that many businesses continue to struggle
with recruiting and retaining skilled labour.
“Some clients say, ‘I could have more busi-
ness if I had more people. It’s not the sales
force or the machines; it’s my ability to at-
tract the specialized workforce to produce
these goods,” Blanchet explained.
NEW BUSINESS TOUGH TO
GENERATE
STIQ’s 2014 industrial study also found
that getting a contract signed with a new
customer is far more difficult in the manu-
facturing industry than increasing business
done with existing customers. “Sixty per-
cent of companies have less than 10 per-
cent of their contracts generated by new
customers. One-third of companies say 50
percent or more of their sales are concen-
trated among only three customers and
that’s very dangerous, especially if their
customers are within the same industry,”
Blanchet said.
Those numbers are a driving force behind
STIQ’s mandate to help member compa-
nies network and expand within the indus-
try. Whether it’s a three-person operation
or a large corporation, STIQ is determined
to listen to their members and respond to
their needs.
“What we do know is that we will evolve.
We have evolved over the past years and
we will in the future,” Blanchet said. “If we
were still just a database, we wouldn’t be
in business today.”
More details about the association and its
services can be found at
NOVEMBER 2015
H
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