Leadership in Manufacturing

Your company can have the right product for a customer's application and still be overlooked if the customer cannot find the information they need.

In this solo episode of Leadership in Manufacturing, Sannah Vinding shares why she wrote Visible or Invisible: How Industrial B2B Companies Win Buyers When AI Builds the Shortlist. She looks at how customers move between AI tools, websites, technical documents, and distributor pages, and how teams can make their knowledge more useful along the way.

You will hear:

• The three buying jobs: Discover, Prove Fit, and De-risk
• Why product explanations need clear conditions, limitations, and technical review
• How engineering, product management, product marketing, sales, customer service, reps, and distribution contribute to reliable answers
• The five Visible GTM foundations: Product Truth, Governed Knowledge, Signal Quality, Workflow Readiness, and Human Trust
• How to start with one product family and one recurring customer question
• Where human expertise helps customers check assumptions and make decisions

Practical takeaway: Choose a question your team hears repeatedly. Look for the answer where customers research your product. Agree who writes it, who reviews and approves it, and who keeps it current. Check whether it helps before expanding the work.

“AI helps prepare, people help customers decide.”

Sannah Vinding

ABOUT THE BOOK

#1 New Release in Industrial Marketing on Amazon. The book includes access to a companion toolkit with interactive templates, worksheets, and scorecards. Access instructions are inside the book. Foreword by Walter Tobin.

Learn more: https://visibleorinvisible.com Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HMFQGWJW Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HMFCJJKJ

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 The product question a customer could not answer

00:44 Why I wrote Visible or Invisible

02:04 Start small and look beyond internal knowledge 0

2:45 Researching options before a conversation

03:28 Discover, Prove Fit, and De-risk

04:00 Consistent answers and technical judgment

04:55 Shared ownership and one recurring customer question

06:05 Review, approve, maintain, and test the answer

07:02 The five foundations of the Visible GTM System

08:09 Human Trust and helping customers decide

08:49 The companion toolkit, foreword, and book details

09:24 Closing thoughts

Host: Sannah Vinding Show: Leadership in Manufacturing Episode: 154 Website: https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com

Stay curious, keep learning.

Brooks Mattice, Vice President of Sales and Partner at MFC Group, joins Sannah Vinding to discuss how leaders prepare sales teams for growth through structured training, practical onboarding, feedback, and AI-supported tools.

Brooks shares how MFC Group created a common sales training process as the company expanded across 20 states. The program combines skills training, process training, homework, quizzes, and reinforcement through manager conversations.

He also explains how AI is helping new salespeople research accounts, identify contacts, estimate market opportunity, understand product fit, and prepare for more relevant customer conversations. The goal is not to replace sales judgment. It is to reduce preparation friction and keep salespeople in front of customers more often.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why product training alone is not enough for a growing sales team
• How to build a shared minimum standard for sales skills and processes
• How AI can support account research, onboarding, and customer preparation
• Why human judgment and trust still shape the customer conversation
• How leaders can give clearer feedback as their responsibilities grow
• Why curiosity, humility, hunger, and a willingness to try support growth
• How manufacturers' representatives can create more value in a changing market

Brooks Mattice brings more than 25 years of experience across semiconductor, electronic systems, EMS, passive, and electromechanical markets. A Purdue University electrical engineering graduate, he has worked in field sales, strategic accounts, sales leadership, and general management. He works with suppliers, distribution partners, and customers across automotive, industrial, medical, aerospace, communications, data center, and other electronics markets.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast brings practical leadership conversations to leaders across electronics, manufacturing, distribution, and technical industries.

Newsletter: https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/newsletter/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

Colin Strother, Executive Vice President at Rochester Electronics, joins Sannah Vinding to discuss how trust, authenticity, and customer commitment shape leadership across a global electronics business.

Colin shares how Rochester supports customers across the semiconductor ecosystem and why customer experience cannot depend on one channel. Some customers want to meet face to face. Others want to pick up the phone or use a digital platform. The leadership challenge is creating an experience that supports all three while keeping trust at the center.

The conversation also covers how leaders learn from mistakes, why self-awareness and composure matter, how confidence helps new leaders grow, and what picking up a piece of trash can teach us about doing the right thing when nobody is looking.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why trust has to come before influence
• How authenticity helps leaders turn a vision into results through other people
• Why customers want choice across personal and digital channels
• How global leaders build local teams and relationships
• Why self-awareness and composure matter when information moves quickly
• How confidence and support help new leaders step forward
• How small visible actions reinforce leadership standards

About the guest: Colin Strother is Executive Vice President at Rochester Electronics. He began his career through an electronics apprenticeship in Scotland and has since worked across semiconductor distribution, customer experience, sales, and global team leadership.

