by Nicole Mitchell, editor, Plastics Business Manufacturing companies across the US are struggling to find the right new business opportunities for their teams – and those new opportunities have to be weighed against current capacity due to labor shortages, increased product cost, transportation issues and more. In the last two years, manufacturers have had to step back and … [Read more...] about Finding and Assessing New Business Opportunities
Sales & Marketing
Techniques for a Successful Mold-Building Partnership
by Gene Mussel, director, Harbour Results, Inc. Today, plastic processors have many challenges to manage to maintain a successful business – from raw material price increases to labor shortages – and, several of these issues are out of leadership’s control. However, one opportunity to drive efficiency and profitability improvement – and can be controlled – is the relationship … [Read more...] about Techniques for a Successful Mold-Building Partnership
When Customers Hold Their Hands Up: Lead Response
by Troy Harrison, author of “Sell Like You Mean It!” In businesses around the country, conversations about prospecting (outbound lead generation) and inbound lead generation are happening nearly every day. What isn’t spoken about much is what happens to the lead after it comes in. Many times, incoming leads either are mishandled or not handled at all, and then the marketing … [Read more...] about When Customers Hold Their Hands Up: Lead Response
Adapting to and Overcoming New and Recurring Challenges in 2022
by Ian Gjertson, analytics director, MAPP The past two years featured numerous challenges and controversy as the world has tried (and continues to try) to adapt to and overcome the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, according to the 195 plastics processing companies that participated in MAPP’s 22nd annual State of the Plastics Industry Report, which benchmarks 2021 performance … [Read more...] about Adapting to and Overcoming New and Recurring Challenges in 2022
Sales Strategies to Attract New Business
by Todd M. Zielinski, CEO, and Lisa Benson, senior marketing content consultant, Athena SWC In early 2020, when business-as-usual became a highly unusual labyrinth of challenges, rarely used words like essential, social distancing, quarantine and lockdown made headlines and littered everyday conversations. Not only did our vernacular change overnight, but the way we interact … [Read more...] about Sales Strategies to Attract New Business