How to start selling equipment. Purchase of industrial equipment

When a customer buys himself, in fact, this is not sales, but service requests. But what if the client does not buy? And in many markets it has become just that. How to form a system that could generate sales? "Change or die" - this principle, many companies have put in the basis of the new strategy.

Market industrial equipment was no exception. After all, the majority of companies producing and/or selling industrial equipment used a purely reactive approach in their work. What does it mean?

The model looked like this. The customer's purchasing officer called potential vendors for the equipment he needed. Where did he get information about suppliers? Mainly from reference materials, advertising media: the Internet, specialized press and directories of the suppliers themselves, and later - from own experience communication. On phone call potential client was answered by a technical specialist for this species equipment. Together they discussed what equipment could meet the request and be provided, as well as the volumes, terms and commercial terms of delivery. After that, everyone went to do their own thing: the consultant prepared an appropriate commercial offer and sent it to the client, and the buyer continued to call in the hope of a better offer.

I must say that for the client this made sense. Firstly, due to the large flow of buyers, not all equipment could be obtained from the warehouse, some popular items had to wait more than a month, or even three. Secondly, for the same reason, the price of equipment could vary by 30 percent from supplier to supplier. In addition, the services provided by suppliers also varied greatly - from logistics to service and warranty support.

A fundamentally necessary change in business processes is their reorientation to the client when assessing own resources and proactivity, that is, the transfer of the initiative to build relationships to the supplier company. Therefore, responsibility for each client should be assigned to a specific manager who will solve all the client's questions and know everything about him.

1. Logistics

It is important to learn how to analyze the assortment, evaluate the sales potential of each item of equipment, make a sufficient supply of the most popular items and some stock of potentially popular ones. This is all the more critical because the supplier company cannot afford to freeze funds in illiquid goods during a crisis. On the other hand, it is necessary to discuss with the production the conditions for reducing the terms of the production itself and / or the supply of the rest of the equipment on request, so as not to miss the client who is ready to wait. True, there must be a reason for the client himself why he is waiting. If it is rare equipment, then the expectation is logical. Otherwise, you should consider a profitable commercial offer: either at a price (which is highly undesirable - except perhaps a “game” with the course), or under additional conditions - installation by the supplier, training on the customer’s territory, free shipping, extended warranty period, 24-hour Help Desk and a number of other bonuses that were not there before.

2. Informing the target audience

In no case should you stop informing, which is subject to optimization, but not to reduction. Understand how you can communicate information to the client more actively, how to collect information and optimally redistribute the marketing budget.

Often, such a method of active dissemination of information as a visit (but not participation!) Industry exhibitions and other events of potential customers gives an effect. The purpose of the visit is to collect as many contacts and business cards as possible, to talk with the client's representatives. This information can be used further for the target contact. It is best for consultant managers to go to such events so that they can collect really useful information and call an already “familiar” specialist from the client’s side after a face-to-face conversation.

The collection of information about customers can also be carried out by the call center. Just do not force operators to engage in cold sales in any case !!! The result, as a rule, is a bunch of employees who are demotivated by the lack of results and a sense of the meaninglessness of their work. The task that should be assigned to them is exclusively the collection of information about current situation at the client, contact persons, decision-making levels and updating / replenishment of the database. And if the operator accidentally stumbles upon a client with an actual request, then such information must be immediately transferred to the consultant manager.

3. Call Center and Help Desk

Now these are services not only of consulting and receiving calls, but also of increasing customer loyalty due to courtesy, efficiency and quality of solving requests, as well as a more attentive attitude to the needs of the client. In addition, incoming calls can be used to collect additional information(see above).
Why do you need to transfer the call center and Help Desk to work on extended hours - depending on the geography of customers. If the company's equipment works around the clock at customer sites, it is desirable to install 24-hour support.

4. Service center for warranty and post-warranty service

Now any service is additional source creating value in the eyes of the customer. Therefore, you need to conclude contracts for the maintenance of your equipment with others. service centers, to develop their centers in places of congestion of customers.
It makes sense to think about extending the warranty period by the supplier company.

