Michael Ference Fluid Power Marketing

This is the last day of 2015.  Thank you to everyone who has read my posts this year, I really appreciate it. I look forward to digging deeper for content in 2015 so that I can share fluid power stories and news. If you have any thoughts or tips about content, please send them my way. In the mean time, have a very safe New Year's Eve and a great New Year!

Social Media has really increased its presence in business-to-business advertising this year.  Most fluid power companies are active with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. These are great channels to stay in touch with customers and colleagues, gather new information about products and services in the marketplace, and make new connections.  One key factor about all three is consistency.  In order to grow your network, you need to work at it on a regular basis. I have been using social media this year to share information and news about fluid power technology, the industry, and marketing in today's environment.  It would be great if you would "like" my page . If you are a LinkedIn user, I would like to connect with you there too.  This, too, is a great place to stay in touch and meet new contacts in the fluid power industry.  If you would like to connect, please send me a request. 2015 should be a great year for social media and busines...

Energy efficiency is a common objective of machinery and equipment manufactured in today's industrial environment.  Fluid power systems by their very nature are a combination of efficient and rugged. In his latest article found on our Mobile Hydraulic Tips website, Environmental considerations for fluid power system design  , Contributing Editor, Josh Cosford makes some excellent points about energy efficiency considerations of fluid power systems. My two key takeaways from this article are that 1) leakage is a primary offender, and 2) system efficiency is available through proper component selection.  Leakage has always been a concern for users of hydraulic systems but components have made great strides in minimizing leakage.  In this way, our industry is indeed addressing environmental "green" concerns. In addition to advances in leakage control, component manufactures across the board have continued to build efficiencies into their fluid power pro...

We at Fluid Power World have a full schedule of webinars planned for 2015.  It all starts with our Proper Hose Assembly Guidelines in January.   WTWH Webinar series enables the supplier communities to work with editors on preparing and delivering both editorial and custom content in a live interactive format. WTWH Media has developed a 2015 webinar schedule and invites suppliers to share their experiences and expertise to help professionals better understand technology or product related issues and challenges. WTWH editors will select a limited number of manufacturers to participate on each webinar.   Sponsorships are available up to 4 per webinar. For a unique specified supplier topic, WTWH will assign an editor, coordinate, promote and record the event.   Fluid Power World will assign a technical coordinator and moderator for assistance, guidance, and practice sessions. All webinars are recorded and emailed t...

I have been writing about a book by Jill Konrath titled SNAP Selling.   I have been listening to the audio book to get some advice from the author so that I can share it with others. The P in SNAP Selling stands for priorities and the author reminds readers to know and understand the priorities of their "frizzled" buyers so that they can better serve them.  In this book, Jill often refers to buyers as "crazy busy."  Based on my experience, this is true, most buyers are quite busy and that is why we, as sales professionals need to understand their priorities. As salespeople, we often think that our priorities are important to the customer.  Sometimes they are.  But the priorities of the customer is always important to them, especially the "crazy busy" ones. We have very clear priorities at Fluid Power World and that is to serve our customers in the ways they want and need to be served.  If you would like to lean more about how, please contact ...

On our website, Fluid Power World , we include updates on the fluid power industry as supplied by the National Fluid Power Association.  The encouraging news is that the month of October 2015 was a good one for fluid power component sales.   Click here for the report . Any and all success for our industry is good news for component manufacturers and distributors.  It is good news also for buyers because increased sales of components usually means increased sales of machinery. At Fluid Power World, we reach out to our advertisers and our audience for success in 2015.  We do that through excellent fluid power content sent to an audience of fluid power engineering professionals.  Please check out this report and while you are on our website, please visit our magazine and subscription pages and sign up for our great content.

What more can I say about that title other than useful information is useful.  If it is useful to our audience @FluidPowerWorld, then it should be useful to the customers and prospects of fluid power component manufacturers.   If the information is determined to be useful on a regular basis by an audience of a magazine, website, e-newsletter, or custom communication, then your sales message, when included within the information, stands the best chance of having an impact. At Fluid Power World  we have some excellent fluid power information of interest to fluid power buyers.  In 2015, include your message with our useful information and increase sales and market share.

In 2015, we will cover all of the major markets where fluid power is the driving force.   Mining applications need safe, reliable force that can be adapted to tight and harsh spaces.   Fluid power answers the call and we will review a specific mining equipment application in our February issue. One of the top three markets for pneumatic components is automation equipment.   In our upcoming February 2015 issue, that will be the focus as we review specific applications where air power is used to make manufacturing and assembly easier and more reliable. On the in-plant side, industrial hydraulics continues to be a best design choice for many plant applications.   In this issue, we will highlight how hydraulics are most effectively used in energy applications.   In addition to our feature articles, our readers will be able to learn from a variety of great departments that review energy efficiency, maintenance, safety, training, and much more.   D...

