Scott Safety Adds Hyper-targeted ?Meet the Buyer? Networking Events to Marketing and Sales Mix

Scott Safety, a leader in respiratory protection, personal protective equipment and gas and fire detection technologies used by emergency responders, is now innovating its approach to sales through a targeted networking program. Working with long-time industry marketing company Copland Events, Scott Safety is participating in the third of nine “Meet the Buyer” events in 2013, where qualified buyers authorized to make purchases meet with specific manufacturers and other service and product providers in a given sector. At this stage, the company’s focus for Meet the Buyer opportunities are in the marine/maritime and oil and gas industries.

Scott Safety’s products are mainstays across several sectors, including fire protection, civil defense, military, industrial, maritime and petrochemical, oil & gas industries. The format for each Meet the Buyer event is face-to-face meetings, bringing together industry experts. Suppliers and buyers sign up for opportunities to sit down for targeted meetings to discuss needs and solutions respectively. Event organizers match each participant’s “dream list” to provide a guaranteed minimum of 15 appointments with companies that have expressed strong interest in meeting. Since both sides of the sales/purchase equation arrive at the event having invested time and money to attend with specific objectives in mind, the day is spent doing business. Purchasing processes can be shortened  since buyers are building a network with products and services suppliers.

“The realities of global business require companies to be efficient and cannot afford to spend time unproductively. Meet the Buyers positions both sides of the buy-sell discussion to understand needs and smart solutions quicker,” said Marty Lorkowski, Global Marketing Manager of Scott Safety’s Industrial Division. “Buyers are engaged. They know we invest to have knowledgeable delegates attend to have a focused business discussion without the time wasted trying to “match up” with the right people and company.”

With up to 100 buyers and 100 suppliers converging in a quality hotel at each location, the two-day events are a beehive of activity—meetings all day directly across the table from one another in the hotel’s conferencing facilities, then the opportunity for networking and informal discussions after the traditional workday is completed. Organizers compile the database of participants based on three levels of responsibility: Senior Manager/Director; Middle Manager/Purchasing Manager; Project Manager and Technical Manager. Within this span, Scott’s team is able to engage buyers at the strategic, program and procurement levels of targeted companies, greatly increasing both the traction and potential success. “Both sides arrive at the table ready to do business and authorized to make decisions—we know it’s another way to reach companies and industries needing our products and solutions,” noted Christina Deatherage, Scott’s Global Marketing Communications Manager.