Silicone rubber manufacturing: What is the best way to manage your sales?

Silicone rubber, as a highly durable and flexible material, is used by many different industries and for many different reasons. Manufacturers of these products have to be able to determine the current state of various markets, the viability of their products, the expected product lifecycle and potential reorder cycle from their customers, and still find time to innovate and expand as well. In this article, we are looking at the current position of the silicone rubber manufacturing industry, the sales challenges that are impacting these businesses, how effective automation and CRM can assist in solving these issues, and what you need to be doing to manage your sales as you continue to grow.

What does the silicone rubber manufacturing industry currently look like?

In their 2024 report, Market Reports World believes there will be a significant growth rate between 2024 and 2032, with silicone rubber materials being required by automotive, electronics, construction, and medical industries, just to name a few.

They found that the market was largely fragmented, and the major industry players were:

• Silicone Engineering Ltd
• The Dow Chemical Company
• Wacker Chemie AG
• Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. Ltd.
• Momentive Performance Materials Inc.
• Elkem ASA

as reports that the most often seen types of silicone rubber available on the market are:

• Liquid
• High Consistency Rubber (HCR)
• Room Temperature Vulcanisation (RTV)
• Fluorosilicone Rubber

ChemAnalyst reported a stable trend to the global silicone rubber market at the beginning of 2024, and this stability was attributed to mixed demand from the automobile and construction sectors. Their predicted outlook was linked to a positive momentum in downstream market demand, and increased consumption of silicone rubber products,  leading to an upward trend in prices.

What challenges are impacting silicone rubber sales?

Handling sales in a market that is central to wildly different industries often means there is a huge demand for variation of products, the need to utilise multiple materials (such as Silicone, Nitrile, TPE, etc.), and the need to manage all of these requirements, whilst also finding the time to source new leads and generate more sales opportunities.

For silicone rubber manufacturers, looking to expand their sales, and increase the value of their existing customer purchases, some of the main challenges may include:

• Creating accurate quotes for multiple products across disparate industries
• Simplifying sales tracking for different products and companies
• Setting up recurring sales, whilst maintaining data security
• Controlling inventory
• Accounting for cost variability in quotes and promotions
• Predicting and forecasting industry trends
• Planning for supply chain disruption without compromising production
• Targeting potential customers
• Up-selling new or improved products to existing customers
• Building an effective sales stack
• Establishing stock levels (especially if returns or cancellations have occurred).

Manufacturing industries of all types have to work with the materials they have, and what they can obtain from their suppliers. Knowing what you need, when you need it, and who you are expecting to sell the finished products to, is key to a successful business, and being able to generate more sales.

How can effective automation and CRM help silicone rubber manufacturers boost sales?

In order to boost sales, and grow your company, you need to be as precise in the day-to-day operations as you are on the manufacturing floor. The right tools and software can help to make your processes more effective, and lead to more sales as a result.

Many of the challenges that silicone rubber manufacturers are facing come from the operation of the business, and a lack of digital and technological support that comes from having the right programs and platforms. For some businesses, this is a result of growth, where the business has expanded over time, but specific processes and measures have not been developed and put in place, rather they have evolved from a non-standard approach where team members were essentially operating as required.

For other businesses, this lack of structure is due to outdated technology, and a lack of time or resources to update existing tools.

Regardless of why, how you operate and the tools you use is a business critical development, and one that needs careful consideration in order to remain competitive, and to make the most of your resources.

Some of the key ways in which Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and automation can benefit your manufacturing business include:

• In-depth tracking across customer journey and lifecycle.
• Streamlined sales processes that work with your team and your goals.
• Customer insights for a deeper understanding of where your marketing and advertising should be targeted.
• Stock management.
• Automation of returns, refunds, and cancellations.
• Auto payment scheduling.
• Identification of conversion drivers.
• Third-party integrations for additional touch-points and actions.
• Quote and ordering templates.
• Customisable analytics and Key Performance Indicator (KPI) monitoring.

CRM is not just useful for boosting sales, but can also be used to streamline your manufacturing processes, and optimise supply chain management, which gives it great value for money along with its other benefits.

Power your business with TEB Apps

You can streamline the management of your entire sales process with the future of business automation, TEB Apps. With TEB Apps you will have the tools to automate your sales processes to drive efficiency, centralise your data and align your sales team to maximise your sales, and revenue and accelerate growth. TEB Apps has grown by 800% across the last year due to its proven ability to drive business growth with powerful, futuristic automation. Adopt TEB Apps and:

• Drive your lead conversions - With AI and automation assigning leads to team members, you will boost your lead response time to drive your lead conversions.
• Simplify quote process – Access custom quote templates, automate your quote creation process and use specification, volumetric and bundle pricing to enhance your productivity.
• Centralise all customer data – Centralise your customer data at each stage of your sales funnel from lead management to billing to easily see how deals are progressing.
• Align your sales team – With near real-time tracking and action assigning, you can align your sales team, marketing team and management to get the best sales results possible.

Book a demo today and step into the future of business automation to accelerate your business growth.