Zero Moment of Truth (Z.M.O.T.) & The Smart Selling System: How Packaging Manufacturers Can Break Free from Sales Paralysis

Zero Moment of Truth (Z.M.O.T.) & The Smart Selling System: How Packaging Manufacturers Can Break Free from Sales Paralysis

Industry Specific
April 27, 2025•3 min read

Zero Moment of Truth (Z.M.O.T.) & The Smart Selling System: How Packaging Manufacturers Can Break Free from Sales Paralysis

Are You a Deer in the Headlights?

If you're a packaging manufacturer, chances are you're feeling the squeeze. Sales are down. Tariffs are shifting global trade. On paper, you should be landing more high-margin business with North American manufacturers. But you're not. Instead, you're practically invisible. You’re watching competitors win deals you never even knew existed.

Why? Because buyers don’t know you exist.

If you're a packaging manufacturer, chances are you're feeling the squeeze. Sales are down. Tariffs are shifting global trade. On paper, you should be landing more high-margin business with North American manufacturers. But you're not. Instead, you're practically invisible. You’re watching competitors win deals you never even knew existed.

The old way of selling—relying on untrained, lazy resellers to “push” your products—is failing you. And it’s failing you because the way buyers make decisions has completely changed.

Enter Z.M.O.T.—The Game-Changer You’re Ignoring

The Zero Moment of Truth (Z.M.O.T.). This is the moment a potential customer first searches online and forms an impression of a product, service, or company before ever reaching out.

Google discovered something revolutionary: The Zero Moment of Truth (Z.M.O.T.). This is the moment a potential customer first searches online and forms an impression of a product, service, or company before ever reaching out.

Think about that: Buyers are researching you right now—on Google, LinkedIn, YouTube—but what are they finding?

If the answer is nothing compelling, they move on. If you don’t define what you do better than anyone else, you don’t exist in their world. This is the core reason your sales are flatlining.

The Harsh Truth: Buyers Have Already Decided Before You Even Speak

B2B buyers don’t wake up thinking, “I need to talk to a sales rep.” They wake up thinking, “I need a solution,” and they start searching. If your online presence is weak or generic, you lose before the game even starts.

Z.M.O.T. is happening with or without you. The question is: Are you controlling the narrative, or are you letting competitors win the moment?

The Smart Selling System: The Answer to Your Sales Paralysis

The solution isn’t hiring more commodity-focused sales reps who push your products the same way they always have. The solution is owning the Zero Moment of Truth by implementing a Smart Selling System for Today’s Packaging Manufacturer.

Here’s How You Win:

  1. Become Known Before the Sale Happens

    • Create LinkedIn content that educates and provokes, making decision-makers stop and think.

    • Post YouTube videos where you speak with authority on real packaging challenges and how to solve them.

    • Showcase case studies that demonstrate why your expertise is unmatched.

  2. Define What You Do Better Than Anyone Else

    • Stop being just another “packaging supplier.” Own a niche. Solve a problem others can’t.

    • Develop a compelling, simple message that buyers immediately understand.

    • If you can’t articulate why someone should choose you, neither can they.

  3. Attract, Don’t Chase

    • Smart selling means positioning yourself as a trusted expert before buyers even realize they need you.

    • The goal? When a company searches for a specialized packaging solution, they already know who you are and trust your expertise.

  4. Stop Relying on Weak Resellers

    • Traditional packaging resellers are order takers, not demand creators. They don’t understand how to sell specialized solutions.

    • You need a system that attracts decision-makers directly to you—not through resellers who barely know what you do.

The Future Belongs to Those Who Own Z.M.O.T.

If you're still waiting for sales to return to “normal,” you’ve already lost. The reality is:

  • Buyers are searching. Are they finding you?

  • Competitors are winning. What are they doing that you’re not?

  • Sales are down. What will you change today to fix it?

You don’t need more sales reps. You need a Smart Selling System that makes you the authority buyers trust before they even speak to you.

You don’t need more sales reps. You need a Smart Selling System that makes you the authority buyers trust before they even speak to you.

This is the way forward. This is how you escape sales paralysis. The only question left is: Are you ready to own your Zero Moment of Truth?

david marinacabc packagingpackaging resellerscustom packaging
Over the last 35 years I’ve become the number one trusted liaison for resellers and major brands when it comes to speciality packaging. While I’ll be the first to tell you packaging isn’t “sexy”, it is critically important on every level from manufacturing, distribution, retail, and even the consumer. I’ve spent my career cultivating and personally staffing a global manufacturing network that allows the biggest brands in their respective industries and other resellers improve package quality, reduce lead times, become more efficient and sustainable, and most importantly… Dramatically increase profit margins. Our white glove “Factory to company” approach effectively optimizes your supply chain and delivers the packaging you need whenever and wherever you need it so you can concentrate on more important things that perpetuate your growth. Our fully integrated process has led to us becoming a trusted partner and ally for brands like McCormick, Mars, Kraft, Heinz, Quaker Oats, Roland Mills, Kinder Chocolate, GNC, Redmond Mineral, Old World Spices and Seasonings, and countless others.

David Marinac

Over the last 35 years I’ve become the number one trusted liaison for resellers and major brands when it comes to speciality packaging. While I’ll be the first to tell you packaging isn’t “sexy”, it is critically important on every level from manufacturing, distribution, retail, and even the consumer. I’ve spent my career cultivating and personally staffing a global manufacturing network that allows the biggest brands in their respective industries and other resellers improve package quality, reduce lead times, become more efficient and sustainable, and most importantly… Dramatically increase profit margins. Our white glove “Factory to company” approach effectively optimizes your supply chain and delivers the packaging you need whenever and wherever you need it so you can concentrate on more important things that perpetuate your growth. Our fully integrated process has led to us becoming a trusted partner and ally for brands like McCormick, Mars, Kraft, Heinz, Quaker Oats, Roland Mills, Kinder Chocolate, GNC, Redmond Mineral, Old World Spices and Seasonings, and countless others.

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HRH Princess Francisca Harakawa (Amasu Omawa III)

"In today’s society, there are few scholars whose wisdom transcends age, gender, ethnicity, occupation and status. Sir Jonathan is one such scholar. He has guided me through many challenges over the years and has done the same for many others around the world. He is one of only a handful of people whom I trust and can turn to for guidance, and I am truly grateful to know him as a friend and teacher."

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HIRH Prince Basilio Cali

"As Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights of Malta, it has been my mission to uphold our knightly tradition of promoting excellence, decency and altruism throughout the world. Sir Jonathan Amaret is one such individual who exemplifies this tradition with his tireless efforts to improve the lives of others through the school of Thought Mechanics and we are pleased with his induction into our order."