SOLUTIONS

SALES, MARKETING AND CUSTOMER COMMUNICATION IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

By Dianna Brodine, managing editor, The American Mold Builder

Relationships are at the heart of successful sales and marketing activities, and ongoing customer relationships rely on effective and consistent communication. The COVID-19 pandemic has simultaneously increased the need for sales and marketing activities and reduced accessibility to customers and prospects.

During a recent AMBA webinar roundtable discussion, sales and marketing executives from AMBA active and supplier member companies offered insights into the “new normal” at their organizations. The conversations provided assurances that many of the mold builders across the US are in the same uncomfortable situations, but also provided new ideas for those looking for a creative spark that could increase customer and prospect communications.

WHAT DO CUSTOMER VISITS LOOK LIKE? Before March 2020, mold builders were on the road. Whether calling on potential customers down the street, across the state or around the country, prospecting activities were driving quoting activity and filling the pipeline with future projects. Just as important, sales staff and company executives were visiting current customers to enhance relationships, inquire about new business and perform mold tryouts. Today, mold builders are finding success with a combination of onsite visits (where allowed), virtual meetings and unique concepts that drive interest and meet customers where they feel most comfortable.

On-site and Virtual Mike Heatherington (Franchino Mold & Engineering) said about 20% of the company’s customers are allowing Franchino staff to come in for on-site visits. “Some of the people we’re going in to see have had management changes during COVID-19, so they’re incentivized to get their new people in to meet with us,” he said. But, the majority of the mold builder’s customers are not allowing face-to-face visits, so the company has turned to phone and virtual solutions. “We’re using a lot of Teams and Go To Meeting, depending on what our customers use, so we’re using a host of different platforms,” Heatherington explained. “Our customers have had good availability to talk to us…. Communication with most of them has been very good.”

Ben Franzen (Heritage Mold, Inc.) is finding that customers are allowing visits when it comes to mold delivery. “When we finish a mold, I deliver it and wait there while they’re sampling it,” he explained. “We wear face masks.” Heritage Mold also serves customers located outside of the US and, with international travel curtailed, those conversations are happening virtually.

Don Dumoulin (Precise Tooling Solutions) said his staff is seeing an increase in those companies allowing in-person visits. “We’re out seeing customers whenever we can,” he said. “Normally, it would be six to eight sales calls per day, but it’s at 50% of that right now – so we’re making headway.” Dumoulin explained that one issue hampering on-site sales visits is the unavailability of leadership staff. While plant personnel are hard at work on the production floor, leadership teams may be working from home to reduce the potential spread of coronavirus. The Precise Tooling team also is using Microsoft Teams “somewhat effectively” to reach customers around the country.

Unique Concepts Hillary Coombs (Westminster Tool) said Westminster opened its doors in July to let customers come back in for mold samplings or other visits, but the company still hasn’t had many customers opening their doors to Westminster. Coombs instituted “Caffeinate and Connect” to catch up with both suppliers and customers.

Caffeinate and Connect was a 30- to 45-minute virtual event where customers could sign up via an online calendar and schedule a time to meet with their chosen sales representative. Conversations were conducted via Zoom with video. Coombs said it was an opportunity to update those who participated on “what was new here, if we purchased new equipment or brought anyone on,” she said. “And, we asked them the same. Then, we sent everyone who participated a Starbucks gift card to refill their coffee mug for having a chat with us.” About 80% of Westminster’s suppliers participated and 35% to 40% of our customers participated. Coombs noted that supplier interactions were equally important as customer participation because Westminster was unable to participate in two tradeshows that would help the company to deepen its supplier relationships.

Tony Brodzeller (Mastip) ran with an idea from a previous sales and marketing roundtable discussion. He has had “great luck” with off-site, outdoor lunches with customers at parks or restaurants with outside seating. “Prospecting continues to be a little trickier, but some people seem more open to have conversations or virtual

meetings,” he said. “If they need something, they’ll let us in, but from a sales perspective, it’s certainly been harder.”

Geri Anderson (M.R. Mold & Engineering) acknowledged the unique difficulties presented by COVID-19, particularly for a company like M.R. Mold where only 1% of its customers are located in its home state of California. In addition, Anderson resides in Chicago, which has strict quarantine restrictions if she were to go to any of 18 states for customer visits. “I’ve also been doing email to promote the company, which has been pretty successful. I’m hoping the content and the way it is presented is engaging.” Anderson focuses each email on telling a story about the company – “who we are and what we do,” she explained. “I’ve been taking content from our website and putting that into email blasts. It seems to spark quite a bit of interest. We got an RFQ with 13 parts the other day, and that was in direct response to the email blast.”