Episode 152 is hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, product marketing and GTM leader, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Join the Leadership in Manufacturing newsletter for weekly lessons from conversations with leaders across electronics, manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain:

https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/newsletter/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

Riad Nizam, President of Master Electronics, joins Sannah Vinding on the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast to discuss how distribution leaders build trust as AI speeds up work across the electronics industry.

Riad shares how Master Electronics builds a relationship-first culture through communication, decision-making, feedback, mindset, and customer and supplier trust. He also talks about how AI is helping the organization think differently, bigger, and faster, while people still own the final judgment.

This conversation is for leaders in electronics distribution, manufacturing, supplier relationships, sales, product, and technical teams who want to move faster without losing trust, communication, or human judgment.

In this episode, you will learn:

• How Master Electronics supports faster decisions with practical decision tools
• Why trust is still one of the strongest advantages in electronics distribution
• Where communication breaks down between suppliers, distributors, and customers
• What customers ask for now around tariffs, compliance, supply chain, pricing, and lead times
• How AI can help teams think differently without replacing human decision-making
• Why mindset, humility, and positive energy are hard to train later
• How leaders can make feedback easier by asking for it first
• Why culture has to grow from both the top and the team

About the guest: Riad Nizam is President of Master Electronics, a family-owned and operated electronics distributor with more than 50 years of history. Master Electronics was founded by Ike Nizam in 1967. Riad has held leadership roles across sales, product marketing, general management, and executive leadership.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, product marketing and GTM leader, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Stay curious. Keep learning.

Nate Witsaman, Manager of New Market Development at DigiKey, joins Sannah Vinding on the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast to discuss curiosity, communication, feedback, remote leadership, and developing people in technical teams.

Good managers do not wait until something goes wrong to build trust with their people.

Nate shares how he thinks about the shift from managing tasks to developing people. He talks about asking better questions, learning how people want to be recognized, making space for quieter voices, and building relationships before the hard moments arrive.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why curiosity is one of the strongest management skills
• How managers can build trust before a difficult conversation
• Why recognition and feedback need to be personal
• How remote leaders can avoid becoming only transactional
• Why quieter team members may need room and a direct invitation to speak
• How slowing down can help teams improve before pressure rises
• Why safe practice helps future leaders grow

About the guest:

Nate Witsaman, MBA, is Manager of New Market Development at DigiKey. He works with emerging technologies, supplier relationships, product onboarding, and market development across the electronics distribution ecosystem.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, product marketing and GTM leader, author of Visible or Invisible, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Sign up for the newsletter:

https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/hello/

Sannah's book, Visible or Invisible, is coming this September. It is about how industrial B2B companies win buyers when AI builds the shortlist. Get on the list here:

https://visibleorinvisible.com/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

Technical sales still runs on credibility. AI can help teams move faster, but speed does not replace substance, follow-through, or customer trust.

In this episode of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast, Sannah Vinding talks with Michael "Mic" Cardone, President at ENOVA USA. Mic leads the company's U.S. growth in professional audio cables and connectors for musicians, studios, live-sound teams, and AV integrators.

Mic shares what he has learned from building ENOVA USA, using AI for marketing and business operations, learning new skills, and staying grounded in the kind of credibility customers can actually feel. One line from earlier in his career shaped the conversation: "All you salespeople, you're all foam and no beer."

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why credibility still matters in technical sales
• How AI can support sales and marketing without replacing judgment
• Why authenticity matters when customers can spot generic messaging quickly
• What ownership teaches leaders about patience and decision-making
• How leaders can keep learning from people who know more than they do
• Why face-to-face communication still matters for younger leaders
• What persistence looks like when building a company

About the guest:

Michael "Mic" Cardone is President of ENOVA USA. He has more than 25 years of experience across sales, management, channel development, Pro AV, systems integration, telecommunications, and OEM markets.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, product marketing and GTM leader, author of Visible or Invisible, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Sign up for the newsletter:

https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/hello/

Sannah's book, Visible or Invisible, is coming this September. It is about how industrial B2B companies win buyers when AI builds the shortlist. Get on the list here:

https://visibleorinvisible.com/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

How should manufacturers use AI better without turning it into another tool that adds more noise?

In this short follow-up conversation, Andy Coyle, Senior Director of Sales at ebm-papst Inc., talks about using AI for research, CRM updates, follow-up, documentation, quoting, and sales support. Sannah connects that back to the real leadership point: AI can speed up repetitive work, but people still own the thinking, the judgment, and the customer conversation.