I know that it is not the end of 2014 yet and we are indeed still working on our January 2015 issue of Design World and Fluid Power World.  With that being said, I still want to tell you about our upcoming February 2015 issue. In a nutshell, it will be packed with great fluid power content from cover to cover.  It starts with our coverage of a very important mobile hydraulics market, that being mining equipment.  In this section, we will review a transport vehicle and how the hydraulic systems make it very reliable.  For more information on all mobile hydraulic applications and components, refer to MobileHydraulicTips. We pick up with Pneumatics in Automation, a top-three pneumatics market.  In this feature, we will review the benefits of using pneumatic systems to make automation simple and reliable.  For additional content on pneumatics, you can refer to PneumaticTips right now. Energy is always going to be a big concern and in our Februar...

The A in SNAP Selling by best-selling author, Jill Konrath, stands for align.  She advises sales people to always align business objectives with core beliefs.  Its about making people want to work with you. It helps to represent a company that falls in line with your own personal core beliefs.  Selling what you believe in gives you an advantage.  Being able to align your goals with the goals of your customer is a formula for success. It doesn't take long for a buyer to realize that you are only in it for the quick sell and not really concerned about their long term business strategy and success.  Therefore aligning with your customer's needs is a key to excellent sales strategy. In the fluid power supply chain, having direct sales representative and distributor sales people representing your products is a great way for fluid power component manufacturers to align with customer needs and strategies.  Having a sales force that understands the custo...

Be i N valuable is what author Jill Konrath advises in her book Snap Selling .   Since modern buyers are overwhelmed on the job, a salesperson needs to be a unique resource to their clients. Wow, I love that one.  Knowing all about your customers and being an expert on their core business is essential for success today.  It takes time and study to be an expert on any subject and one of the keys to making that impression is that it must be genuine.  You cannot fool your customers for very long, if at all, so don't even try to. Today, Fluid Power World   is an expert source of fluid power information to the marketplace.  We have relevant content delivered to an audience of engineering decision makers.  Our websites and e-newsletters take the message even further. I would like to work with your company for success in sales, increased market share, and strategic brand awareness in 2015.  Whether I am an expert or not, I can offer you expert...

You may have heard the term KISS when it refers to sales.  It stands for Keep It Simple Salesman and I first heard it on an audio program from the late Zig Ziglar.  That is good advice for sales professionals and it still applies as much today as ever. I just started listening to another audio program by Jill Konrath titled SNAP selling and, what do you know, the S in SNAP stands for Simple.  Jill advises sales professionals to keep it Simple.  Today's buyers are so busy and it makes sense to make your sale message easy to understand. I like what I have heard so far and will be posting more about this audio book.  If your company sells fluid power components, keep your message to your end users, OEMs, and distributors simple. Make it easy for them to buy from your company.  One way to make your message clear and easy to understand is by sending us your product information so that we can post it on our websites including Mobile Hydraulic Tips ...

Leadership in Engineering is our focus for January 2015 at Fluid Power World and Design World .  Our readers will be receiving a fantastic resource for engineering leadership with our January 2015 issue. Not only will this issue be full of great engineering articles and ads but all of our advertisers will be profiled in this issue as well.  If you are a reader, you will want to make sure to look for and keep this issue.  If you are an advertiser, you will want to get your ad space reserved and Profile Page put together. All companies are leaders in some aspect of their business.  Our January Leadership Issue calls attention to that leadership in our many profile pages included. Even though the issue is mailed and delivered via e-mail in January, it is a keeper for the whole year.  Where else can an engineer get this much information about prospective suppers in open place?   If you would like more information about our January Lea...

Page views, clicks, CTR ... I have written about it all before.  It is all good because now there are many ways to get your sales message out to the audience you want to reach.  There are also many ways to measure the effectiveness of your ads. While analytics tell the science of the subject, they don't really tell the art of it.  If you are an advertiser and you are trying to reach a target audience with your sales message, I believe it is most important that your message reach that audience. A very targeted magazine, such as Fluid Power World , reaches an audience of fluid power buyers and specifiers, a key audience for any marketing of components.  The content is 100% fluid power, again a key indicator for success for your advertising message.   I still believe that your ads are best seen in a targeted magazine. On the digital side, we have may more measurement tools at our reach for measuring the "effectiveness" of your ads.  We can tell yo...