IS IT POSSIBLE TO DO VIRTUAL MOLD TRIALS? Mold tryouts are a critical step in the production process – typically required before final mold approvals. But, with many manufacturing companies feeling cautious about allowing outside visitors, some have gotten creative with virtual mold trials.

David Johnson (M.R. Mold & Engineering) investigated the idea of doing virtual mold trials using a tablet that could run meeting software and be set up next to the machine. This way, the cameras could see the mold activity and interact with the operator through the camera. “Nothing came of it,” he said, “but we want to reinvestigate the idea.”

Don Dumoulin (Precise Tooling Solutions) encouraged those participating in the roundtable discussion. “We have done six or seven tools that way,” he said. “We had as many as 14 people from all over the world on one of them recently.” Precise Tooling staff used an iPhone to facilitate the video trial by setting it up on a tripod by the press. The customer’s staff watched the mold run via Zoom as the Precise engineers pulled parts off for a couple of hours. The customer requested a number of measurements, and those also were on video. Dumoulin explained that his team moved the tripod around so the customer could see settings on the machine or watch the operations. “We didn’t use multiple screens or anything fancy. It was a threehour engagement, but the customer was pleased,” he added.

Ben Franzen (Heritage Mold, Inc.) added, “We do a similar process using an iPhone. We haven’t had it go live, but I take videos and send those videos to our customers. After they see that it’s running properly and in a cycle that they like, we do a PPAP on it, make any adjustments and then do another video.”

HOW DO YOU PROSPECT FOR NEW CUSTOMERS? Existing relationships with existing customers are easier to maintain in these challenging times. How well do cold calls and emails to prospective customers work when many of these targets are working from home, going full speed ahead on COVID-related projects or – worse – scrambling to fill production gaps?

Video meetings Mark Strobel (Xcentric Mold & Engineering) said his sales team witnessed an evolution in contacting new customers. “When this all first started, cold calling was met with resistance on the recipient’s part, but as this has gone on, people wanted to speak,” he said. “They were getting lonely in isolation.” Strobel said, in his experience, more people are willing to do Zoom meetings. “We have some salespeople just doing cold calls to set up meetings, and then those are taking place via Zoom,” he added.

It’s worth noting that very few individuals in the mold and tooling industries were comfortable with video calls prior to March 2020. As the restrictions associated with the pandemic have stretched on, video interactions have become commonplace. In December 2019, Zoom had 10 million users… by April 2020, more than 300 million had signed up for the service.

Face-to-Face Bill Perkins (M&M Tool & Mold) said, “We’ve had no luck in getting in to see customers or prospects, but then I had a great idea – to see if they would meet me out front for 10 or 15 minutes. It’s a good way to do social distancing, and it’s good to get some face-to-face time.” Perkins also said he starts his cold calls by doing research on LinkedIn to find the names and photos of others in the company that he might interact with, such as a receptionist. “When you have a name, it’s easier to make a connection, and you go from being a sales guy to being a human being.”

Erica Whitby (Precise Tooling Solutions) echoed the sentiment. “We struggled with the same thing – to get face-to-face, especially with new customers,” she said. “With existing customers, I have been able to get in front of a few of them by meeting at parks or golf outings.” She said it’s important to find different ways to get in front of prospects without having to go to their facilities, since many aren’t open to visitors. “I’ve been doing a lot of research to see what’s open in certain areas,” she added.

Cheryl Richardson (Punch Industry USA) sent an email blast to current customers and offered a Zoom call or, depending on the customer’s preference, a visit. When trying to reach prospective customers, Richardson said she has been more aggressive with phone calls. “This isn’t going to go away, so we have to change what we’re doing. In the last month or so, we realized we aren’t going back to business as usual.”

LinkedIn Renee Hillman (Byrne Tool + Design) said Byrne Toole has been using LinkedIn and Facebook to generate new interest, although page 18

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the company is slowly stopping its use of Facebook due to a lack of results. “We’re also redoing our website right now, and doing a lot of cold calls,” she added.

Cheryl Richardson (Punch Industry USA) has created a spreadsheet of new contacts she has connected to on LinkedIn. “They connect because they’re home,” she said. “Before when I would reach out – and it was sporadic because I was on the road – I wouldn’t get a response. But now, I get so many people connecting and sharing some information.” While the interactions don’t always result in a meeting, Richardson said every piece of information becomes a building block for future conversations. She added, “I also look to see who they’re connected to. Who knows who? Who is supplying who?” This information helps her fill in some blanks about how best to approach potential customers.

