At Work: Dave Scelfo

November 3, 2019

width=Dave Scelfo

Company: UNEX

Title: Director of Marketing and Business Development

Years on Job: 18

I started with UNEX on September 10, 2001, which made for an interesting first week on the job. I started in the engineering department as a project engineer, primarily handling applications engineering for our ETO products but also industrial engineering for our shop and some product development work as well. At the time, UNEX was a much smaller company with a lot of gaps in responsibility. As a matter of fact, my favorite part of the job was all of that gray area to play with. By taking initiative, I was able to grow within the company quickly. Today, I am the Director of Marketing and Business Development. With marketing, product managers and product development under my watch, I’m constantly juggling the daily maintenance of a marketing strategy, keeping new products moving along and making sure we’re all working towards the long-term vision of the company.

Communication

Having strong communication is an absolutely vital component of my job. Our biggest successes and failures are the result of communication. I would say that the skill that I rely on most in my job is listening. Hearing where our pain spots are and being able to address them.

Background

I have a BS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and a Masters in Engineering Management. Not the typical background of a marketing person. But I think coming from an engineering background gives me a unique perspective in a marketing team. Being very analytical and focused on problem-solving are typical engineering traits that have translated quite easily and successfully to digital marketing, which is very analytics and data-driven. Relating to customers My favorite technique in identifying with customers is the “5 Whys” and I’ve been able to use it to understand customer’s problems, understand UNEX’s problems and develop marketing campaigns. Our industry is becoming more about “how” and less about “what.” Customers are so savvy today. They can check our website, find the drawings and learn what the standards and specifications are without us. The knowledge they may not have is “how much space can this save me? How much can this improve my throughput? Etc.” That’s where it becomes incumbent on us to communicate those benefits effectively. New customer demands (our customer’s customers) are disrupting an industry that was previously very efficient. Every customer’s problems are unique and there isn’t one “magic bullet” solution.

Tools of the Trade

Our primary marketing tool is Hubspot. And as a marketer, I am a voracious reader. I subscribe to too many trade publications, blogs, YouTube Channels, and any other information I can get my hands on. I try to attend as many webinars and seminars as I can get to.