ISA Marketing & Sales Summit

This topic will be presented at the ISA Marketing and Sales Summit by Jennifer Soto ,  Marketing Communications Manager of Spectra Sensors.

It becomes increasingly important for a company to quickly relay information in fast paced society. It is no longer good enough to have a nice looking website or be found on Google. You need to retain customers on your site for more than 30 seconds but how do you do that?

There are three basic rules to designing site architecture to keep people on your site:

1. Building a site that solves your customers problems
2. Building a navigation structure which is simple and consistent
3. Content, Content, Content!

Building a site that solves your customer’s problems

As a rule of thumb for all marketers, your customers do not wake up saying, “I want to spend money on a gas analyzer today” or a flow meter or whatever you are selling. If they are looking on your website, it is due to a need they have to fill not a want.

Building a navigation structure which is simple and consistent

Your navigation must answer a few questions: Where am I? Where do I go next? Where is home? Common mistakes are changing your navigation structure on different pages or on different sections of your site, having poorly named links so your customer does not know where to go next and no consistent link back to your home page.

You should always build a navigation based on what makes sense to your customer not what makes sense to you. Navigation should read like a book, there should be an introduction to your product or service, description on how it solves your customer’s problems and a way for your customer to contact you.

Do not use icons in your navigation, do not try to be “clever” and try to put a link back to your home page in a location which is not standard. Make it easy, remember you want them to find everything quickly because the moment they don’t, they will leave to a competitor who will serve their needs.

Content, content, content!

Who is your target audience, what is there problem, how are you going to fix it? What information will you give them that will cause them to visit your site a second, third, fourth time?

Make sure you are presenting technically correct information and ensure that the information is the most up-to-date information you can give your customers. You don’t want them to reach the final step of contacting you and you have to tell them you no longer carry that product. You will automatically discredit yourself and the rest of the information on your site.

This topic will be presented by Jay Jeffreys and Rusty Steele from Schneider Electric

There are 3 major aspects to delivering complete business process solutions in the MES space (or any complex software domain, for that matter):

[1] creating and supporting the software product itself, and staying in business while doing so,

[2] matching and managing local market and commercial requirements against what a vendor can deliver, and staying in business while doing so, and

[3] creating and delivering individual business process solutions for specific customer needs –  and staying in business while doing that!

And it seems that a person or organization can be good at one or two of those things – but very seldom all three! So I think we ought to address in general [1] the business of software, [2] the business of software distribution, and [3] the business of system integration.

About Schneider Electric

As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial process control and SCADA/MES, building automation, and data centers/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company’s 100,000 plus employees achieved sales of more than 15.8 billion euros in 2009, through an active commitment to help individuals and organizations “Make the most of their energy”.

About  Jay Jeffreys and Rusty Steele

Jay is the Channel Program Manager for the Citect business unit of Schneider Electric.   Rusty is the MES Business Manager at Schneider Electric.   He has 22 years experience in marketing and sales of automation products/services to utility and industrial markets.   For more information on Schneider Electric visit http://www.schneider-electric.com.

Julie Fraser from Cambashi Inc. and Rick Albrecht from Dynatech Control Solutions will be presenting on this topic at the Sales and Marketing Summit.

Julie Fraser is the President & Principal Industry Analyst, Cambashi Inc.  With offices in the UK and USA, Cambashi is focused on assisting providers of information technology and applications to better equip customers in value-adding industries to prosper in the information economy. By developing growth strategies, Cambashi helps their clients create new jobs and bring economic improvement to their communities and countries as well as drive the development of new products, buildings, utilities and services that keep the economy moving.

How many times have you eagerly told a prospect about your products only to have them say, “So what?”  Everyone wants to avoid that wet blanket during a sales call.  This will be an open discussion forum about consultative selling, also sometimes called solution selling.  The concept is to ask what they want rather than telling them what you’ve got. This requires a concerted effort on the part of the salespeople, but also the marketing and sales readiness or training teams.

How is it going for you?

Please come and share what is working for you, what you have learned, and in a safe environment, also discuss what the challenges and frustrations are.  We will discuss whatever you want, but some of the topics might include:

• What does it take to move beyond training and use this approach on every sales call?
• Is it uncomfortable to listen first rather than “feature puking”?  What tricks do you use to open up the prospect to tell you relevant information on what they need?
• How do you react when the prospects’ responses don’t point clearly to one of your products or solutions?
• What do you need from marketing to help create these openings for conversation?
• How do you prepare for a consultative sales call?
• What are some keys to helping the prospect take action and make the changes involved in using your products?

Rick Albrecht is a Sales Engineer for Dynatech Control Solutions.   DynaTech brings quality instrumentation for flow measurement, level measurement, pressure measurement, temperature measurement, chemical process, water & wastewater analysis.  They supply the highest quality flow meters, level transmitters, pressure transmitters, annunciators, temperature transmitters, signal conditioning, IS barriers, gas and flame detectors, real-time process controls and automation systems to service your needs.

We are pleased to announce that industry analyst and marketing firm Cambashi is a new sponsor for the ISA Marketing & Sales Summit!

Cambashi is passionate about helping IT companies succeed, and their customers gain an edge.  Well-known industry analyst Julie Fraser works in a team providing deep expertise in the manufacturing technology market. Julie covers all manufacturing applications, with specialties in the manufacturing execution and process automation space.

Julie will be making a presentation at the Summit with Rick Albrecht of Dynatech Controls to discuss “Avoiding the “So What” Response in a Sales Situation: Open Discussion Forum on Consultative Selling”.

Cambashi Services
With offices in the UK and USA, Cambashi is focused on assisting providers of information technology and applications to better equip customers in value-adding industries to prosper in the information economy. By developing growth strategies, Cambashi helps their clients create new jobs and bring economic improvement to their communities and countries as well as drive the development of new products, buildings, utilities and services that keep the economy moving.

Cambashi’s clients get access to the latest industry analysis, research, data, insights, presence and knowledge to help make sound decisions and take effective action.

Cambashi’s offerings span the entire marketing and sales lifecycle: