HOW AN INDUSTRIAL BUYER EVALUATES A NEW SUPPLIER

Online visibility and new customer enquiries

A company may have the technical capability to handle a specific job and still receive no quote requests simply because a buyer cannot find enough information to quickly determine whether it is a good fit.

The opposite happens when the presentation is too generic: the company receives enquiries for work that does not match its technologies, feasible volumes or type of processing.

Few new enquiries and a high share of unsuitable ones can have the same cause: the company’s digital presence does not make clear which jobs actually fit its production capabilities.
Together with the Head of Procurement at an international industrial company, I analysed the real process used to search for and evaluate new suppliers. The findings make it possible to assess a company’s digital presence from a potential buyer’s perspective and determine whether the available information is sufficient to decide whether to request a quote.
Read the research →

CURRENT DIGITAL PRESENCE ANALYSIS

For each company, I analyse the full journey before the first contact:
Search visibility
Which searches the company appears for on Google, Google Maps and AI search tools, and which other suppliers appear alongside it.
Preliminary evaluation
What can be understood from the website and other public sources about specialisation, technologies, machinery, manufactured products and production capacity.
Fit for the job
How clear it is which jobs suit the company in terms of technology, volumes and type of processing, and whether the available information is sufficient to request a quote.
Clarity for international buyers
Whether the company’s offer remains clear to buyers who are unfamiliar with the Italian market and its industry context.

WHAT THE ANALYSIS DEFINES

The analysis defines how the company should present itself to a potential customer:
Offer focus
Which types of work and companies should be prioritised, what should be clear from the first contact and which limitations should be stated before an enquiry is made.
Presentation of manufacturing capabilities
How to connect technologies, machinery, materials, complexity, volumes and production capacity to specific types of work.
Supporting evidence
Which manufactured products, technical data, certifications, production photos and previous experience support the stated capabilities.
Website structure and quote request
What information should appear on the website, in what order, what a potential customer should understand and what information they should provide before pricing.
International adaptation
What needs to be explained or reformulated so that the company’s offer remains clear outside the Italian market.

RESULT OF THE STRATEGIC PHASE

The result is a strategic plan for the company’s digital presence, ready for implementation:
analysis findings and priority changes
definition of the most suitable types of work and the criteria for presenting the company
website architecture and content map
key messages, supporting evidence and list of required materials
brief for design, website development and language adaptation
implementation stages and criteria for evaluating results

IMPLEMENTATION

The strategic plan can be implemented by the internal team or by suppliers the company already works with.

If full implementation is required, I involve the necessary specialists and coordinate the project from strategy through launch. Design, website development and language adaptation are handled by specialised professionals in line with the approved strategy.

INVESTMENT

Strategic phase: €2,200–€3,500

The investment depends on the scope of the company’s digital presence, the number of production areas and the markets for which the strategy needs to be adapted.

Project with implementation: from €5,500

The final investment is defined once the required activities and specialists have been established.

PROJECTS

International logistics operator

How we made a complex logistics business more accessible for potential clients to understand and evaluate

CNC machine shop

How we changed the composition of demand to increase profitability at the same production capacity.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR PROJECT

email: eugeniashelest@gmail.com