My company, Canyon Electronics & Cables, is a contract electronics manufacturing services provider (EMS) that specializes in producing custom cables, wire harnesses, printed circuit boards and electromechanical accessories.

Although leaving the “incubator” stage only recently, we have achieved ISO 9001:2000 certification, a rare accomplishment for a similar-size company.

Moreover, and important to this study, Canyon Electronics is based in Grand Junction, Colorado – an unusual – and hard-to-find location for a manufacturing operation, but one to which the founders are completely committed.

The Challenge

Canyon Electronics was a small start-up entering a crowded field with entrenched competitors. The business was founded in April, 2002, when the U.S. economy was slumping and the electronics industry was especially suffering due to the tech bubble burst of 1999-2000.

The original business plan called for serving manufacturing customers within a 500-mile radius of Grand Junction. It quickly became apparent, however, that we needed to expand beyond that radius in order to grow the business.

The challenge was identifying prospects with an immediate need for custom electronics manufacturing capabilities. This would stimulate cash flow and begin building the user success stories that would lead to additional business.

Trial Runs

Initially, we tried a variety of Web-based listing companies to expanding the customer base and accelerate the sales cycle. But these listings were largely ineffective in generating customer activity in the form of submitted inquiries and leads.

So, I started investigating additional methods of reaching potential customers through various means, including general purpose search engines. That is how I found GlobalSpec. 

Stumbling Upon a Solution

Though I had not heard of them before, their name kept coming up in the relatively new field of vertical search. GlobalSpec offered us a search-by-specification Web site that provides comprehensive information to engineers and technical buyers who want a consolidated, timely and accurate representation of the industrial products and services that are available to solve their problems.

GlobalSpec claimed to provide advanced search expertise with a unique understanding of the engineering community to create the leading specialized search engine and online industrial resource. Users would find everything they need presented in an intuitive approach including deep - and exclusive - engineering content and the most relevant results in the shortest time.

It seemed to be the answer we were looking for so we partnered up with them.

The Results

Truthfully, we were stunned. Business skyrocketed since we signed on with GlobalSpec. I began receiving inquiries from qualified prospects almost immediately, and started closing sales in about 60 days.

GlobalSpec has also helped to make sure that we are reviewing and following up on our leads in order to maximize the opportunities. 

My company acquired $300,000 in new contracts in its first year with GlobalSpec, helping total revenues skyrocket from $60,000 in 2002 to $845,000 in 2004. We’ve grown from three employees to more than 20. Canyon Electronics has broadened its reach into multiple industries and acquired both national and international customers.

This growth has allowed us to move past the incubator stage, winning the 2005 Outstanding Incubator Graduate award from the National Business Incubation Association. It also has given Canyon Electronics the means to invest $800,000 in a building and new equipment in Grand Junction.

What We Learned

Putting our services up on the GlobalSpec site has been our best marketing move by far.

The quick ROI has put us well ahead of plan, and taken us from start-up to an established player. The more we work with GlobalSpec and the more it learns the particular needs of a service-oriented business like ours, the more effective I expect the search engine to be.

Bottom line: We cut our losses quickly with unproductive search firms and engines and we’ll be sticking with this one that produces hefty and bankable results.

by Steve Kramer, Vice President and Co-Founder of Canyon Electronics
A Special Contributor to BusinessMedia

© BusinessMedia

Visit Canyon Electronics at www.canyonelectronics.com