Recently, one of our clients who for years had sold to end users developed a new product for sale to original equipment manufacturers. After almost six months of honest effort, the company had yet to close a single OEM sale. When we questioned several salespeople, they responded that they found the whole selling process frustrating, confusing, and drawn out — very different indeed than selling to end users.
If you want to generate OEM business, you’ll almost always have to take it away from competitors. Unless those competitors have really messed up, stealing business won't be easy.
Before you can gain a foothold in an OEM company you have to have a strategy. Your most important asset in formulating one is information. You have to know who the decision makers are, who they are presently buying from, what aspects of their relationship with vendors they are least happy with (almost always quality, price, or delivery), and when you should mount a full court press. Rather than generalized market data, you need to gather information that is specific to each OEM prospect, and use this information to build detailed prospect files.
Unless your product offering is new and measurably better than your competitors’, you’ll need to find other ways to differentiate yourself. You’ll have to find the right combination of value-added services to give the OEM a reason to switch all or some of their business to you. Blanket order and package deal pricing, inventory, just-in-time delivery, CAD files, warranties, field service, and application engineering support are some of the possible inducements.
Remember, cracking a new OEM is more than a sale, it is continuing business for as long as you keep the account.
At Norris & Company, we can guide you through the confusing, often frustrating process of selling to OEMs.
If you would like more information on this subject, or a reprint of this and other ads in the series, please contact us: (508) 510-5626 • info@norrisco.com
