Here's a deeper look into the top trending stories in manufacturing today based on reader feedback: Ford plan for 2014; no voice calls for Delta; and the non-nonsense guide to generating qualified leads. Below these stories, check out links to other related news and features at Manufacturing Business Technology.
Ford Plans 23 New Cars, 11,000 New Jobs In 2014
DEARBORN, Michigan (AP) -- Ford Motor Co. says it will hire more than 11,000 people in the U.S. and Asia next year to support an aggressive rollout of new vehicles.
Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of the Americas, said the company plans to hire 5,000 workers in the U.S. — including 3,300 white-collar staff like engineers — and 6,000 workers in Asia. Many of those hires will work at two new plants that are opening in China.
This will be the most people Ford has hired in one year since 2000, the company said. Continue reading...
Manufacturing Business Technology readers note that while these are some ambitious plans for Ford, a lot of the good news relates to production in China.
Delta: No Voice Calls On Our Planes
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Delta Air Lines says it won't allow passengers to make voice calls from its planes.
CEO Richard Anderson says the airline's frequent fliers believe that voice calls in the cabin would disrupt the travel experience. Delta says a majority of customers in a survey last year said the ability to make voice calls would make their experience worse, not better. Continue reading...
The No-Nonsense Guide To Generating Qualified Leads Online
According to the Corporate Executive Board, 57% of the B2B sales process is complete before a prospect ever contacts sales.
This indicates that buyers are taking control and using the Internet to do their own research. In order to respond to this shift in the B2B market space, companies need to rethink their web presence and the value they’re adding to the prospect’s decision-making process.
Traditional outbound marketing spends for tactics like cold-calling and direct mail are not generating the quality leads that they once did. These tactics don’t yield a good return because they all have one thing in common: they interrupt people.
Today’s buyers are sick of being interrupted and they’re really good at filtering through the noise. They have caller ID, DVRs, and email filters set up all to filter out marketing messages.
Businesses are recognizing this trend and reallocating resources towards their online presence, while simultaneously cutting outbound budgets for old tactics.
Many companies are improving at driving traffic to their website, but are struggling to leverage the value of that traffic and generate leads from their website.
Continue reading...
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