5. Active visits to potential buyers

Establishing a relationship with a client in person is much easier than over the phone. Therefore, visiting customers on their territory becomes an urgent task. The reason for the visit may be previously established contacts, already established contacts at a higher level, as well as incoming requests. Previously, such requests were processed exclusively by phone, but now the manager has the opportunity to catch on and offer an on-site visit to assess the situation - this will identify a much wider range of needs for additional equipment. Do not forget: often customers do not even assume that the supplier has not only those price list items that they are used to taking.

6. Meetings at highest level

If the client does not stop production, then he must plan the funds for the material and technical base. Spare parts and Consumables are always needed, because the failure of equipment does not stop with a crisis. The allocated budget can be spent on different vendors (as was the case before) and MUST be spent only on your equipment. That's the point of the summit meetings - to agree on principled mutually beneficial cooperation, and then link the performers together so that they know exactly what to do when the need for equipment arises. The "summits" tool is very subtle. First, a supplier representative typically has only one chance of a successful meeting. Secondly, the performers must also be taken into account and "pleased", otherwise they can skimp on the management's agreements in the most innocent ways ("the equipment does not fit into ours!", "breaks", "inconvenient to work" and so on). Third, such relationships require informal support. All of the above suggests that such meetings should be attended by leaders from the supplier, and the preparation for such meetings should be carried out in the most thorough way!

To succeed in the market industrial enterprise must be strictly observed required condition A: to stimulate the development of the company and production. This implies, among other things, the timely expansion of the technological park and the replacement of equipment with a more adequate, modern and relevant to the needs of the market.

We buy used industrial equipment

Our organization will help you to modernize production at the lowest financial cost. You can sell used industrial equipment to us. This will allow you to free up significant additional funds.

We buy a wide range of used industrial equipment, including large-sized, atypical and obsolete ones. In each case, we will evaluate your equipment and offer a unique price. We can consider your offer even if you want to sell used industrial equipment in the form of industrial lines.

Currently, RuSkupka is purchasing industrial equipment used:

• — metalworking machines;
• — presses, forging equipment;
• - forklifts;
• — rolled metal;
• - laboratory equipment;
• - electric motors;
• - gasoline generators;
• - gearboxes;
• — compressors;
• — non-standard stationary equipment;
• — non-standard mobile equipment;
• — hydraulic equipment;
• — hydraulic units, hydroblocks;
• – industrial tools and special equipment;

If you did not find your equipment in the above list, please contact us by e-mail or by phone (see the Contacts section), and we will consider your case as unique.

Dismantling and removal of industrial equipment

We practice an individual approach when considering each proposal, as industrial equipment is not in high demand. You will save yourself the trouble of finding a buyer, because it can be very difficult to sell used industrial equipment. It is even more difficult to find one buyer for the entire line.

In the case of the sale of small industrial tools and equipment, we are ready to consider both small (usually our competitors refuse to consider them) and large lots.

We buy used industrial equipment, both domestic and foreign.

We can independently organize industrial equipment, but the cost of these services is negotiated separately and deducted from the cost of your equipment. When selling industrial equipment, you should be aware that dismantling can be quite an expensive procedure, especially in a fire hazardous, explosive production environment or in continuous operation shops where it is necessary to remove the equipment without stopping production process. It is often much cheaper, safer and faster to dismantle this type of equipment by in-house specialists. No one knows your production better than your employees.

Terms of payment, export, terms of the transaction, we are ready to "adjust" to your needs.

We help grow your business.

What questions will you find answered in this article:

You can often hear from consultants: sales techniques are the same in all industries, and it doesn’t matter what to sell. In my opinion, this is absolutely wrong. Each product has its own characteristics, especially when it comes to technically complex products - machine tools, production equipment, medical technology. I happened to be engaged in the sale of such equipment (metalworking machines), and in this article I will share my experience.

