Digital Game Plan: Get Laser Focused with Strategic Subtraction
Digital Game Plan Strategic Subtraction helps manufacturers get laser-focused on the customers, strengths, and growth opportunities that matter most. In this Digital Game Plan LIVE conversation, Curt Anderson and Damon Pistulka explore how doing less can actually help manufacturers accomplish more. They share examples from Niagara Specialty Metals and Truco Machine to show how a tighter focus can uncover new opportunities. Discover how the Digital Game Plan uses Strategic Subtraction, SO vs. SO WHAT, Soulmate Customers, and Ridiculously Important Questions to help companies identify what they do best and why it matters. You’ll also see how manufacturers can use e-commerce and the right social media channels to reach ideal customers, build stronger relationships, and create a more focused manufacturing growth strategy.
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Transcription
Curt Anderson 00:00
Well, hello there. Welcome, Damon. How are you doing?
Damon Pistulka 00:04
I’m doing great, Curt, and ready to roll.
Curt Anderson 00:06
Let’s rock and roll, brother. All right, we got a lot to cover. We’re going to go fast and furious today. We are talking about how to do more by doing less. Does that like it’s really it’s it’s it’s a conundrum, right? Are you guilty of that? Like, hey, let’s do more, more, more, more, more. And the idea, the concept is, how do we do a little bit less? Okay.
Damon Pistulka 00:28
Yep.
Curt Anderson 00:28
So we want to talk about strategic subtraction, and I just I love that line. We’ve been geeking out about it. What? What? Some something that comes to your mind? Like when you hear strategic subtraction, what? What? What are you thinking about?
Damon Pistulka 00:40
Oh, I think you know when you talk about Kaizen and and working on manufacturing processes is take the waste out, right? Because you’re doing stuff that’s not really doing giving you the most benefit.
Curt Anderson 00:51
Absolutely. So, and just getting laser focused. And so we’re going to run through a couple of different examples here real quick. And so, hey, let’s share the screen and let’s hey let’s go on a little let’s go on a little road trip together. How about jumping into the digital game plan here? So we are promoting. We have a new software tool just for you, completely free, and it’s called a digital game plan. And you look at over here on the left. There’s all these multiple tabs, and what we do is we take clients through a step by step process of marketing has been brand new to you, or just really not clicking the way that you wanted to. This is a wonderful tool to help you create that step-by-step process to get you there. This is a wonderful company called Niagara Specialty Metals. They do incredible work. They’re a steel manufacturer, and let’s take a look at their website. And Damon, you can see that, right? Yeah. And here’s a perfect example of like company’s been around since the ’70s. They’re ESOP, employee-owned, wonderful, wonderful manufacturer. Do great work. They’ve got a nice picture of their facility right here. They’ve got a picture of their team, and they just do great work. And so by going through the digital game plan process, we started focus on their core strengths and opportunities. And they wanted to get into e-commerce. Damon, how many steel companies do you know that get into e-commerce?
Damon Pistulka 02:11
Not many.
Curt Anderson 02:12
I tell you, this I felt was on pun intended on the cutting edge. And when I say cutting edge, they do check this out right here, they do cut rate and knife steel. Okay, cut rate, knife steel, and so what they were committed to, like instead of trying to be everything to everybody, could anybody buy their steel 100% But what they wanted to do through like strategic subtraction is just get more laser focused on their ideal customers, those soulmates that they work with, and so they decided to go in e-commerce. Damon, thoughts about people stepping into this e-commerce opportunity? What what goes through your mind?
Damon Pistulka 02:49
Well, I think you know when you get focused like this. First of all, you can target the right products to the right customers. I mean, that’s a big thing. I was just reading something about it over the weekend. About you know, when you really focus on that customer with e-commerce and really understand it, then the products you should offer that market become a lot, lot clearer.
Curt Anderson 03:13
Yeah, and they’re you know they’re doing a phenomenal job of you know you went on the website a year ago. It was just you know almost like a typical manufacturer website wasn’t an absolute top priority. Now they’ve really made a nice personal touch where they’ve got to meet the team. You can see all the folks. Here’s their wonderful Leah, their new marketer. They hired a. She just earned her MBA. Wonderful, delightful young woman. Here’s their sales manager over here, and they’re just so committed. Bob, their president. They’re so committed to stopping the best kept secret and just getting laser focus. Like I said, through that strategic subtraction, and you know, really leaning heavy into like their core capabilities. Okay, so with the digital game plan, let’s take a step back over to the digital game. Yeah,
Damon Pistulka 03:56
because I think Curt really talk about that how it helped them become laser focused? Yeah, we’re sitting here talking about getting laser focused. Let’s show the example of what how it really worked for Niagara.
Curt Anderson 04:10
What we did is so the tool we click we go to their so versus their so what. Okay, their soul versus their so what, and we focus on their core strengths, and we went into like the legacy and the product selection and like the type of customers that they work close as well, their turnover on inventory, the flexibility, small small runs that they can do, all sorts of things. It just really led to like, hey, this is the market that we want to focus on. And then when we looked at opportunities, where were their growth? Where are their growth opportunities? So by going through that so versus a so what, and then you know right down the line, Damon, all these tabs over here to the left arounding the bases that soulmate customer understanding that buyer journey with a soulmate success path, and what I I want to jump back over to Niagara and take a look at their website again. And here’s what’s mind blowing. They they decided, hey, we’re going to go into social media. Okay, now you and I are we’re we’re we’re LinkedIn guys, won’t you say that? Right?
