How To Market Repair Services For Old School Machinery?
I've recently come across a prospective client who wants to use the internet to find leads for his repair services. But the interesting part is, the equipment he services is very old, so much so that he may be one of very few people in the region, or maybe even the country, who services this type of equipment.
The equipment he's talking about is a Monaghan Ventilator. Think back to the old "Emergency" TV Series from the 70's. Whenever a patient in Rampart Hospital was on a breathing device, the "tube down the throat to help them breath", they were very probably on a Monaghan Ventilator, the kind where you can see the baffle-like pumps go up and down as the patient breathes. It's this exact equipment my prospect wants to service.
These days, such equipment is used in special applications where a more modern device may be inapplicable because of the metal it contains. For instance, if a patient needs a ventilator while undergoing an MRI test, the old school Monaghan Ventilator may be employed as it can be modified to avoid the magentic problems associated with an MRI, Another case may be when a patient has to use a ventilator in a hyperbolic chamber or similar situation where conventional equipment won't work.
The question remains, how do you market repair services to old school or specialized application prospects?
I myself have 30 years in commercial printing, and I have a fondness for old school letterpress and wood-cut printing. I have particular knowledge of Heidelberg "Windmill" letterpress machines as well as the KORD and GTO offset machines. Service for these machines, being dated as they are, are usually performed by 3rd party contractors as Heidelberg has long since stopped supporting these machines.
How would I market my repair services to such a specialized niche as this? They would probably be hobbyists with a few of these machines in their basements, or some vocational schools, or even a few operational print shops that offer work on these machines as customized or specialized services.
Or in general, your prospect for your web marketing services is an expert at servicing very old school machinery of a highly specialized niche. How would you find leads for this prospective client?
Recent Comments
5
Wow, I wish I knew much about the medical field. I personally try to stay as far away from doctors as possible. If I hear of anything, I'll let you know.
Best of luck in making this work!
When I was in high school, I didn't think I wanted to go to college so I studied printing. My dad ran a printing business on-the-side from our basement. He had an old platen letterpress that was hand fed with all the related equipment. I got interested in it and played around on it for years until he finally decided he was tired of working that second job, and he sold the equipment.
Anyway, I didn't really pursue the printing business, went to college and got a marketing degree. I owned a computer repair business for about 20 years so your areas of interest closely match mine. (I don't know much about the medical equipment, but I suppose the concept still applies.
What I would do, is start posting articles and blogs on how to repair a certain piece of equipment. Give the information away. Some DIY types will want to do their own repairs but businesses often don't have time to do the repair and would be thrilled to find someone who could actually keep these wonderful old pieces of equipment operational. I'm sure repair fees as well as time and travel would be in the negotiation.
Get known as "the guy who still does this".
If you've ever listened to Car Talk on NPR radio on Saturday mornings, this is exactly what they do. Of course, their famous show is geared more toward comedy, but these guys are perceived as expert mechanics. I find it a stretch to believe that MIT and Harvard engineering professors repair Honda Civic's in their spare time - but you never know.
Get a reputation and spread the word.
Kali
Hey Kali,
Have you been talking to my prospect? ;-) That's exactly what he says, he wants to "Get known as the guy who still does this!"
I have no problem with that on the printing side of things ... there are more than enough ideas flowing from that. I know a few people, my old shop instructor from high school for one, who still have a press or two in their basement. I know that there's a marketable niche here.
But for my prospect, the medical equipment will be a much harder sell. People buying such are decidedly businesses, and I'm not sure I can figure out who in these types of businesses are, and what specific thing they might be looking for.
I see the prospect tomorrow, who has extensive experience using "conventional" means with his services previously. I'm going to see if I can pick his brain a bit to help me with B2B in general, and who would purchase his services in particular, and how we might use web marketing to reach out to them. I've already talked to him about article marketing, generally speaking. But I hope we can narrow things down a bit and find a more precise target.
Stay tuned ---
See more comments
Set your site up and content, google will find you because you become an expert. When someone googles keywords of the machinery etc they will find you. "Build it they will come". Do remember as well this is a select niche so there will only be so many prospects looking.
Thanks, Art! Sometimes it's easy to get lost while trying to find a solution that I forget some of the most basic concepts that are staring right in front of me! It didn't even occur to me that it might be easier to market, having lesser competition. You are also right that there may not be very many prospects looking for these services, either. But my client is looking for just a handful of jobs to start some money rolling. One or two orders could yield as much as $4K!