Looking for Advise on Marketing Small Eng. Co. 1

[M1Can]

I am new to Eng-Tips and have spent a fair amount of time over the past few days browsing through different forums. I think it is great. One area that my company is struggling with (which also has been covered thoroughly in past threads) is sales and marketing for a small engineering company.

I have two questions that I would appreciate feedback on:

1) My company is basically composed of several technical people and sales is a role none of us is comfortable with. Previous discussions in these forums suggested that you need a salesperson to open the door and gain access to the engineers at the prospective customers. Being a small company we cannot afford a full time salesperson (at this time).

Are there salespeople available for this role on a parttime basis (ie salespeople that represent several companies)? If so has anyone had experience with them and was it positive? Where do you find such a service , I've tried search engines but never had any luck?

2)We are considering setting up a Website. In general is it worthwhile establishing a website? Does a website generate any leads ? Any advice would be appreciated.


Thankyou in Advance,

Mark Carman
M1 Engineering

 

[JAE]

Mark, I would say that marketing - for a small co. like yours, is almost 100% personal relationships. You will be in a situation where you are selling yourselves, your talents, your attitude, your service, etc. to clients who inevitably need to trust your judgement and work.

With a sales-front-man you won't be able to adequately achieve this level of trust. Sales isn't necessarily "Smiling Sam the Used Car Dealer" with all kinds of tricks and methods for closing the sale. In engineering it is much more substantial and based on your ability to show a client good response time, empathy for their projects (their problem is your problem), etc.

This may take time to knock on doors and simply speak with people....something technically oriented people aren't always comfortable with - but you starting a business must include the personal or I think it will fail.

 

[amorrison]

Customers/clients like to talk/deal with people
who are at the same level of technical expertise as themselves.

ie.

Engineers >>>>>>>>>>Engineers
Technologists>>>>>>>Technologists
Tradesmen>>>>>>>>>>>Tradesmen
Goofballs>>>>>>>>>>>Goofballs

 

[zdas04]

When I was a consumer of engineering services, I never dealt with a salesman of those services. Not once. Never.

For a fledgling business, not only is hiring a salesman a significant expense, it will certainly result in some doors closing with great force and incredible permanancy.

When I started my business in 2003, I began by calling everyone in my rolodex, building a web page that has gotten pretty good reviews (and several jobs), budgeting 2 hours a day to eng-tips.com (which has resulted in some work) and cold-calling companies that weren't in my rolodex. Each technique added work until I now have be very careful about the deadlines I commit to.

Having industry publications and being active in professional societies is also a big help.



David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

http://www.muleshoe-eng.com

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

The Plural of "anecdote" is not "data"

 

[buzzp]

Dont discount salesman. What your after is a sales representative. Someone with all the contacts already in the field that handles multiple lines from different vendors. These people can bring a lot to the table for increasing sales since they generally have an established client base. They are generally paid a commission for sales made in their territory or for sales they are directly involved with (depends on how you set it up). Of course, if your only offering engineering services this may not be of much help.
About the web page, do it right or dont do it. I get totally turned off by generic web pages where it is obvious that 30 minutes was spent on it using some template. Customers want information. Make it an informative stop packed full of info related to what you do (at the expense of letting your competitors know your 'inof' as well).

 

[INBCPE]

I own 1/3 of a design-build construction firm, and here's how we do it. I do the engineering, estimating, CAD, and set up the projects. A project manager takes over the build portion once a PO is issued. Another partner handles purchasing, finance, safety, IT and HR. The other partner is pure salesman, a king of the soft sell. He researches the market and generates his own leads. He then makes contact with the prospective client and cultivates/manages the relationship until a solid inquiry comes in the door. He then sets up a meeting, and I take it from there. After that, once the repeat business starts after the first project, the client calls me as the primary contact. This way, I never worry about having to sell, and I can concentrate on engineering. All I have to do is keep up with the inquiries and either say "no" or multiply by 1.25 when there's too much work.

 

[greenone]

Mark-I work in small consulting company (7 people), and we have a website. I don't believe any of our leads come from the website, but it does provide a place for a potential client to check out our services prior to calling us, if they have been referred to us. I think having it makes us seem a bit more "real". So many people now are used to doing a web search for info, including me. I like to check out who is in the company and what their experience is, which can be done with a simple website. An investment of a couple thousand $ is worth it, IMHO.

 

[jjeng2]

I started my company a little over a year ago...
rule #1: It takes some time to get busy and build networks and relationships. I have been marketing and selling like crazy for a year and am just getting really busy now.
rule #2: NOTHING beats referralls and networking. Personally connecting with people any way you can is best. Doing a fantastic job for your clients is key. Then they will sell you. Join a networking group. There are several. BNI International, LeTip, etc.
rule #3: Dont be discouraged by success rates of other marketing methods. I sent out hundreds of letters and got 2 steady clients from them. But over the course of a year those clients have referred people who have referred people, etc.
rule #4: I think a website is essential. Get a professional looking website and work hard to get it noticed. Adwords, overture, and findwhat have pay per click advertising. It is relatively inexpensive and a great way to establish a prescence.