Damon Pistulka 05:10
Yep, a little bit,
Curt Anderson 05:11
little bit. We strongly promote. Now I’m going to be first to admit I’m not the biggest advocate of Instagram. Guess where their ideal customers, their soulmates are hanging out.
Damon Pistulka 05:23
Instagram, man,
Curt Anderson 05:24
dude, check this out. This is insane, right? They have a picture here of just their raw steel on a shelf with a piece of paper describing this is a new material that they just launched this year. It’s and again, pun intended, cutting edge, and look at this: hundreds and hundreds of likes, comments here, 481 likes, comments, and this isn’t. These aren’t vanity likes. These are customers that are like, oh my goodness, I love this product. Where do I get mine? This is awesome. This is where their ideal customers are hanging out, and they’re in my humble opinion for a manufacturer. Check this out, Damon. This this post here is like describing like the the the material, right? Yeah,
Damon Pistulka 06:14
yeah.
Curt Anderson 06:16
664 likes and all sorts of wonderful comments, and people are engaged, so like for our manufacturers out there, like, oh, you know, our customers aren’t there. You know, man, they’re not on social
Damon Pistulka 06:27
media.
Curt Anderson 06:28
I don’t, man. I, you know, I don’t want to claim that I know it all, but it’s it’s hard to overlook this. You know what I mean? Yes,
Damon Pistulka 06:35
yes.
Curt Anderson 06:36
And and the customers are engaged. They’re like, this is awesome. Where do I get mine? They’re asking questions, you know, and that’s part of our digital game plan process back here. Is like down here, our Ricks, our RIQs. What are those ridiculously important questions that our so many customers are asking?
Damon Pistulka 06:53
Yeah,
Curt Anderson 06:53
Niagara is discovering their Ricks, their RIQs right on Instagram, and they’re engaging, and they’re answering, and they’re building relationships, and I just think it’s just absolutely wonderful. What are your thoughts there?
Damon Pistulka 07:05
Yeah, it’s when you start to really understand your customers, and then you’re interacting them with them like they are on Instagram. You can begin to learn even more about your customers because they’re telling you, they’re helping you get better and better. You’re asking them for feedback. You’re ask, you’re showing them what you’re doing. They’re they’re commenting on it, and they’re asking for can you do this kind of things. It just really gets those relationships going,
Curt Anderson 07:32
right? Yeah. So again, guys, check out Niagara Specialty Metals. They do amazing work. If you need steel, check those guys out. Check out their social media. Check out their e-commerce. If you, you know, here’s a custom contract manufacturer that took their proprietary processes and went all in on e-commerce just to make it easier to buy from them. When they launched that one, that new material on may 1, they had a record day, record month. They’re doing phenomenal. Again, just solid of the earth. Wonderful people, employee owned. It’s just a great, great, wonderful success story. Here’s another one that we’re going to go through. A phenomenal company. This gentleman’s been on our live show, Andy. Yep. And just a dynamo. Here’s a great story where his father legacy business. It was a they did like engine repair? Well, about 1012, years ago, Andy decided to become a CNC shop, right? And it’s a commodity, right? CNC shops are all over the place. Andy went all in on being this machining company, doing a phenomenal job. And through this, there’s Andy right there, handsome devil. And what he did through that strategic, going through the digital game plan process in that strategic subtraction, we really discovered. You know, like his ideal customer are like major, major companies. Believe it or not, and what he discovered, like his sweet spot were were employers of 300 and more. That was like his. That’s where his superpowers fell. That’s where like he exploited his core strengths. Yeah, that’s when we dove into that buyer persona. If you go through his website, he actually got into e-commerce. Damon, isn’t this crazy?
Damon Pistulka 09:09
Yeah, and it’s interesting his his niche because he was focusing on specialty replacement parts for automation equipment. I believe was the the thing, and you don’t think about that as a CNC manufacturer. That I’m going to. I’m focusing in first of all. I’m not just going to contract manufacture as much as I am. I’m going to contract manufacture in small batches of something that’s very expensive and very hard to build, and then sell it through e-commerce.
Curt Anderson 09:38
Yeah, and he found a sweet spot in major corporations, in particular machinery. Like again, look what he did. The CNC shop very broad, down to like replacement replacement parts on specific types of machinery. They had like long, long lead times on those replacements part. Yeah, where like he could turn around real, and he put all this machinery. His skill set, like to really separate himself, and that’s the direction. And now he has e-commerce on his website. Now people are checking them out online. He’s getting new leads, new opportunities, and so again, two phenomenal examples of small manu you know small manufacturers taking that digital game plan process, using that Strategic subtraction. Do more by actually doing a little bit less, Damon.
Damon Pistulka 10:25
Yep. Good stuff.
Curt Anderson 10:27
Good stuff. So we’re gonna wind down and wrap up for today, man. I’m just so fired up. I can’t. We’re gonna do this again tomorrow, man. I can’t.
Damon Pistulka 10:34
Yes, we are.
Curt Anderson 10:35
Hey, before we wrap, we have a we have a jam session coming up on September 24th. It’s at 12 o’clock. I’m going to put a note in the comments. So if you want to join our jam session, we’ve got a wonderful guest coming up. Sign up for our newsletter. Connect with Damon on LinkedIn. Connect with myself on LinkedIn, and we will be back here tomorrow. Damon, parting thoughts, words of wisdom.
Damon Pistulka 10:57
Hey, don’t be afraid to take some stuff away to get more done,
Curt Anderson 11:01
that’s right. And sign up for your free digital game plan, and you too will be knocking it out of the park. So, all right, we’ll see you guys soon.
Damon Pistulka 11:08
Thank you.