What you need to know about equipment in order to sell it

First of all, you need to understand the product.

Firstly need to study it specifications: non-obvious or little-known technical features can become weighty arguments in negotiations with a potential buyer. If you do not own the technical side of the issue, it will be very difficult to counter the objections of the client related to the fact that you and your competitors have the same product in principle.

Secondly, you need to isolate the benefits that the product provides to different customers, and calculate how much profit it can bring to them - whether it be direct sales revenue or cost savings.

To get started, it's helpful to do the following. Imagine that you are not a seller, but a client - CEO a company that has decided to purchase equipment similar to yours. Do everything that this director would do - from finding a manufacturer to collecting commercial offers from potential sellers (for this you will have to register a separate mailbox and introduce yourself as a real, but little-known company). Then make a summary table of all important features supplier companies: equipment, terms of delivery, service, consumables. Analyze which seller you would choose if you were a client. So you will see the advantages and disadvantages of your competitors and understand what advantages your company has. It will also become clear what additional offers on your part will make customers who conduct such market analysis choose you.

By the way, about competitors. Do you have them? Many will answer that there are many. However, I think otherwise. When selling complex technological equipment, the main competition is not in the product itself, but in sales skills, the ability to convey benefits and advantages to the client. A complex product with knowledge of the technical side of the issue can be quite easily positioned in comparison with other similar products. There are no absolutely identical goods, there is the ability of the seller to correctly and at the right time to submit the necessary technical advantages and reveal the nuances.

Where to look for buyers of technological equipment

The first thing that comes to mind is the Internet. There really are clients there, and all the main ones are even known. But the fact is that the Network will not help evaluate the future buyer in terms of his capabilities. The site of a potential client (company) may look very solid, but this does not guarantee the company's willingness to pay worthy money for your products. It often happens that a manager spends a lot of time on a seemingly large client, who ultimately buys a product in a very cheap configuration or does not buy it at all. Therefore, it is better to use the Internet only as aid. Assessing the prospects of clients is based on other sources - primarily on specialized industry directories, exhibition catalogs and industry press.

If a potential buyer is ready to spend money to participate in a reputable exhibition, or places information about himself in expensive industry directories (say, in the directories of Maksimov's Editions), then this is a good sign by which one can indirectly judge the company's readiness to invest in its development, including the acquisition of expensive technological equipment.

What should you do if you have, for example, a catalog of exhibiting companies in your hands? Select potential clients and call them. At the same time, it is good to mention that you met with a representative of the company at the exhibition: this will make the first contact warmer. Praise the client's booth and start a conversation about how the event went and what the results are. After that, it will be possible to gradually move on to talking about equipment.

Another source of information about the solvency of the client is industry news, in which in question about the development plans of different companies. Regularly analyzing this information, you will form an idea whether the client has the opportunity to buy sophisticated equipment.

In general, the platforms for promotion are the same as for finding customers - industry media and exhibitions. If information about your company flashes on them, this will form more trust among potential customers. In the sale of equipment in general, and especially expensive technological equipment, trust in the supplier is often more important than trust in the equipment itself, because customers are always afraid of being abandoned in the event of a breakdown.

Participation in exhibitions. I advise you to identify the key exhibitions in your industry. Moreover, you need to focus not so much on the sites where your competitors are located, but on the exhibitions that attract your customers. The fact is that top officials of client companies rarely come to specialized exhibitions (where, in addition to you, there are manufacturers of similar equipment); most likely, they are visited only by ordinary specialists. On the other hand, if you participate in exhibitions that showcase customer products, you will meet many more decision makers there and will be able to spend more time with them. effective negotiations. That's what I did when I was an employee of a company that sold machine tools worth several million euros. I have always insisted on placing at least a small stand at the International Aviation and Space Salon (MAKS). The products of our potential customers were exhibited there and there were very few of our competitors (they participated mainly in the exhibitions "Metalworking" and "Engineering"). I can say that MAKS gave us many times more useful contacts and further treaties than all other exhibitions combined. This event brought together the most influential people from companies - potential customers, who are very difficult to meet in a normal setting.

