Building Relationships in Packaging

How important is building relationships in the packaging machinery industry? Vitally! Relationships are critical to the buying and selling of packaging machinery. A production plant must keep their packaging lines running efficiently. The decision to purchase a new machine is based on need and ROI. As in most industries, there are numerous available products that claim to accomplish the task required of the new machine. The final purchase decision may depend on a single individual, or a committee charged with finding the solution. In either case, the amount of money being spent, combined with the importance of getting the exactly right machine, require a strong level of ‘comfort’ that the final decision is correct.

No two packaging lines are exactly alike, so it is not always possible to compare a machine that works exceptionally well for one company’s packaging line and assume it will do the same for another. The purchaser is often dependent upon the salesperson to have the knowledge of what model machine and what options on the machine will exactly fill their production line needs. This requires a level of trust that is only possible when the salesperson has proven themselves to the buyer. The purchaser and seller need to have built a relationship that now becomes a partnership in the process of commissioning the machinery that will be a success for both parties. They are in effect co-dependents needing to be assured that each will deliver the requirements to complete the sales process, machine build, installation, and successful startup to complete the cycle.

None of the above would ever begin to start without a strong relationship between the buyer and seller. You may take a chance and purchase a $200 tool that is recommended to help you do your job from someone you don’t know well, but you won’t put your job on the line, risk hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the ultimate failure of a non-producing, down production line, without having a solid relationship with your salesperson.

Visit NEM’s website at www.neminc.com for a link to an interview regarding this topic between the author and Kevin Price, radio host of The Price of Business. The Price of Business is the longest running show of its kind in Houston, it is on Bloomberg’s Home in Houston, Business Talk 1110 AM KTEK.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery 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.