Tuesday, December 21, 2010

New England Machinery Holiday Wishes

2010 was a year of challenges, excitement, opportunity and growth for New England Machinery. Our wonderful customers challenged us to be more innovative, allowing us to tap into the creative genius of our employees and make improvements in our machinery. It was an exciting time of meeting new customers, focusing on unique product requirements and learning about new technologies. New England Machinery is fortunate to literally have a world of opportunity available to us to assist production plants in increasing their productivity while decreasing expenses. Our staff has grown this past year and we have welcomed several new employees to our ‘family’.

We all look forward to 2011 for another year of growing bigger and better while serving our customers both old and new. Our best wishes to all for a wonderful holiday season and a healthy, happy and productive New Year.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The Right Marketing Mix

What is the ‘right marketing mix’? There really is no one mix that works for every company and every product. The important point is to actually have a ‘mix’. No matter what product you sell, your customers are not going to find you through only one method. The first step in finding the right mix for you is to list all the potential options. These might include advertising (direct mail, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, billboards, internet, etc.) trade shows (local, international, industry specific, etc.) sponsorships (sport events, trade events, fairs, etc.), website (search engine optimization, links, blogs, twitter, facebook, etc.), newsletter (direct mail, on-line), videos (You Tube, website links, CDs, DVDs), public relations (speaking engagements, press releases, charity work, whitepapers, etc.) networking (joining industry organizations), partnering (alliances, joint ventures, etc.).

Once you have listed all the potential marketing methods go through the list and cross off any that are inappropriate for your product/industry. Next go back over the list and give a point value to the items that are left. The more they work for your product/industry the higher the point value. Now re-arrange the list with the highest points on top. You now have a list of the marketing mix that works best for your company and the point values will assist you in distributing your marketing budget accordingly.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Selling Through Stories

What is the one thing that almost universally people will take the time to listen to? It is an interesting story. Have you ever met an individual who always has a crowd of people around them and the crowd it all listening to that person speak? That individual is an accomplished ‘story teller’. People don’t want to hear others talk about themselves unless they are telling a compelling story. Everyone enjoys a good story. The story must have an interesting cast of characters, a strong plot, lots of action, and a ‘happy ending’. If you can master the art of story-telling about your product, you will drastically increase your sales.

Start by collecting stories about how your product made a difference to the customers who purchased it. Write them down with the correct facts. Don’t embellish or make up something that is not true or did not happen. This is a critical point. If a potential customer checks on your story, it must be correct or you will lose that customer’s faith in you. After you have written the story down, practice telling it to your family and friends, or tell it to yourself in the mirror. Ask your friends and family to critique your story-telling ability.

When telling your product stories to customers, remember to be considerate of their time. Don’t get so wrapped up in the stories that you talk too much and don’t listen to them. One or two short stories should be all you tell in a visit. Make sure to have plenty of time to ask them how the story you tell relates to their experiences. That is the whole crux of the story-telling experience. If the customer can relate to the story, they will relate to your product and their need for it.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

New Marketing Sensation!

I attended a seminar a few years ago for a company that made corporate videos. They explained that in order to get your message across – and effectively make your point – you have to entertain at the same time you are educating your customers. In order to keep them focused long enough to learn more about your company and the benefits of your products/services, you need to capture their attention and make them want to see what will happen next. The company that was creating the videos was using a power point presentation that they slightly animated. They had a great idea, but their end result just didn’t follow through for me.

I used their basic concept and decided we needed a video that would really keep our customers watching to see the entertaining vignettes, while at the same time, informing them about the benefits of our products. As I spend a lot of time with my five year old granddaughter watching cartoons and children’s shows, it didn’t take too long for me to put the two together to come up with the right mix for our company.

We were fortunate to have both a great in-house videographer/graphic artist and an outside media specialist to help in making our first New England Machinery Marvelous Movie. It is a fantastic hit! Everyone who watches it enjoys it immensely. It is not your average corporate video. To view the video on You Tube go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgfbry0SW3k

Make sure to send the link to your friends and family to enjoy as well.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at http://www.neminc.com/.