How to help managers sell equipment more efficiently

Rely on people with a technical background, train them in sales skills if necessary. Techies offering sophisticated equipment to customers will be able to speak the same language with them. There are two things to keep in mind when designing an incentive system for technology sellers.

1. A lot of time passes from the contact to the contract, therefore, if the manager is given a small salary and a commission, he will not be very interested, since he will have to wait for the first commission, perhaps six months or a year.

Given this, I consider a decent salary and a bonus for work (once every six months or a year) to be the optimal motivation. At first, when there are no sales yet, but the volume of work is still large, the bonus can be calculated based on the number, for example, of meetings held or contact details received, and after the start of sales, from the volume of contracts concluded and the percentage of completion of the plan.

Instead of a conclusion

There are a number of features in the sales of complex machinery and equipment, which I also advise you to pay attention to.

1. There are no trifles. Even the largest potential contract may not be concluded due to the fact that you missed a small nuance and it became a stumbling block. Therefore, study all the little things at every stage of working with a client.

2. A lot of meetings and negotiations are held in the client company without your participation. Therefore, your task is to promote not only your product, but also the idea that the specialist with whom you met would sell your equipment within his company and in your absence.

3. Even best product can lose a tender to a weaker one if the manager does not know how to correctly present products, negotiate and build sales steps. Develop your managers, conduct training under the guidance of specialists with experience in selling similar complex equipment.

4. Since you will need to carry out a large number of negotiations with different employees of the client company (starting with the head of the company and financial director and ending, perhaps, with technical specialists), you need a broad outlook on issues that are interesting to these people, otherwise you simply will not be able to speak the same language with them. Expand your knowledge in these areas. This will greatly increase your chances of making a successful deal.

How to quickly sell used machines

Have you purchased new equipment and do not know what to do with the old one? Or maybe you decided to re-profile production, so you want to sell used equipment? Or are you closing the enterprise and selling off all used machines? In any case, you should make the sale as profitable as possible for yourself. And the speed of its implementation is also important: there is no need for extra equipment to gather dust in a warehouse if it can help someone start their production.

How much do you think potential buyers are there any machines in your city? Most likely, quite a bit. And therefore, even if you advertise with the text “I will sell used machines” in all the newspapers of the city, it is unlikely that you will receive many offers. It is better not to waste time, but immediately turn to professionals for whom selling used machines is a common job. Where to find them? Everything is quite simple: you need to go to a site that specializes in posting ads “I will sell used machines” and “I will buy used machines”. If you do not find anything suitable for yourself among the offers of other visitors to the resource, then you can count on the help of the managers of the company that owns this resource. They have regular customers who will gladly buy your used equipment. Also, if necessary, experienced professionals can help you negotiate with transport company, repair shops or customs services.

In fact, such a resource is a bulletin board for the purchase and sale of used equipment.

Here you can place your ad like "buy used equipment" or "sale of used machines" for free. In this case, you can even provide a note with a photo of the machine or its diagram. But in fact, the functions of such a resource are somewhat wider and include assistance to their clients. Managers of the company that owns this bulletin board will provide you as a seller with several options for offers from buyers at once, from which you can choose the most suitable one for yourself.

Now let's give an example. Imagine that the owner of a small production, for example from Saratov, needs to sell lathe boo. He did not find buyers in his city and, without thinking for a long time, hastened to place an offer on the bulletin board on the Internet. In parallel, he looked through ads beginning with the words “buy used machines” and found among them several suitable options for himself. But one buyer was from Vladivostok, another from Kaliningrad, and the third was from Ukraine. Then the manager of the bulletin board contacted him and said that there is a client from Saratov who buys used machines. The choice is obvious.

