Expert's Panel

A collection of timely and important topics posed to our panel of experts.

How do you promote advantages when you are not the leader in the field, especially when your advantages are service, commitment to customer satisfaction, etc. These are things that are not tangible and often overlooked.

 (ep1084)
1. You are dealing with a small customer base and the number of decision makers is quite small. You have to get your story very clear. You have to have your story in the valley where the caribou are going. If you have your story is in the valley where the caribou are not going you can talk all you want to but the caribou won't come. You start with the proper clear message and then go out and present it, present it, present it. If you are large enough you pay for some space to present it—then you can make your case to a much larger number of people. When we started Mattson we didn't have any money. We did a lot of traveling and went to key people. We talked and listened and adjusted and then positioned, positioned, positioned until people began to get it.
2. That connotes that you have a "value proposition" that will really sell. You need to be on a par with the key competition and wrap it with some things that are better. Look for opportunities. The big guy is never going to do it all right. Right now there is an unnamed major player in the industry that has spare parts problems. That is an opportunity that is going to let somebody come in and take advantage of that "soft spot".