Unique Ideas David Kachoi (Thal Precision) said, “The best thing to have in marketing is email addresses. When sending communications to that list, the content has to help them in some way and has to be presented in a way that is very clear, is easy to understand and is super compelling, which is way easier to say than actually do.” (Read more about this on page 24.) But, what if the sales team’s database doesn’t contain those email addresses?

Ed Francis (Crystallume) has started to evaluate ZoomInfo. “It provides the phone number and emails for contacts within companies you’re trying to target,” he said.

Rachael Pfenniger (American Mold Builders Association), mentioned a plug-in for LinkedIn called Skrapp to help gather email addresses. “We have a lot of members who have used it at one point or another,” she said. Other lead generation possibilities include TopSpot, which uses an SEO-driven approach; LeadLander, which generates analytics for website visitors; and targeted, geographically focused Facebook advertising.

TAKE THE NEXT STEP While COVID-19 has created a variety of problems, new and creative opportunities have arisen in the communication arena for those who want to reach out to customers and prospects. The pandemic is forcing everyone outside of their comfort zones, but perhaps it’s just what was needed to break into a different market or finally crack the front office of the No. 1 company on a target list. n

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[1] TOOLING TECH GROUP RELEASES BROCHURE ON MODULAR AUTOMATION CELL Tooling Tech Group (TTG), Macomb, Michigan, a manufacturer of custom automated systems, has released a brochure describing its FLEXBASE standardized modular automation cells. The FLEXBASE systems can be configured as a standalone, automated workstation with manual loading and unloading, or linked together to quickly create a complete automated assembly line. The brochure provides technical specifications on the FLEXBASE units and the variety of automated processes the cells can be configured to perform, with technical diagrams and photos of the systems. The brochure can be downloaded from the company’s website. For more information, visit www.toolingtechgroup.com/flexbase.

[2] HEIDENHAIN’S TURNPWR CONTROL BY ACU-RITE MAKES DEBUT Motion control feedback solutions provider HEIDENHAIN, Schaumburg, Illinois, presents the ACU-RITE brand TURNPWR control. The new TURNPWR control is a workshop-oriented turning control that enables the user to program conventional machining operations right at the machine in a conversational programming language. It is designed for turning machine tools with up to two axes. TURNPWR promises to enable the user to maximize throughput by significantly reducing set-up time, scrap and other nonproductive operations, thereby increasing efficiency, productivity and profitability. For more information, visit www.heidenhain.us.

MEUSBURGER OFFERS BUILD-IN CYLINDER WITH FLANGE Parts provider Meusburger, Wolfurt, Austria, offers the compact build-in cylinder with flange, ideal for small installation spaces. It can be installed quickly, and the two-step installation hole protects the sealing during installation. New in the range is the build-in cylinder with flange with a piston diameter of 20 mm. Both surface and flush installation are possible. In addition to the existing piston diameters of 16, 25, 32, and 40 mm, the 20 mm diameter with strokes of 10, 20, and 40 mm is available from stock. For more information, visit www.meusburger.com.

PCS ANNOUNCES MOLD X CHECKER AND CABLE X CHECKER PCS Company, Fraser, Michigan, a provider of products and services for plastic injection molding, moldmaking and die casting, has announced the expansion of its molding solutions options. The following new products are available off the shelf: Mold X Checker, a diagnostic tool to detect open and shorted circuits in hot runner systems that saves maintenance time and reduces time over the old way of checking for shorts and measuring ohms; and Cable X Checker, for troubleshooting temperature control cables that may not be functioning properly and ensuring accurate testing by diagnosing faulty or damaged wiring. For more information, visit www.pcs-company.com.

[3] OPEN MIND INTRODUCES HYPERMILL ® 2020.2 CAD/CAM SOFTWARE SUITE OPEN MIND Technologies AG, Wessling, Germany, a developer of CAD/CAM software solutions, has introduced its latest hyperMILL ® 2020.2 CAD/CAM software suite, which offers features for efficient 3D and 5-axis machining. New features include the addition of plunge-milling cycles to the 3D and 5-axis strategies for machining cutting edges. Material is removed by plunging movements to reduce vibration and improve surface finish. When 5-axis machining, undercut areas also can be reached by specifying the lateral inclination on the tilted tool. By specifying a distance, circular or linear movement profile, the tool is optimally retracted from the part. For more information, visit www.openmind-tech.com.

