I’m looking to make a career shift into manufacturing.
To be smart about it, I’m trying to speak to small manufacturers to learn about their stories and the challenges they face to better inform myself on where I can add value in the industry.
I tried cold emailing local shops in my area for a quick call but haven’t had success. I offered free financial consulting in return for their time.
Any recommendations on how I can reach small manufacturers?
I’m considering more direct approaches like cold calling or showing up at their shop. But before I do anything, I wanted to get people’s advice in this sub!
For the small business owners out there, what would be the best way for a young guy hoping to break into your industry to get 20/30 minutes of your time?
Here is a “sneaky” approach that is guaranteed to get you responses like crazy.
The idea is simply pretend that you are writing a book on the industry, specifically your prospects niche, and ask them if they want to be featured in your book… my success rate with this approach was insanely high when considering the fact that this cold approaching/calling/emailing. It was around 77% if Im not mistaken.
Few things to note about this method.
To ensure that you are credible and legit, create an advertisement for your “book” and have that advertisement printed out as if it “appeared” in a newspaper or is going to “appear”.
Call up book shops and inform them that you would like them to host your book - the goal with this part is to get a confimation email from those places saying “Yes mr X, we agree to have your book, “insert title” in our stores.”
There was a third element but I forgot it atm, maybe will come back later to fill it in when I remember… but the first 2 should suffice.
Gameplan - now you take both of those materials, the confimation letter and the newspaper ad and mail it directly to your prospects with a letter basically stating “hey im X and I do Y. Im writing a book that soon to be hosted by Z. As you can see Ive included the newspaper ad thats going to be ran in New York Times on Saturday 19, March, 2024. You have received this letter because I would like to extend an invitation for you to appear in my bool if you desire. Just call my phone numbet to book an appointment.” Thats basically the essence of what the letter should say.
Now for the interview - you want to start off by asking relevant questions to what your “book” is about before moving on to the real questions that you want to ask… or alternatively, you can just make the interview all about questions for the “book” and then follow up with a “hey I really enjoyed your thoughts on X. Im eager to hear your thoughts on . Are you free on …?”
Always and I mean always state that interview will last shorter than reality. So if it lasts 30 mins in reality, say that it only lasts 23 mins or 17…
Anyway, this method has been pure gold for me and it should work for you as well as long as you follow these steps. When I first did this, I didnt even have number 1 and 2, yet I still had decent results, but having those two definitely increased my interview rate tremendously.
If you got any questions about this method feel free to ask away.
Thanks for this! I’ve also read through all the other business tips you’ve given by looking through your profile. Quite the treasure trove!
Would you still recommend this approach if the goal is to potential sell them a product later on?
Oh for sure, the only thing you need to do is modify the interview questions a bit. I usually start out with general easy to answet questions that even the dumbest owner could answer - the questions usually relate to trends and industry trends. I ask about 3 to 5 of these questions and then ask them these two crucial questions 1. “So how did you get into this business anyway?” And 2. “How do you currently feel about your marketing” and from that the interview takes a turn to where they are essentially selling themselves to me because of the questions.
The second question is tailored for me - im a marketer hence the how you feel about marketing - but if you arent a marketet then swap out marketing with relevant topic.
Also with the interview questions make sure to ask them essay questions not “Yes” and “No” questions.
Im interested if you found anything useful through my other comments and if so, what was it?
Would it not be bad form to start a business relationship with a lie? That’s mainly what I’m worried about.
You had very creative strategies for increasing sales and marketing for the people who posted their questions. I’m not in a position to leverage them, but they get the creative juices flowing!
I think thats subjective. When I used this approach and clients would ask me what happened with the “book” I just said that its taking longer than I thought it would and then give them a new deadline which was months away and by that time, they had forgotten it…
The thing is, I liken this method and various other ones that are based on lies as “white lies” that parents tell children to help them… So if you get a client through a lie and you truly help them, does it really matter if you lied about some book? Personally it doesnt matter to me…
So to answer you question, no it would not be unless you get caught, but then it depends on when you get caught… was it 1 month in? Then probably they will push you away. However if its like 6 months or more then all that would happen is they would get mad but thats it… they may piss and groan but they will still value the relationship you have with them.
I used to have severe problems with lying and being dishonest but I heard an asian woman once speak about deception and lying and how its viewed in the east and west. In the east, deception/lying is viewed as a given, its natural and they expect it and get concerned if you dont do it. If you ever look at animals, they also use deception, for example tigers have spots on their ears that look like eyes from afar… thats deception right there… or when raccoons feels threatened they stand up and make themselves look bigger to predators - thats also deception/lying… the point is, its natural to deceive/lie… however in the west (probably due to christianity) deception/lying is viewed as something thats morally negative and an absolute sin which is why we often feel ashamed, sick, and disgusted with ourselves when we do it. Anyway, after hearing her speak about this subject, I reflected and realised that its perfectly okay to do these activities to achieve my goals otherwise Im shooting myself in the foot… Im not sure if this will help, but its something to at least think about.
And thank you for thinking my methods to madness were creative. Let me know if there are any other questions you got.