This short episode follows my two-part conversation with Andy Coyle. Listen to the full conversation in Episode 146 and Episode 147:

Episode 146: Why the Last Mile of Sales Still Happens Face to Face

https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/why-the-last-mile-of-sales-still-happens-face-to-face-episode-146/

Episode 147: Why Strong Leaders Get Comfortable Saying “I Don’t Know”

https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/why-strong-leaders-get-comfortable-saying-i-dont-know-episode-147/

Andy Coyle has spent more than thirty years in electronics, distribution, and manufacturing sales, with experience at Hallmark Electronics, Sager Electronics, Laird Technologies, and ebm-papst.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, go-to-market leader, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/hello/

Strong leaders do not have every answer. They know how to make decisions, support their teams, and create enough trust that people can say what they need.

In this episode of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast, Sannah Vinding continues her conversation with Andy Coyle, Senior Director of Sales at ebm-papst Inc. This is part two of the conversation. Part one focused on sales training, AI as a practical tool, and why the last mile of sales still depends on trust. Part two moves into leadership.

If you missed part one of my conversation with Andy, listen to Episode 146, where we talked about sales training, AI as a practical tool, and why the last mile of sales still depends on trust.

Andy talks about authenticity, having your team's back, making decisions with incomplete information, the mentors who shaped him, and the lesson he wishes he had learned earlier: being comfortable saying, "I don't know, but together we can figure this out."

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why authenticity matters more than polish when people decide whether to trust a leader
• What it means to have your team's back in hard moments and good ones
• How leaders make decisions when the information is incomplete
• Why mentors can give direction without giving every answer
• How travel, relocation, and global work can shape leadership perspective
• Why your team decides what kind of leader you are
• How leaders can respond when someone asks for more direction

Andy Coyle is Senior Director of Sales at ebm-papst Inc. He has spent more than thirty years in electronics, distribution, and manufacturing sales, with experience at Hallmark Electronics, Sager Electronics, Laird Technologies, and ebm-papst.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, go-to-market leader, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Sign up for the newsletter: https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/hello/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

Sales teams have more tools than ever. Product training has expanded. CRM training has expanded. AI training is next. But the basics of selling still matter when a buyer pushes back, a customer relationship gets tense, or a major opportunity needs trust before it can move forward.

In this episode of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast, Sannah Vinding talks with Andy Coyle, Senior Director of Sales at ebm-papst Inc., about sales training, trust, AI, and what it means to be a high-touch leader in a high-tech world.

Andy shares why his team went back to the basics after COVID, including networking, prospecting, pre-call planning, sales calls, follow-up, and role play. He also talks about why vulnerability is a strength, how distribution and manufacturing move at different speeds, and why AI can support sales work without replacing human judgment.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why sales training still matters in electronics, manufacturing, and technical sales
• What gets lost when teams focus only on product, CRM, and tool training
• How vulnerability helps leaders and salespeople ask better questions
• Why distribution and manufacturing often work at different speeds
• What Andy's post-COVID sales boot camp taught his team
• How AI can help with research, comparison, and preparation
• Why the last mile of sales still depends on trust, judgment, and face-to-face conversation

About the guest:

Andy Coyle is Senior Director of Sales at ebm-papst Inc. He has spent more than thirty years in electronics, distribution, and manufacturing sales. His work focuses on sales leadership, channel development, customer and distributor relationships, and helping teams grow through people-first leadership.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, engineer, go-to-market leader, and host of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast.

Subscribe to the Leadership in Manufacturing newsletter:

https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/hello/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

Automation can improve distribution operations, but only when leaders understand the work, the team, and the flexibility the business still needs.

In this episode of the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast, Sannah Vinding talks with Aaron Hein, Senior Director of Distribution Operations at Sager Electronics, about leading operational change, building a new distribution operation, and choosing flexibility before locking into automation too early.

Aaron shares what he learned from leading teams through change, communicating when information is incomplete, and staying steady when the plan keeps shifting. He also talks about where AI fits in warehouse and distribution operations today, and why the human side of leadership still matters.

In this episode, you will learn:

• What distribution leaders should consider before they automate
• Why flexibility can matter more than a fixed system in a new operation
• How to lead through a facility transition with empathy and clarity
• Why steady leadership matters when the plan keeps changing
• Where AI can help operations, and where human judgment still matters
• How leaders can build trust before asking teams to change
• What younger leaders should know about patience and opportunity

Aaron Hein is Senior Director of Distribution Operations at Sager Electronics, where he leads operations, logistics, and quality efforts. He brings more than 15 years of experience in distribution, supply chain, continuous improvement, and industrial engineering across the electronics and manufacturing sectors.

Hosted by Sannah Vinding, the Leadership in Manufacturing Podcast brings practical leadership conversations to leaders across electronics, manufacturing, distribution, and technical industries.

Newsletter: https://leadershipinmanufacturing.com/hello/

Stay curious. Keep learning.

This Podcast episode is sponsored by Sager Electronics