Monthly Archives: July 2021

What should you do before you go on summer holidays?

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Summer is upon us and for the first time in a while, people are able to go on holiday feeling a little more secure. This means many of us will book to go away on various breaks from long weekends to full weeks. This is great news and will bring joy to many; at YBDT HQ we wish you all a brilliant and chilled time this summer.

However, before you turn off all the computers and shut your office door, spare a little thought for your business development and sales activity this summer. Many companies decide to dial down their marketing over the holidays as they figure not much is happening anyway. In addition, any networking and meetings are much more scarce due to the season. Follow ups are neglected and most prospects prefer to speak again in September.

This is all quite normal and helps with switching off and relaxing which we all need so badly, particularly this year. However, the problem with this approach is that due to the nature of business development activities, come the end of the summer, you will find yourself starting to build your pipeline again and as it’s nearly the end of the year, you might not secure any major sales until the beginning of 2022.

Now, if you have had a brilliant year so far and are not really looking for more business until the following year, than it’s not a problem. If you are not in this position, this might be a real problem for you and the rest of the sales team. So how can you have your cake and eat it? Here are a few suggestions:

Don’t switch off your marketing and lead generation activity all together. Instead create a summer strategy:

  • Keep lead generation and business development funnels like PPC and outreach campaigns active to ensure you keep building your pipeline.
  • Work out a rota for managing leads and involve everyone in the team. This can be a good opportunity for more people to get involved with business development and sales.
  • Arrange meetings and sign up for networking events in the weeks you are at work this summer. It will help you keep connected and have tentative conversations which may uncover and develop opportunities.
  • Have detailed conversations with prospects on your pipeline, aimed at understanding when they might want to move forward, then work out what needs to be done first and get a clear time line in place where possible.
  • Plan your diary and book meetings in advance to ensure you hit the ground running this Autumn.

Once you have done that, make sure you get your cold Pinot Grigio, or whatever tipple you prefer, out of the fridge and pour yourself a large glass. Your summer chilling can now start in earnest.

We hope you find this advice practical and helpful. If you need help setting up a lead generation funnel or support keeping in touch with clients and prospects this summer, get in touch.

Build a sales pipeline that is fit for the future

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One of the areas that Your Business Development Team have been working in over the last couple of years is supporting companies in engineering and construction. As these are industries where the focus is inevitably on production, sales and marketing activity can sometimes take a back seat, potentially resulting in gaps in the order book as the pipeline runs dry. Planning for production often needs long term thinking. If raw materials and components have extended deliveries, then the sales pipeline becomes of critical importance. Knowing what orders may come along in the next three, six or twelve months can have a considerable impact on ordering parts and recruiting staff.

Many companies in engineering and construction are well established and have depended on long term customer relationships for repeat business. In 2020 however nearly 30% of construction businesses and 22% of manufacturers stopped production either temporarily or permanently. As many SME companies supplying the construction industry rely on fewer than ten regular customers this represents a major problem, as the work they have come to expect may simply not be there anymore. Your Business Development Team have a suite of services that are ideal for helping engineering and construction businesses rebuild their sales pipeline, putting enquiries and orders in the bank for 2021, 2022 and beyond. Here are a couple of examples.

Recently we supported a manufacturer of cement additives who were looking to expand from their very narrow customer base into supplying the industry distribution channel and directly to large contractors. By researching and contacting the key decision makers in the major builder’s merchants we were able to present the sales manager with appointments at 3 out of the top 4 builders’ merchants, giving our client access to sales in over 1,000 stores. At the same time, our lead generation and nurturing team were working to create understanding of their product at the end user, stimulating demand both directly and through the merchant channel.

YBDT has worked with Harrier Pneumatics over the last couple of years to help them prospect for new customers for their compressed air services. As well as targeting new customers with product led campaigns that open up new markets for Harrier, YBDT have developed a strategy for contacting existing clients to expand the range of services that they take. As with many engineering companies, most of Harriers customers were using them for only one or two of their services, simply because they were unaware that Harrier had other products available that they needed. This is a good illustration of how outsourcing these initial lead generation conversations to us, rather than relying on an already stretched sales team can produce great results, extending your reach with those who already know and like your business. You can read more about our work with Harrier here.

YBDT’s long experience in all aspects of sales and marketing support makes us the ideal partner for manufacturing and engineering business. We can help you create and implement a clear business development strategy and generate and nurture leads to the point that your sales team can take them on to orders. Get in touch to learn more about how we can help.