Will Telemarketing Help Your Engineering Company?
If you think telemarketing can help boost sales in your engineering firm, it is best you talking to telemarketing companies that know the engineering sector. Just fill out the form opposite to get free advice and quotes from telemarketing agencies that have experience in engineering marketing.
The Engineering Climate In The UK
The engineering sector in the UK has been through a difficult time over the last 20 years as more and more is being outsources to low cost countries such as China, Mexico and India.
The sector is very much struggling with keeping up; many UK businesses have jumped on the band wagon and are taking advantage of global sourcing of components and even outsourcing their supply chain management. The automotive sector is mainly based on import and distribution now, with the only engineering projects being prototypes and repairs.
The defense industry is still very UK based however many defense companies such as Thales, Boeing do use global sourcing for many of their components. Manufacture of weapons, ammunition and technology is however very much outsourced.
Lead Generation For Engineering Companies
The engineering sector on the whole is very much stuck in the last century, many firms not using computers or e-mail and still working off of hand drawings from the 1960's or 70's.
Lead generation is also based on who you know, matie down the road and working on recommendations.
As times have moved on, the whole world has modernised and picked up the use of the internet, global supply chain and lean manufacturing except for many UK engineering companies.
The importance of engineering companies modernising and properly marketing for new business is essential to their survival. Very often the sales will be handled by one of the engineers that is not working or the owner calling around some old contacts or previous customers (as opposed to hunting for new companies, prospecting etc.)
There are many telemarketing and lead generation companies that have a background of the engineering industry, how it works, who the key players are and how to prospect and develop sales leads.
Having a company take on the sales and marketing for your engineering company is essential to you getting new leads through and keeping your shop floor busy. Whether this is following up old leads, contacting old clients, or finding new job opportunities.
Lead Generation Resources For Engineering Firms
There are a number of specialist engineering lead generation companies around the UK, ones that know the engineering marketing system and currently work with engineering clients. These firms are regularly contacting engineering firms, finding out what jobs are going through and what new jobs are coming up; seeing what engineering projects there may be in 3 months, 6 months that you may be able to help with.
They are a sort of market intelligence to the engineering industry, knowing who is doing what can give you an idea as to what projects may be coming up.
Qimtek is an engineering resource that has been doing just this for over 12 years in the UK; talking to engineering buyers, finding out what projects are coming up and keeping detailed records on all UK engineering firms. Engineering companies can then follow up the market intelligence, or pass this to a lead generation company to follow up for them
Either way it keeps the marketing wheels turning and keeps new enquiries coming through to be quoted on.
What The Future Holds For UK Manufacturing
No-one can really say what is going to happen to UK industry. The way it is going, the UK is becoming a service industry and manufacturing/engineering is mainly outsourced. Since the decline of the rail industry and automotive sector UK manufacturing has followed suit and more have been sent offshore. There will always be smaller projects around from companies that either do not have sufficient quantities to warrant overseas manufacture or prototype work.
The sad thing is that the UK still holds a strong engineering work force; skilled individuals that have no jobs to keep them going.
The reason is cost; it is far cheaper for the larger manufacturing companies to import from low cost countries in Eastern Europe or China than use a local company. It seems strange that a component that is made on the other side of the world is half the price of one that is made down the road - but this is the same for anything (food, clothing, electronics etc.) in the global marketplace.
Manufacturing may come back in due course, so engineering companies just need to struggle on as best as they can with remaining business opportunities that remain.