Food For Thought: Common Question –
What Can I Sell To A Food Producer?
The answer to this question is both simple and complex.
Simple Answer – Food & Beverage customers are similar to other customers you call on in other markets. They have heat exchangers (shell & tube, plate & frame, dryers (coils) etc.) which need PRVs, control valves, air vents, condensate pumps, flow meters etc. They need process water in varying temperatures and typically, an abundant supply of hot water for washdown. In a nutshell, there’s not much that isn’t relevant for a food & beverage facility.
Complex Answer – I’m reminded of a video by Brian Burns, host of The Brutal Truth about Sales & Selling podcast in which he states the answer to this question to be… "Sell the problem you solve.” It isn’t about what’s on the Armstrong line card, or any other line card you have for that matter. What problems you solve will dictate the product(s)/solutions you sell and therefore, what value you bring to a customer.
In order to determine what to sell to a food & beverage customer, you must understand their thermal systems pain points. We’ve highlighted some pain points on our website such as Production or Product Thru-put, Maintenance and Reliability of the Thermal Systems, Food and Personnel Safety and the lack of Thermal Systems Knowledge. But where, specifically, are your customers hurting? What are their maintenance pain points? What about the pain points for process engineers, production managers and plant managers? What about sustainability or energy people? What are their thermal systems pain points? The simple truth is you need to know the answers to that question – from the perspective of your plant-level contacts as each one suffers in a different way.
So, simply put, what you sell to a food producer depends on how well you understand their pain. Then, the easy part is selling the problems you solve. The products will follow.
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