have to deburr certain parts, ask how they currently perform that function. Maybe there’s a burr bench where two or three people work.

It’s important for the distributor to help potential customers realize where they can make significant improvements to existing processes. For example, when approaching a prospect who is involved in hand deburring, there are two ways to improve the existing process.

1) Higher throughput. Using power brushes deburrs more parts faster than hand deburring.

2) Better quality. The consistency of the deburring is improved because human error is removed from the process, resulting in a higher quality finished part. By producing more parts within allowable tolerances, the prospect will reduce scrap, translating into significant dollar savings.

Distributors may also come across potential customers using brushes improperly. Power brush operators must follow proper safety precautions. Ultimately, proper use and safety boils down to ensuring that the product fits the tool properly and that operators receive appropriate safety precaution information.

Distributors should also ask if the customers are satisfied with the performance of the brushes they use and, if not, why. It may be the customer is not using the product appropriately or there may be an opportunity to provide different brushes that better suit their application.

Four steps
The entire process ultimately boils down to these four steps:

Pre-sales
• Understand the product capabilities. What do the products do? In general terms, how do the products work? What solutions can they provide?

• Know where these products are consumed. What are the industries where distributors are likely to find applications for these products? Within those industries, what are the specific market segments and applications within these segments?

• Learn the prospect’s operation. What do they make? Where do they sell their products? What are some of their industry’s issues?

Sales
• Ascertain the prospect’s needs. In this step, gather as much information as possible:

What is the current process?

What are the most important process variables (cycle time, part quality/consistency, cost-per-part)?

What equipment/tool is being used?

What are the problems and challenges?

Where are bottlenecks and high-cost processes? Is scrap an issue? What causes the unacceptable scrap rates?

How many parts are manufactured in a day/month/year?

Knowing this information, salespeople can recommend a solution. At times, they may need assistance. If possible, partner with a manufacturer that not only provides a technical hotline, but has an in-house applications lab that can analyze and test a customer’s component parts in order to provide a solution.

The old-school method of selling was all about numbers – the more calls you made, the greater chance for success. In today’s competitive market, customers only have time for salespeople who quickly demonstrate they understand their business and can provide solutions that deliver cost savings.

While it is still about numbers to some extent, it’s more about demonstrating value for the customer. That can only be accomplished by defining who the target audience is with careful research. Once that is done, distributors can concentrate on providing a complete solution for their customers.

Jeff Welday is vice president of sales for Weiler Corporation. Reach him at jwelday@weilercorp.com or learn more about Weiler at www.weilercorp.com.

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