Since Corona struck the world, the business environment and people’s feelings have changed drastically, and as a factory / business operator, we have been struggling to respond to these changes and, if possible, turn them into “opportunities”. think.
Corona’s “movement restrictions” issue is tied to “corporate risk management” and will remain persistent, with at least a percentage of meetings going “online”. So what can we do to turn the world of “not moving” into an opportunity?
What if offline can actually go online?
If you can go online what you used to do offline, you can continue to do the same. If you can “meet online” and “support factory inspections online”, we can continue to provide meetings and factory information.
Is this an “existing extension”? I don’t think so.
Before the advent of E-mail, there was only “mail”. Letters and E-mail are tools for the same purpose, but they have changed the way of communication just because “E-mail is more frequent than letters”.
Amazon did not bring a real bookstore to the internet. At the real bookstore, every time a new book comes out, the unsold book is returned and the new book is put forward. There are restrictions on the shelves. If it sells well, take a large shelf area. Real bookstores have a high sales composition ratio of “selling books”.
Amazon’s business model doesn’t consist of “selling books.” Rather, we make sales by assorting a large number of “old books” that can no longer be found in real bookstores.
When we think about the manufacturing industry, there are “regional type” and “non-regional type” in the manufacturing industry. The non-regional type is a business model in which work can be brought in from all over Japan and the world by boasting an overwhelming market share in ultra-niche fields and expanding the trade area.
Many are “regional”. When we hear that “mass-produced products have flowed overseas and prototypes have remained in Japan,” the reason for the discussion is that “prototyping requires close discussions.” “Regional business” is possible because it was once thought that it could only be done offline.
But maybe you can do what you thought you could only do offline? I think that is the situation now.
There were cheaper meeting tools like Zoom, but I only used new ones. Now that “Why don’t you meet at Zoom?” Has become a common word in Corona, I think this is the most impactful question.
Does “close meeting” really need to be “close in distance”? I think that the future of the regional small and medium-sized manufacturing industry will change considerably depending on how we deal with this question.
Use "online factory tour" as a sales tool
What to show during a factory tour
In online factory tours and factory tours, what the participants want to know is different from what they want to show. Take an inventory of your company’s strengths and think first about what you should show during a factory inspection. Please also refer to how to find the theme of the online factory tour .
What to use when showing the factory remotely
I use meeting apps such as Zoom and smartphones. It’s a good idea to have a selfie stick and a stabilizer to prevent camera shake on your smartphone. For more information, please see the ” Online Factory Tour Implementation Checklist “.
Practice of online factory inspection
It’s not difficult to hold a simple meeting online, but the situation inside the factory is different from that of a conference room.
Depending on the location of the equipment, it may be difficult to get WiFi, and it may be noisy and you may not be able to talk to the customer. We will experiment and pick up issues to see what it will look like when we actually guide the factory through a smartphone.
Approach to existing customers
First of all, let’s guide existing customers to the online factory tour.
Use BowNow or e-mail newsletter distribution software to send e-mails to your existing business cards. “We will visit the factory online. ● Month ● Sun …” This is not a new customer, but an existing customer. Why approach existing customers before new customers?
It is said that the effort to develop new customers and the effort to acquire reorders from existing customers is 5: 1, that is, it is five times more difficult to develop new customers. Let’s start by digging up existing customers. For example, do you know that an orderer who always orders machined products can also process resin at your company? Surprisingly, customers do not know every detail of your business.
In addition, the ordering party whose order volume has decreased due to the corona disaster may feel the need to “narrow down” the subcontractors. Let’s strengthen communication and increase “presence” as a candidate supplier.
phone
Even if you send an email, it may not respond well. If there is no application, call the orderer who “wants to strengthen”. We planned an online factory tour, and if your company has any processing issues, we would like to introduce you to our equipment again while discussing it. How about about 30 minutes?
Here, 30 minutes online is very strong. If it doesn’t work at all and you can collect information in about 30 minutes, some companies may want to give it a try.
New development from existing customers
Next, we will sort out existing customers and see if there are any that have multiple offices. Then, find a destination that “has a transaction with one business establishment but no transaction with another business establishment”.
Then call the office where you have a transaction. “I decided to do an online factory tour, but I would like other offices to see it, but can I send you a guide?” This is traced from existing customers. It is an activity to develop connections.
New development
The last is complete new customer development. By the way, approaching a completely new customer is called “cold call” in English. It’s cold. It’s not that easy to find a complete new customer. That is why being able to use the “online factory tour” as an excuse contributes to new development as a story.
We will list the conditions of the company you want to develop as a new customer, and carry out e-mail, fax DM, tele appointment, etc.
For a list of companies, it is better to use the “Manufacturing Platform”, which has a database of manufacturing companies such as “Ipros”, “NC Network (Emidas Factory Search)”, and “Jegtech”, and can be searched under specific conditions. ..
BowNow, a ma tool, also contributes to building a list of new pioneers. Please contact us.
