Electronics Manufacturer Closes $2 Million in New Business

Choosing Between Internal and Outsourced

The company realized they either had to invest in an outsourced relationship or develop the “hunting” capabilities internally, which could be time-consuming and costly. In the end, the company decided to outsource and turned to partner with Athena SWC.

Different From All The Others

Athena SWC, which specializes in front-end sales and lead generation in complex manufacturing selling environments, approached the EMS company and its highly skeptical CEO. He was frequently contacted by companies offering lead generation services, and he wasn’t convinced their models were right for his company.

However, there was something different about Athena’s offer that stood out. Athena had experience in the EMS industry and understood the market. The CEO was also impressed with its unique, proven process model that delivered highly qualified leads that met the company’s specific profiling criteria.

Electronics Manufacturing is a process dependent industry, and the structured, repeatable and measurable methodology, along with a dedicated infrastructure to support the program, gave the CEO confidence in Athena’s ability to deliver on its goals.

Working the Process

During the kickoff meeting, the Athena team sat down with the EMS team to get a better understanding of the company sales culture, its offerings, its key differentiators, and its customers. Armed with this valuable information, Athena’s team returned to their office to put this knowledge to work for them.

Athena’s creative team put together marketing materials that would be used for the program, and its research team developed a qualified prospect list based on the company’s profiling criteria, which included contact titles as well as company market segment, applications, revenue, and geographical locations.

Once the list was approved, initial contact with the prospects began with hard copies of a sales letter, which introduced the EMS company, touched on industry pains, and offered a differentiated solution, and a brochure that gave more specific details on the EMS company’s service offerings. In addition, a precisely crafted, visually appealing email was sent to prospects.

A few days later, this was followed up with phone calls from Athena’s Senior Marketing Associates, who were dedicated to the account and spoke to the prospects as a representative of the EMS company. By sending the letter, brochure, and email first, the prospect had recent familiarity with the company and if they had a need, would be more responsive to having a meeting. This continued on a monthly basis. Those who had no immediate need and opted in were moved to a longer-term nurture relationship-building effort as a way to keep the EMS company name front of mind for when a need does arise. As part of the process, the Senior Marketing Associate gathered market data on the industry’s needs to feedback to the client.

In addition, the program has a preventative action component built-in. Results of all activities are tracked and reported, and the program is evaluated on a regular basis. If a component of the program does not meet the set expectation, a corrective action and process improvement is put into place.