If thoughtful communication is important when serving and retaining customers, it's even more critical to attracting new ones. That was one of the powerful messages emerging from the inaugural Global Supply Chain Marketing Summit, held on Amelia Island, Florida, June 7-9, and presented by SupplyChainBrain and the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP).

Guidance was offered to marketing and public relations professionals during several panels and "fireside chats," featuring a range of executives with decision-making power when it comes to buying logistics and technology services, including ACE Hardware, Walmart, Cardinal Health, Amazon Web Services, GDC Building for Health, and RG Barry. Also on the stage was Chris Adderton, senior vice president of CSCMP, and three editors from SupplyChainBrain. 

In the audience were executives from a broad range of service providers, including robotics, asset management, supply chain planning, third-party logistics providers, order fulfillment, last-mile delivery, supply chain software integration and voice technology.

In essence, the message was that any sales pitch, whether seeking coverage in an industry publication or securing a new piece of business, needs to take account of the complexities of both the supply chain business itself, and the specific challenges of individual companies.

First and foremost was the plea: Explain clearly exactly what you’re offering. Even relatively common terms such as “visibility” and “real-time” mean different things to different people. These often shade into industry buzz terms, such as  “leveraging” technology to achieve results, and “unlocking value.” 

SupplyChainBrain Editor-in-Chief Bob Bowman urged those in corporate communications to take the time to imagine what it’s like to know little or nothing about their businesses, and to explain accordingly. “Imagine you’re at a party, and someone asks you what your company does,” said Helen Atkinson, Managing Editor at SupplyChainBrain.

Participants in the summit also urged marketers to get to know their targets before making first contact. “Don’t tell me you can save me 30% of my transportation costs when you don’t even know what they are,” warned one industry executive who spends tens of millions of dollars a year on transportation. “Understand my pain,” said another. “Identify what the solution is going to be, and then work with me to solve the problem.”

Developing a good understanding of a potential customer is critical, because the decision to buy a game-changing software system, or sign a multi-year contract with a service provider, can have a profound effect on an executive’s professional future. “Choosing, for example, a warehouse management system is a once-in-a-career, multi-million-dollar decision that could end your career,” said one executive. “Mostly, you don’t get smart — you just get lucky.”

SupplyChainBrain Senior Editor Russell W. Goodman recommended reading supply chain publications and attending industry conferences in order to stay up to date with current, hot-button issues. In terms of editorial coverage, the SupplyChainBrain editors returned again and again to the value of case studies. Goodman stressed  that they need to make it clear that the provider “really delivered value.”

Some executives said they were surprised at how infrequently they were asked by their service providers to participate in a case study. One said she’d only ever been asked once, and said yes immediately. “If I say yes and it helps them, it’s karma,” said another executive. “It’s going to come back and I’m going to get some extra service. So, certainly, ask!”

The benefits of getting column inches in a respectable supply chain publication were widely touted by the participating executives. “I’ll meet with five or six software companies once I’ve narrowed it down, but if I haven’t heard your name before, it’s probably not going to happen,” said an executive.