Thus, without losing anything, you can easily sell used machines, and possibly even buy some others. The main advantage of using bulletin boards is that only potential customers who want to buy used equipment come to them. And this greatly increases the chances of a speedy transaction. In addition, by selling used machines with the help of such a resource, you can count on more profitable offer than with any other method. Even if you search for the phrase “buy used machines”, you will find much fewer offers than on a specialized bulletin board. And experienced managers will provide you with a whole base regular customers who buy used machines. They will also tell you which repair shop or which carrier to contact.

So, the conclusion is obvious. If you want to sell used machines quickly and profitably - declare your offer on the bulletin board on the Internet! Any equipment ( milling machine used, turning, drilling, foundry, welding, woodworking and many others) will easily find its new owner on such a resource.

Based on materials from MashStock.ru

You can increase sales of any product in standard ways - with the help of advertising, participation in thematic exhibitions and conferences, changes in the personnel motivation scheme, etc. But the sale of industrial equipment is a narrow industry with its own specifics. Knowing the features of this area, you can be guaranteed to increase sales by at least 20%.

Customer orientation

There are two types of clients that may require equipment. When selling a product, you need to clearly know who you are dealing with.

• Customers who already have such equipment. Such clients are well versed in its features, they know all the problems associated with its use. To sell equipment to such a client, you need to know the technical nuances of its operation well.

You can find out such nuances on specialized forums by talking with people who use this equipment. If you already have customers who have bought equipment, you can visit their production facilities and talk to the technologist personally.

• Clients who are just planning to open a business and purchase equipment of the type you sell. Such customers, most likely, do not yet know all the subtleties and nuances of its operation. Your task is to invite them to talk with a specialist who already has experience in operating the equipment.

At the stage of entering the business, the client cannot appreciate the importance of after-sales service, because he does not understand what difficulties he will face in the future. When buying equipment, many do not even think about how exactly and how often it will have to be serviced. Your task is to convey this information to the buyer. And also explain how the purchase of products from you will make his life easier, and what problems he will get rid of.

Detachment from competitors

When selling equipment, you need to know your competitors well and understand what they offer to the buyer. To convince the buyer to contact you, you need to understand why your conditions and products are better. It is worth paying attention to:

• The cost of products that are similar to yours. If a competitor's product is cheaper, you should figure out why the price is reduced. Maybe you can make a discount too?

• Technical features of the equipment competitors. Extremely important Feedback both with your customers and with competitors' customers - find out what they like, what they don't, what problems and difficulties arise during operation. In extreme cases, you can get technical information on specialized forums.

• Service maintenance . What do competitors offer? What is their warranty period? What is the monthly/yearly maintenance cost? Why is your service better? What interesting things can you offer the buyer?

• The cost of operation. The cost of operation is the amount of money that the client will have to spend on the maintenance and service of the purchased equipment. This indicator is especially important when selling expensive equipment that is not easy to replace. If you sell cheap equipment, you can also play on this. Prove to the client that your equipment is so cheap that in the event of a breakdown it will be easier to buy a new one. This means that the client does not have to invest in its repair or endure forced downtime due to a malfunction. There will also be spare parts.

• Business characteristics of products. The technical characteristics of the equipment are not enough for its successful implementation. To increase the marketability, it is worth calculating its business characteristics, such as line maintenance costs, the number of products that can be produced per unit of time (day, month, etc.) and the like. Technical characteristics are important for engineers, but for management and owners - numbers confirming the profitability of the purchase. If the business characteristics of your equipment are better than those of competitors, the choice of customers is obvious.

• Compatibility. If you know that the majority of potential customers use a certain brand of equipment, it is important that your equipment is compatible with it. Then your chances of luring buyers to you will increase markedly.

For example:

There are three manufacturers of machine tools on the market: cheap Chinese, expensive European and high-quality domestic-made machines of the middle price category. How can a manufacturer of Russian machine tools sell their goods?

• Firstly to inform potential customers about the existence of their products.
• Secondly, offer a prompt replacement of parts / consumables, which competitors cannot offer due to the location of production in another country (for example, a maximum of 3 days).
• Third, to prove and clearly show that the quality of his machines is not much inferior to the quality of machines from Europe, but his service and price are objectively better.

