The Thomas Blog

How To Become A Supplier For Big Companies

Becoming an approved supplier for a large global company can change your business dramatically. But landing a big customer takes far more than a hello and a handshake. Here's what we've learned about how big companies choose new suppliers and what manufacturers and industrial companies can do to increase their chances of earning new business from them. 

How To Meet The Needs Of B2B & Industrial Buyers In 2021

No matter your role — sales, marketing, operations, or leadership — you have a lot to accomplish.

So do the buyers of your company's products or services. 

By understanding what your buyers have on their plates, you can more easily accomplish one of the most important things on yours — generating more leads and contributing to your bottom line. Here’s what you should know to meet their needs and create more meaningful connections to win more business.

How To Improve Your Supplier-Distributor Relationship

A prospect that you’ve been chasing for months has been researching you as well, checking out your product catalog on a distributor’s website and downloading your CAD models. They’ve narrowed down their shortlist to you and a couple of your competitors, and now they’re visiting your website to gather additional details.

But when they arrive on your site, what they see doesn’t quite match what they saw on the distributor’s site. Part numbers are off, and specs aren’t aligning 100%. Plus, basic company information doesn’t match with what they read before and content looks outdated.

Reconciling the differences would take way too long, so instead they just cross you off their list. And you never even knew they were interested in the first place.

Unfortunately, this scenario plays out all too frequently and prevents the supplier and distributor from meeting their goals. In some cases, the scenario results in a dropped key customer and the existing customer base begins to diminish.

What Manufacturers Should Do After Losing A Key Customer

Customer retention can often mean the difference between your company thriving or dying. This makes the loss of major customers one of the greatest risk factors for manufacturing businesses. Your consistent goal should be to go to any lengths necessary to retain these keystone clients. However, throughout even a vastly successful company’s lifespan, this kind of paradigm-shifting customer loss can — and will — occur. 

Why Manufacturing Quality Certifications Help Win Business

For manufacturing companies, attaining and maintaining quality certifications can take a lot of time and effort. However, your certifications can be a powerful sales and marketing tool.

12 Tips For Growing Your CNC Machining Business

Starting a new business can be a challenging endeavor, especially for entrepreneurs entering a crowded market with large, well-established competitors already in place. As the manufacturing industry experiences shifts in how it operates, how can CNC machining businesses secure contracts and grow within the industry despite today's challenging obstacles?

Here are some tips and suggestions for small CNC machine shops to continue growing their businesses.

How To Expand Your Manufacturing Business Into New Markets

American manufacturing is on the upswing. Hiring activity is  at historic highs; reshoring is bringing production back to the U.S., and buyers are spending more on new suppliers than they have in recent years.

Business owners continue to be cautious with investments and costs, with good reason. Even as manufacturing and the economy as a whole make gains, the memory of tougher times looms. Fortunately, today's digital marketing landscape allows you to take substantial steps to grow your business and expand into new markets.

Using Digital Marketing To Win Business From Fortune 1000 Companies

Landing a contract with a major buyer can have a significant impact on your business. However, large buying organizations like Fortune 1000s tend to do things differently from smaller businesses that have more flexibility in approaching new partnerships.

According to DemandGen, 67% of B2B buyers rely more on digital content to research and make purchasing decisions than they did a year ago. So if you want to drive real new business results and get in front of major companies, it's necessary to have a strong online presence that addresses the major concerns and qualifications these companies are looking for when considering new suppliers.

For Industrial Companies: How Much Should You Spend On Marketing?

Even though the manufacturing industry has had a long dominance in the U.S. economy, it’s still relatively a newcomer when it comes to all things industrial marketing.

Instead of word-of-mouth referrals and newspaper advertisements, digital platforms have become the most effective way to drive new business with a more expansive reach and more effective ways to highlight a company’s value proposition. Marketers and business owners utilize pay-per-click, content creation, email blasts, and many other tactics to their advantage, but to some, these methods can feel overwhelming. With so much opportunity comes tough decisions on how to direct your time, energy, and money.