Guest post by John R. Wirtz of Pinpointe Marketing, LLC.

PMPA collaborates with Gardner Publications to produce Production Machining Magazine.

We contribute a half dozen pages of content each month, and our partners at Gardner do the rest.

The February issue had a wonderful tutorial about how not to get the contract. It was written by John R. Wirtz, a respected marketer in the industry.

Spoiler alert– We’re just giving you the bullet points, you’ll need to go to Production Machining’s posting of 10 Ways to Get the Contract to get the full details!

So why did you lose a major project to a competitor?

Hint- it probably wasn’t your price!

1. Do less talking and more listening.  

2. Use the tech review as a weapon of mass instruction.

 3. Don’t assume anything. 

4. There’s no such thing as a courtesy meeting.  

5. Act like you truly want the business.

6. Add value at every step of the process.

7. Show your bench strength.  

8. It rarely comes down to only price.

9. Make the most of your oral presentations.  

10. Be careful how you play the boss card.

John modestly suggests in his article in Production Machining that you should take these tips with a grain of salt.

I’d suggest acting on them immediately to improve your closing percentage.

Thanks to John R. Wirtz president of Pinpointe Marketing LLC. and Gardner Publications for the share.

Pinpointe Marketing, LLC, an Ohio-based sales and marketing firm specializing in the turned parts and engineered industrial products industries. He can be reached at 440-506-8963.