"I need to find potential locations that are low risk."
Targeting a Large Manufacturer - Buyer Persona
Top Titles for Manufacturers Under 500 Total Employees
- President
- Chief Executive Office
- Chief Financial Officer
- Chief Operations Officer
Top Titles for Manufacturers Over 500 Total Employees
- VP/Director of Finance
- VP/Director of Operations
- VP/Director of Strategy
- VP/Director of Corporate Development
- VP/Director of Real Estate
Personality
Top Concerns in Initial Outreach
- Skilled labor
- Recent success of your community
- Proximity to customers, suppliers, and a good manufacturing ecosystem
Potential Deal Breakers and Objections
- High union rates
- Not enough manufacturing in proximity to your community
- Bad market for customers or bad logistical positioning in relationship to potential customers
Bio
Decision makers in new manufacturing projects may initially be very guarded. Making an investment in a new location is generally a very confidential matter and any economic developer will need to prove they have experience and can add value to their process.
Decision makers in new manufacturing investments need to make low risk decisions. The fastest way you can prove that you are low risk is by highlighting companies that have already done their due diligence and selected your community. If you haven't won projects in manufacturing lately, use data points to prove why your community is a hidden gem. If you have skilled talent in close proximity, it could be enough to get you into consideration.
Manufacturing executives are often very busy. Ask pointed questions, do your research, and follow up with materials that are concise and data driven. Deals are not won in the first conversation. Your goals are to uncover what is important to the company and to show that you can add value to their process.
Top Questions to Ask in First Conversation:
- What business challenges have you seen at your other locations?
- Does your organization have a long term location strategy?
- Do you have capacity constraints at your current location?
- When do you evaluate this strategy?
- What are your perceptions of my market as a future manufacturing location
- What is important to you when considering a new location?
- What is driving your growth?
- Do you have important customers in or near our market?
- What job functions are most critical to your manufacturing operation?