India is gradually emerging as a manufacturing leader globally. However, the industry has one important weakness that continues to hold back the small and medium businesses (SMEs)—the lack of robust sales and marketing capabilities. Unlike in China, where businesses focus on sales and marketing with the same emphasis they do on product development, Indian SMEs typically have underinvested in their sales & marketing capabilities, thus limiting their growth.

Sales & Marketing: A Risk, Not An Investment

For most Indian manufacturers, sales and marketing are considered risky expenses. The thinking is “if the product is good, it should sell itself.” This mentality stems predominantly from the backgrounds of most founders of manufacturers, which tend to be in engineering or commerce. Their experience is in product creation, manufacturing and operations, not in pipeline building or creating a strong market presence. 

As a result, many SMEs leverage the personal networks of their owners for business development. While there may be some initial sales from the networks, they are by nature limited. To make matters worse, these downstream customers are in a position to negotiate prices down, because there is limited brand equity to bring to the table and limited other buyers around.

The Branding Blind Spot

Indian SMEs spend very little on brand development. When they have minimal marketing collateral, little digital presence, and no customer engagement, they cannot create meaningful differentiation. As a result, their customers visualize their products as commodities, and the natural outcome is haggling over price and eroding margins. This downward trajectory can lead to weak sales, which equal weak revenue, which means stunted growth.

The problem is that this assumption is based on outdated thinking. Today, the playing field is crowded with manufacturers providing similar quality and features. Only brand positioning, marketing, and selling create separation. Unless you provide a propulsion mechanism for linking the customer to a compelling brand story, packaging, or sales strategy, your best product will not be found.

For example, take the case of boAt, the Indian audio devices brand. When boAt launched their brand, they were not offering radically different engineering. They were different in terms of branding, packaging, and positioning. The team marketed boAt as a lifestyle brand aimed at millennials. They engaged in digital marketing campaigns to create aspirational value. The result is that boAt became one of India’s fastest-growing consumer electronics brands in one of India’s most crowded sectors.

A Small Step Can Make a Big Difference

The advice for the Indian SMEs is straightforward: even relatively small expenditures on sales and marketing can have a tremendous impact on results. Engagement of just one individual with a true focus on sales, branding and marketing—not with the full focus of the owner—can lead to demonstrable gains in visibility, lead generation, or customer interaction.

Gireesh Sharma

Director, Manufacturing Industry

 //andrespenabad.com