Greg Aziz Particulars the Logistics, Advantages of Promoting a Premium Product in a Commoditized Market

In at the moment’s complicated world market, firms discover it more and more tough to face out from the competitors. In some industries, a enterprise can efficiently market a product based mostly on its added options and/or superior operate. To perform this objective, enterprise house owners should completely perceive their native, regional, or nationwide markets. They have to additionally establish their goal buyer’s wants and present how their product will meet them. Geared up with this data, the entrepreneur should use the suitable channels to achieve these potential patrons. Immediately, digital advertising and social media interactions play a key function in getting the message out. Nevertheless, these methods are doubtless not acceptable for a commoditized market through which each product is actually the identical. The North American railcar trade is a basic instance of a commoditized trade — besides within the case of railcar firm entrepreneur Greg Aziz, who’s having fun with enduring success by advertising a premium product tailor-made to every buyer’s wants.

In a commoditized trade, every product is similar to these provided by rivals. Apart from components similar to shade or dimension, the competing merchandise are nearly equal in look, options, and performance. As a result of all merchandise are basically equal, a client makes their buying determination based mostly solely on the gadgets’ respective costs.

Three Methods a Premium Product Can Thrive

Firms have discovered it exceedingly tough to market a premium product in a commoditized trade. Modern enterprise house owners like Greg Aziz, who assume exterior the field, have been profitable by utilizing one (or extra) of those approaches.

Sensible leaders begin with progressive product design. A product with a decidedly totally different design has a great opportunity of grabbing the market’s consideration. The merchandise’s distinctive look, and maybe its fascinating new options, will set it other than rivals’ choices.

Superior buyer help is one other method to stand out from the competitors. To realize this objective, the corporate ought to discover methods to reinforce the shopper expertise throughout each contact level. Ideally, this implies bettering the shopper’s place in a significant method.

In at the moment’s market, an organization’s model generally is a highly effective advertising device. Some manufacturers symbolize stable core values and a powerful buyer focus. The enterprise’s product advertising must be according to its authenticity-based model persona. When the 2 mesh collectively, the product enjoys added credibility within the market.

Greg Aziz on the Railcar Business’s Commoditized Strategy

Since its inception, the North American railcar trade has seen its merchandise strictly as commodities. Greg Aziz, CEO of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada-based Nationwide Metal Automobile, describes a railroad’s precedence when buying extra railcars for its fleet.

“The railroads, once they exit to purchase a automobile, they’re mainly shopping for a commodity. Naturally, it has to fulfill sure standards, nevertheless it doesn’t have the differentiators that an industrial buyer would need,” he defined.

The railcar trade contains railcar producers who fabricate their very own merchandise to be used by freight-hauling prospects. Every completed railcar should adjust to sure design and engineering parameters.

Greg Aziz mentioned that the majority of his trade rivals contract out their engineering work relatively than sustaining in-house capabilities. A commoditized mindset usually dominates their operations.

“A few of our rivals have little or no engineering in any respect. They use exterior engineering corporations to design issues for them. [But] they don’t preserve that burden from an working standpoint 12 months a yr like we do.

“It’s a tradition factor … I do know … of a few the businesses who’re now not in enterprise, not as a result of they went out of enterprise, however they’ve simply disappeared by means of mergers. They’d their fundamental designs on sure varieties of vehicles. ‘You’ll be able to have this automobile or this automobile,’” he acknowledged.

Greg Aziz’s Premium Railcar Success Story

Canadian entrepreneur Greg Aziz had no want to construct cookie-cutter railcars. He felt that top-tier engineering and customization may flip a generic, commoditized railcar right into a premium product. Within the course of, the railcar builder would elevate its standing within the North American railcar trade.

When Greg Aziz acquired his railcar firm in 1994, he instantly carried out this method. “From the get-go, we emphasised engineering in an effort to differentiate ourselves from our rivals. We consider that we’re the main railcar producer on this planet from an engineering standpoint.

“We’re not the largest railcar producer, however all of our designs are cutting-edge designs. Our engineering division is superior, we consider, to our rivals’. We’ve used our place in an effort to mainly preserve ourselves because the top-tier producer,” he remarked.

