Meese Orbitron Dunne Co.
It's Friday afternoon. Around an oval conference table sit the general manager, purchasing director, plant supervisor, packaging engineer, warehouse manager, IT consultant and product manager to determine which software package they will buy to automate a portion of their operation. They await the company president's arrival. He has final authority over the purchase and must be sold on which package to buy. But he has never met with any of the vendors' sales representatives. In fact, through the four-month long information gathering process, the members of this buying team rarely met as a group. Individual members and factions met with different vendors. While they await their boss' arrival, they weigh the merits of each vendor and their brochures, spec sheets, article reprints and other materials repeatedly change hands until landing in a heap on the conference table. In walks the president. He sits down at the head of the table and asks for a recommendation. As several people speak up at once, the president begins thumbing through the brochures, paying more attention to them than to his people. He realizes the team does not completely agree on which product to buy. The decision is still wide open but not to the vendors' sales teams. They had their chances. Their hopes now rest on the influence of the one or two people they were able to sell - and on the influence of their company literature.
After investing in six figure sales people, advertising, PR and other tools to drive sales, will your company win the brochure battle of the conference room to close the deal? Or does your brochure fail to instill confidence in prospective buyers as effectively as live sales people? Does your literature accurately present the strength, size and scope of your company?
Plastics rotomolder Meese Orbitron Dunne Co. (MOD) faced these issues head on. The company operates in a competitive environment that often devalues its manufacturing services as commodity products. Smaller, "garage-type" rotomolders proliferate, turning out products of secondary quality and casting a black eye on the entire industry. MOD had grown by acquisition, become a national player and served Clients including IBM, Disney, UPS and Procter & Gamble. But its literature did not reflect the company's track record and was not winning the brochure battle of the conference room.
To
differentiate MOD from its competitors, position the company as reputable
industry leaders, instill confidence in prospective customers (as well
as in potential investors!) and present the company with the level of
professionalism it had achieved and the credibility it deserved, the agency
recommended the development of a corporate confidence package. Featuring
a six-panel, full color brochure set within a standard size pocket folder,
the package armed the MOD sales team with a versatile set of tools suitable
for any presentation. Essential company information that enhanced credibility
such as a partial client list, company history, quality assurance systems
and facility locations were printed on both the brochure and pocket folder.
This enabled MOD personnel to customize their trade show handouts, lead
response packets and other materials by the strength of the prospect.
It also delivered welcome cost savings. For presenting estimates and proposals,
the pocket folder offered the added ability to include feature article
reprints, PR clippings, sell sheets and other materials that add confidence
and reinforce the decision to buy.
Several MOD customers have stated the corporate brochure package was instrumental in their decision to use the rotomolder.
The war is comprised of many battles. Professional literature enables sales people to win more brochure battles of the conference room.