Additional services

It is possible to achieve an increase in sales of equipment through additional services. Offer the customer not a "naked" product, but bonus benefits.

1. Installing and configuring equipment. The more complex the equipment you sell, the more important its installation and initial correct setup. Other things being equal, the client will always choose the company that will solve his problems with installation and launch.
2. Service maintenance. Service can be both paid and free. You can limit the number of free calls per month or offer free warranty service for certain period time.
3. Training. When selling equipment new to a client, one should simultaneously offer training for employees who will work on this equipment. Training can come as a bonus, or maybe for an additional fee. In any case, you will remain in the black: right job with equipment will bring a higher profit to the client, and the absence of problems will bring moral pleasure. A satisfied customer will certainly come back to you again.
4. Expertise. If you become for the client not only a supplier, but also an expert in marketing his products or building a business, then the features and conditions for selling your product will seem less important to him. His loyalty to your company will definitely increase.

In addition to the equipment, you can offer the client:

• "sales department", which is able to sell the goods produced with the help of equipment;
• customer base in need of products to be produced with the equipment.

Such data can be obtained from various sources. Alternatively, you can create your own Internet portal dedicated to the equipment and the product produced with it, which will collect applications for products in various regions.

• Customization. Customization is the adjustment of equipment for a specific client. For example, adding an additional handle or key on the machine, marking or the customer's logo.

Customization allows you to personalize the equipment, adjusting it to the requirements and desires of the buyer. The main thing, when trying to please the client, is not to overdo it: before agreeing to any changes in the basic type of equipment, check whether the client is sure that the additions are necessary - perhaps this is a momentary “Wishlist” that is actually not needed at all.

Peculiarities of selling equipment: who, to whom and how?

Equipment should be sold by a manager who has a basic understanding of the product and knows sales techniques, and a technical specialist who is able to correctly explain technical information, who knows the necessary terminology and numbers. Please note that the techie, before “going out” to the client, also needs to conduct basic sales training, he must clearly know what can and should be said and what is not.

To increase sales of equipment (used or new does not matter), you need to understand who in the client's company makes the purchase decision. Most often this is done: a procurement specialist or an engineer (technologist).

The buyer is indifferent to your service, equipment and other Additional services. It is important for him to find equipment of a given marking. If your company received an incoming request from a buyer, the manager’s task is to reach out to the person who initiated the purchase with all his might. How to do it?

• Start asking the buyer highly specialized questions about equipment so that he himself “sends” you to the technologist.
• Make a cold call to the client’s company on your own to get to the right engineer and explain to him that your products are objectively better and the request to the purchasing department should be changed.

Engineers are often guided not by the cost of the equipment and not even by the technical characteristics. They prefer to work with equipment they know well. Moreover, the more expensive the equipment, the more difficult it is to convince them to switch to a new one. Why? Yes, because they do not want to take risks: expensive equipment is not a cheap brush that you can change if you don’t like it.

You can convince the engineer, but to do this, you should demonstrate your equipment to him in operation and allow him to talk with a technical specialist who has already tested it before. How to organize it?

• To allocate a special room and equipment for such tasks, which is not always possible.
• The ideal option is to build a relationship with an engineer who already uses your equipment and is willing to demonstrate it to your client in action. If you are just entering the market, it is important to make at least one sale and agree with the client (for a discount, additional service or a separate fee) for a follow-up demonstration.

When selling equipment that is new to the region/country, try to post information about it on the Internet. If potential client starts looking for information about your product and does not find anything, it is likely that he will not risk making a purchase. Nowadays, the lack of information about the brand looks suspicious.

Work with the client as much as possible. The more problems you solve with a client, the higher the likelihood that he will purchase goods from you and return again in the future.

Any questions? Contact us! We will help you increase sales by 20-60% and establish stable operation of your enterprise