The Trump Effect 2 – What it Means for EMS Providers Right Now

As I write this at the beginning of February, President Trump is establishing himself as a man who follows through on campaign promises. Assuming that trend continues and there is a clear path to tax and regulatory reform, there will also be changes in OEM sourcing strategy. It may even be the level of shift seen when China devalued the yuan.

What does this trend mean for US regional electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers? Beyond the immediate benefit of regulatory and tax reforms that has many of the EMS CEOs I know practically dancing in the streets, I think it will open the door to significant opportunities across the board. When OEMs outsource offshore, they tend to bundle all their projects. There are two reasons for this. First, a smaller supply chain is easier to manage at a distance and second, low cost labor markets typically have a higher percentage of “one size fits all” EMS providers. When OEMs outsource in the US, they tend to look more closely at the value of tailoring their outsourcing strategy. Niche projects may go to suppliers better interested in those volumes or technology associated with those projects. There may be interest in keeping new product manufacturing in close proximity to the engineering team. There may also be a desire to keep some manufacturing in-house and source production that is not a fit in close proximity. While these scenarios already exist today, tax and regulatory policies which incentivize re-shoring will ultimately increase the number of available opportunities.

The challenge is that if your company is the EMS world’s best kept secret you may not be on the bid list. So, from a marketing perspective, this is the right time to be developing a marketing strategy that will get your company’s name more widely known. It is also the right time to be reviewing existing accounts and looking for additional business opportunities either within the account or other divisions of that customer. The bottom line is that if the Trump Effect continues companies that weren’t on your company’s radar screen as prospects may be ready to buy your services. But they won’t be talking with you if they don’t know who you are. EMS providers that are upping their networking and marketing activities now, will benefit when those companies start re-evaluating strategy.

Powell-Mucha Consulting, Inc. specializes in helping companies develop marketing strategies that build market mindshare and highlight each client’s unique capabilities. This differentiation can be especially important in attracting OEMs pursuing niche outsourcing strategies.We also offer sales and program management analysis, coaching and training services, which can help your team quickly broaden their focus.  Contact us if you’d like additional information.

What is Your Brand?

As mentioned in an earlier post, I’ve started blogging for the Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM) at James Madison University. My latest post there relates to Establishing Your Brand as a professional. ICPM has a Certified Manager program aligned with the National Management Association (NMA). Their blog is composed of contributions from CMs on a range of management topics and is definitely a good read.

Branding, Marketing and Selling in EMS

My Circuits Assembly article this month looks at the concepts of branding, marketing and selling. Like my recent Leader vs. Manager post, this is another area where words are used interchangeably to refer to very different concepts. Branding, Marketing and Selling looks at the ways these concepts interrelate and specific ways that electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers can capitalize on well thought out strategy in these areas. Read the full article here.

Five Things Your EMS Marketing Program Should be Doing

Electronics manufacturing services (EMS) is an educated sell to a cross-functional team that goes in and out of ready-to-buy mode. What does all that jargon mean? Basically, you need to have a range of messages that are strategically timed to regularly reach your market. With that in mind, here are the top five things your marketing program should do:

#1: Make Every Dollar Count – EMS is a low margin industry and there is a relatively small target market. Programs should be tailored to reach the audience relevant to EMS vs. the world at large.

#2: Create Awareness and Preference for Your Brand of EMS – No one EMS provider is good at all things. What do your customers think your company does well? Every message and image should reflect that brand.

#3: Get the Right Kind of Attention – What keeps your customers up at night? The best programs promote an EMS provider’s ability to solve critical customer challenges. And, since it is a cross-functional decision team, there should be a range of messages that appeal across the team vs. simply to purchasing.

#4: Make the Sales Team More Productive – Advertising won’t close sales, but it can help identify the prospects worth spending time with. Cold calling and sitting in lobbies hoping to catch a decision maker is an inefficient use of sales force time.

#5: Help You Keep Mindshare – How many times has a prospect told you he isn’t looking and then a few months later given business to your competitor? A good program schedules communications at regular intervals to keep in touch. That type of program also reminds prospects who are ready to talk about their challenges that you can solve their needs. A marketing program with good mindshare maintenance activities can force multiply your sales team by identifying prospects who are entering ready-to-buy mode.

If your marketing program isn’t doing those five things, visit http://www.powell-muchaconsulting.com to learn more about our services.