 |
 |
 |
Venture Funded PLC Start-upHistory Finding the right application for a new technology is not the only use for Frank Lynn & Associates NuTech Screen. When utilized within an application, it can be used to determine those end users who are most likely to buy a new technology. We used the NuTech Screen in this manner when our client, a start-up venture, came to us with a programmable logic controller (PLC) device for controlling production machinery. The product was fully developed and was already in successful use in several end user applications but sales results were well behind expectations. As a result, the company was running at a continuing loss and was close to exhausting its initial funding. Our Process To determine why sales were slow, we started by interviewing our client's current end users and examined their competitive landscape. Our research revealed that the PLC market exhibited a number of characteristics typically found in a rapidly maturing market:
It was evident that our client could not compete in this market as just another supplier. They would have to carefully identify their most likely prospects for the technology and focus their sales efforts only on these prospects. To determine the characteristics of the idea customer, we used the NuTech Screen to test our client's device for an end user "fit" pattern. What we uncovered was an end-user "PLC mind-set" that fit our client's PLC technology. These were end users who had reached the limit of existing PLC technology and needed to push beyond these constraints. They were not only sophisticated users of PLC technology but were also largely self-reliant in terms of aftermarket service and support. We estimated that they constituted approximately 13 percent of the PLC market. Refocusing the Sales Force Once we had identified the market segment for our client's PLC technology, the problem was how to find these accounts. Our client's sales force could not afford to knock on the doors of every company to find these prospects. Furthermore, we were not convinced that the field sales force would walk away from large PLC end-user accounts that did not fir the PLC mind-set criteria. To resolve this problem, we developed screening criteria so that a qualified prospect could be identified through a relatively straightforward telephone interview. We helped train a small number of telemarketing people in this screening process. They were given lists of companies in various manufacturing industries and screened these companies to find our PLC mind-set prospects. The field sales force was then given a list of these prospects, along with the specific individual to contact and, when possible, information regarding the availability of capital funding for new PLC program purchases. |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| Copyright 2010 Frank Lynn & Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | 1.800.245.LYNN | Site Map | Contact Us |