Immediately, Greg Aziz’s railcar firm designs and builds premium railcars to every buyer’s specs. He’s proud that the enterprise’s proficient designers have executed over 350 patented designs. Nevertheless, he notes that the legacy railcar trade didn’t take kindly to the corporate’s design patent actions.

“From the standpoint of the gear, our designs are very distinctive. We maintain over 350 patents. We patented all of our design improvements. We had been the primary railcar builder in North America to do that. It wasn’t finished within the trade once I got here in.

“The rationale we did that was that I began to note that our rivals had been copying our designs. My query was, ‘Why are we not patenting these purposes?’ The reply I used to be given was, ‘The trade is not going to tolerate a railcar builder patenting its designs. It’s simply not finished within the trade.’ We went and did that anyway. It labored out very nicely for us. We proceed to do this,” Aziz emphasised.

Along with creating a powerful railcar design portfolio, Aziz made the capital gear investments wanted to construct these premium railcars. He commissioned the fabrication of extra railcar building services. Subsequent, he outfitted the manufacturing services with modern gear and complex expertise.

As an instance, Aziz defined that the corporate extensively makes use of robotic welding expertise. Apart from its labor-saving advantages, he says the robots ship exceptional-quality welds. “We use an terrible lot of welding robotics … There are a number of very, very massive prospects who are available in and inform us that in relation to robotic welding, no human being can weld like a robotic can, OK? Right. That’s form of an vital takeaway.

“However our prospects will are available in, and … they’ve had the luxurious of having the ability to go to different automobile builders … We preserve being instructed that there’s no one on this trade who’s even near our scale of robotics and automatic gear,” Aziz remarked.

Greg Aziz Excels at Advertising His Premium Railcars

Aziz has discovered success in making premium railcars in a commoditized trade. To market these higher-end merchandise, the corporate’s gross sales workforce tailors its method to every railcar prospect.

First, a educated gross sales skilled visits every potential buyer’s facility. The gross sales rep observes the corporate’s railcar loading operations. As soon as they’re clear in regards to the enterprise’s wants, the rep can brainstorm methods to assist the corporate function extra effectively. Commoditized railcar firms don’t discover it mandatory to have interaction on this course of.

To steer railroads and freight haulers to purchase his premium railcars, Aziz steers away from a commoditized gross sales method. As an alternative, he believes in constructing private relationships and offering distinctive worth to every buyer. He mentioned how demonstrating the corporate’s engineering excellence and high quality dedication received the agency a coveted contract.

“There was a buyer just a few years in the past [who] got here out and needed roughly 3,500 railcars. Our two predominant rivals each despatched in a gross sales man to fulfill with them.

“I feel we put three of our advertising individuals, and about three engineers — and a few our manufacturing engineers from our manufacturing operations — on a airplane. [We] flew in to this buyer and sat down about eight or 10 individuals in entrance of them. We bought that contract, and that contract was value about $350,000,000.

“And that’s one thing that takes a few years to construct out. I feel we bought caught in the midst of the COVID factor and all that. So, we needed to again off on our means to fabricate that order. That order took three and a half years or so to construct out. Nevertheless it was a pleasant base for our manufacturing operation by means of that point interval,” he concluded.

Greg Aziz’s Premium Product Speaks for Itself

Aziz says that responding to every buyer’s wants opens the door to premium product design — and gross sales. “Being attentive to our buyer’s wants — that’s what’s enabled us to steer the corporate into new varieties of railroad gear … It steers us to cutting-edge engineering and the power to supply new automobile designs which might be lighter and shorter, and that’s what’s vital.

“It comes all the way down to [the fact that] we construct a premium product. As a result of we construct a premium product, it permits us to stay aggressive. We’re in a position to do higher from a price standpoint, each for the corporate and for the shopper,” Aziz emphasised.

Within the twenty first century’s second decade, rail freight transport is predicted to proceed its stable progress. With this as a backdrop, Greg Aziz’s premium railcar firm is projected to additional broaden manufacturing to fulfill prospects’ wants.