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[4] ROLLOMATIC SPOTLIGHTS 5‐AXIS PINCH/PEEL GRINDER Rollomatic, Inc., a machine tool manufacturer based in Le Landeron, Switzerland, offers the new ShapeSmart ® model NP50 pinch/peel grinding machine. The ShapeSmart ® model NP50 offers patented options for pinch grinding non-round parts that now offer higher accuracy and speed. The non-round process includes full pinch/ peel grinding, which ensures high tolerances, form accuracy and the lowest TIR achievable. This is particularly important for exceptionally thin and long parts. Oblong punches, form punches, squares out of center, corner radii and any other shape can be produced with this method. For more information visit www.RollomaticUSA.com.

[5] GROB OFFERS ACCESS SERIES 5-AXIS UNIVERSAL MACHINING CENTERS AND PSS-L AUTOMATION SOLUTION GROB Systems, Bluffton, Ohio, a developer of manufacturing systems and machine tools, has announced its new 5-axis universal machining center series, the Access series, and PSS-L automation solution. The Access Series includes the G350a and G550a, which include a rigid horizontal spindle axis optimally positioned close to the operating point with guaranteed maximum accuracy and precision. The new PSS-L linear pallet storage system is a modular system that delivers a significant increase in machine utilization and economic production, as well as longer unmanned production periods. For more information, visit www.grobgroup.com/en/.

HASCO OFFERS CAD DATA FOR SOLIDWORKS ® , COOLCROSS Z99 SERIES Machine tool accessory manufacturer HASCO, Lüdenscheid, Germany, has announced a native CAD database for SolidWorks®. The native data – generated in the original CAD system – features installation spaces that can be included in the individual design with a few clicks, together with the geometry that needs to be removed. The CoolCross Z99/… offers constructive possibilities for designing cooling systems for injection molds. It permits homogeneous temperature distribution at the core or insert, as well as constant cavity cooling on all four sides throughout the injection molding cycle. For more information, visit www.hasco.com.

[6] HRSFLOW OFFERS FLEXFLOW EVO FLEXflow Evo is an advancement from HRSflow, a hot runner systems provider in San Polo di Piave, Italy, for servo-electrically driven valve gate systems. With actuators directly fixed on the 8

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manifold, this is a ready-to-install system for quick and safe installation on the mold. Updated software simplifies the operator’s work and can be retrofitted to all existing control units. FLEXflow Evo is complemented by the FLEXflow Evo One valve gate system, also servo-motor-driven. Instead of the usual control system, a simply designed driver module coupled to each individual nozzle controls the melt flow to produce molded parts with reproducibly high quality. For more information, visit www.hrsflow.com.

[7] PROGRESSIVE OFFERS REMOTE VALIDATION KIT, PROFILE ® SYSTEM Progressive Components, Wauconda, Illinois, a developer and distributor of componentry and software for production tooling, has new offerings. The Remote Validation Kit, a product enabling tooling engineers to validate tools remotely, is a plug-and-play tool that provides real-time data by connecting to a CVe monitor on the mold. Progressive also has developed ProFile ® , a cloud-based asset tracking program using asset tags with a unique QR. For more information, visit www.procomps.com.

[8] VERICUT VERSION 9.1 UPGRADES CNC SIMULATION ABILITIES Software developer CGTech, Irvine, California, has announced the latest release of VERICUT software, Version 9.1. The machine simulation, verification and optimization software simulates CNC machining, additive and hybrid manufacturing processes. New visibility options, plus enhancements to toolpath optimization, additive manufacturing, tooling and multi-tool stations, measuring and inspection/reporting are just a few of the noteworthy features in this latest release. For more information, visit www.cgtech.com.

[9] METHODS MACHINE TOOLS INTRODUCES VERTICAL MACHINING CENTER Methods Machine Tools, Inc., Sudbury, Massachusetts, a supplier of precision machine tools and automation, has introduced the OKK VB53 Vertical Machining Center (VMC). The OKK VB53 has several features for high rigidity and accuracy. A rigid machine base, wide size linear roller guide and fine pitch high-resolution ball screw increase machining precision. Enhancing positioning accuracy, a 0.05 micron resolution linear scale is offered. Soft Scale Cube technology features thermal sensors that monitor and compensate for any displacement in real time. For more information, visit www.methodsmachine.com. n