For some, the path to industrial sales success feels like a great big secret they want to get in on.

If you’re just starting your industrial sales career, then you have a lot of unanswered questions.  If you’ve been in the industrial sales game a long time but you’ve been using older, traditional methods of filling your pipeline and you need to make some changes, you also have some unanswered questions.

It’s true, generating leads and leveraging technology tools online feels a little like trying to catch a tiger by the tail – it’s a moving target. Social media platforms, CRMs, website builders, tools, apps, and AI tools feel like a mountain that industrial sales professionals must climb to the top of to get a good view of the sales landscape. But once you get to the top, you find that Facebook just changed their settings, yet again, creating a NEW mountain to climb.

And don’t get me started on AI. This emerging technology has already transformed the way many agencies conduct market research, brainstorm ideas, and create content, and it’s just getting started. I feel like the rapid rise of AI may garner a little insecurity and suspicion among industrial sales people, wondering if their top performing counterparts are utilizing AI tech to help them close deals.

But you know how the saying goes, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.”

In other words, savvy industrial sales people, indeed, are using AI to leave their competition playing second fiddle.

The good news is that while the digital landscape industrial sales people must work in does shift like the sand, there are still some core principles you should incorporate into your strategy to achieve maximum success.

If you learn these core principles to industrial sales success in this digital landscape, you’ll be equipped to not only keep up with the next wave of technological evolution, you’ll also be able to rise to the top of your industrial sales game. In short form, you’ll be the savvy industrial sales pro holding the big bag of success secrets.

These principles come straight from the founder of MFG Tribe and Industrial Sales University, Kyle Milan.

Kyle has been a mover and shaker in the industrial sales industry for 20+ years. He has over 16,000 industrial sales followers. He’s helped over 200 sales pros get 1,389 new projects on the board, which accounts for over 260 million in revenue for their companies just in the past 2 years alone.

These scoreboard stats underscore Kyle’s authority in the manufacturing and industrial sales industry. He knows what it takes to rise to the top of the industrial sales game and we’re going to share some of the actionable, core principles that you can start implementing today to boost your industrial sales success, starting this week.

Watch Industrial Sales Mastery: The 2024 Playbook for Dominating the Market

Before we talk about marketing or technology tools, we need to address the true core principle of industrial sales success. Before we get to the tools and techniques of selling, we need to discuss your mindset.

Champions possess the spirit of a champion before they ever lift that trophy in victory. Champions develop thick, rhinoceros’ skin! That’s how they perform under pressure, blow past rejection, laugh in the face of threats, and score big wins when their bodies are wracked with pain. They become immune to all resistance, and that’s how they rise to the top and stay on top.

This is an age-old secret of top players in virtually every field. We see beautiful stars like Margot Robbie and think her bright smile and love for Barbie dolls got her to the top. Wrong! Behind the pretty face is the same spirit of Lebron James. These peak performers have developed a championship spirit and rhino skin. That means they don’t break under pressure and rejection rolls off their backs like beads of water from a freshly waxed car.

Industrial salespeople face a lot of rejection and aggressive quotas that must be met. That’s a rock in a hard place – pressure from your company and rejection from your prospects.

But with a championship spirit, you will attack your goals daily with laser focus and ruthless aggression. And by developing that thick, rhino skin, so to speak, you will be protected and practically immune to the stinging pain of rejection.

Ready to take your Industrial Selling Career to the Top? Enroll into Industrial Sales University!  

LinkedIn Lead Generation

Now, let’s transition into the next core principle of industrial sales success in a digital landscape. The greatest gift to manufacturing and industrial sales professionals trying to fill their funnel in 2024 is LinkedIn. The platform has become undeniable as a lead generating powerhouse for industrial sales professionals.

Regardless of the industrial sales products and services you’re pitching, you can find more ideal and targeted leads on LinkedIn than on any other platform. So, LinkedIn marketing should take the lead as your number one source for meeting new prospects, generating targeted leads, and connecting with your audience.

On LinkedIn, industrial sales people are able to find new leads to pursue, invite them to become “connected”, share valuable resources that create massive rapport, and schedule appointments – which lead to sales!

While the essence of most social media platforms is anti-business and productivity, LinkedIn is the one place where people come to do business and make money. It’s the opposite of TikTok and Instagram. It’s the platform where people class up and expect to discuss serious industrial sales solutions.

CRM Follow-Up

With a solid source of targeted leads flowing in, you and all industrial sales professionals should consider managing your leads through a CRM. When industrial sales people don’t have CRMs that usually means that they’re using a good old fashioned spreadsheet. I’m not knocking it, but a CRM is infinitely more dynamic than spreadsheets are.

You can send and schedule email follow-up automations. You can track people on your list by actions they have taken. If they have opened an email or if they have clicked a link, you will know and be able to target this group of warmer leads with more direct actions, such as making a phone call to them.

CRM systems come in all types. Industrial sales people have everything they need, at their fingertips, with Hubspot. If you’ve been using a spreadsheet, we recommend upleveling your sales system to what’s working now. With Hubspot, you can send follow-up and broadcast emails to your growing list of leads, track their interactions with your outreach, target warmer leads with appointment setting emails, and manage your database of leads and prospects. And what’s cool is that most CRMs are equipped with AI tools to help you write emails and build out email campaigns that help you follow-up with, nurture, set appointments with, and win with your prospects and leads.

Industrial sales success in this digital landscape is inevitable as you embrace these core principles, apply them to your career, and start reaping the rewards.

Ready to take your Industrial Selling Career to the Top? Enroll into Industrial Sales University!