In the foreign trade of machinery and equipment, the reason why you feel that the customer has "suddenly stopped responding" is often not a product problem, but because you have not figured out that you are not really trying to persuade an individual, but an entire purchasing decision chain.

Behind every piece of machinery, there are often at least three key roles:

• Engineer (Technical Engineer): Technical evaluator

• Purchasing: Risk and Compliance Controller

• Owner/General Manager: The final decision-maker

Each character has different focuses, different language systems, and different concerns about risks.

You're right, but they might not agree; you've explained things clearly, but that's not what they're looking for at all.

The following explanation of the decision-making chain, from the perspective of someone in foreign trade, will give you more confidence in your negotiations.

1. Engineer: Review the technical specifications.

70% of machinery and equipment transactions depend on engineers.

Engineers are the most "picky" people; they are usually the key people in technical evaluation and initial screening .

The 4 things engineers care about most

1. Does the application meet the requirements?

   • workload

   • Environmental conditions

   • Key parameters such as speed, accuracy, torque, and lifespan

   • Compatibility (with existing production lines, PLCs, fixtures, etc.)

2. Materials & Design

   • Material grade

   • Structural design

   • Process error control, durability

3. Technical documentation completeness (Tech Docs)

   • 2D/3D drawings

   • Technical Specifications

   • Electrical diagrams, exploded diagrams

   • Installation Instructions

4. After-sales issues that can be resolved (Maintainability)

   • Standardization of vulnerable parts

   • Repair time

   • Technical response speed

How to persuade engineers: Providing information is more effective than persuasion.

Ten sentences from you are not as effective as providing an engineer with a set of technical documents that they can use.

Required materials:

Tip : Engineers don't like marketing rhetoric; they only believe in "parameters + experiments + data".

II. Procurement: Examining Certification and Delivery Risks

The procurement process will only begin when the engineer says "yes".

Purchasing is about risk management ; they don't care how advanced your machines are, but rather:

• Can it be delivered on time?

• Are the quality and certification standards compliant?

• Is the after-sales service reliable?

• Are the payment methods and terms guaranteed?

Four key points that procurement cares about most

1. Certification and Compliance

Different countries have different requirements:

• CE, UKCA

• ISO series

• FDA (Food/Pharmaceutical Related)

• UL, CSA (North America)

• ERP and energy efficiency certifications

If you can proactively provide certification reports, the purchasing department will immediately feel "60% more at ease".

2. Delivery Risk and Supply Stability

Procurement staff are most afraid of being blamed internally; your delivery capabilities determine whether they dare to push forward.

You must clearly provide:

• Delivery time

• Production scheduling mechanism

• Prototype cycle

• Spare parts supply system

• Packaging/Shipping Standards

• Delay risk warning mechanism

3. Quality Consistency

The purchasing department will ask very detailed questions:

• IQC → IPQC → FQC Process

• Outbound inspection report

• List of key component suppliers

• Factory Inspection/FAT Process

4. Commercial Terms

• Payment methods (LC / TT / DP)

• Warranty period

• Marine insurance

• Liability for breach of contract

• Price protection clauses (e.g., for long-term partnerships)

Procurement doesn't like surprises; they prefer that "all risks are written in the documents."

3. Boss: Look at ROI and long-term maintenance costs

The bosses don't concern themselves with technical details or delve into delivery processes. They only ask one thing:

"If I buy this equipment, will it save me costs/improve efficiency/differentiate me from the competition?"

The 4 Decision-Making Logics of a Boss

1. ROI (Return on Investment)

They would ask:

• How much manpower can this equipment save?

• Is it flexible to change production lines?

• How much production capacity can be increased?

• How many months is the payback period?

You must prepare a quantifiable ROI formula :

ROI = (Reduced labor costs + Increased production value + Reduced scrap rate) ÷ Investment cost

2. Five-year maintenance cost (TCO - Total Cost of Ownership)

The boss won't be swayed by your one-time price offer; they look at:

• Consumable costs

• Failure rate

• Downtime losses

• Repair time

• Spare parts price

• Annual maintenance fees

Your point about "cheap price" is irrelevant; what he wants is "low operating costs."

3. Long-term cooperation and supply security

What the boss always cares about is:

• Is your company stable or not?

• Will it still be there five years from now?

• Can you support capacity expansion?

Especially for multinational orders, they value "partnerships" even more.

4. Brand and Social Impact

For example:

• Does it comply with ESG?

• Can it enhance the company's brand strength?

• Whether to avoid safety accidents and reputational risks

The boss wants to "make the company stronger, safer, and more controllable".

IV. How to use data to increase the probability of closing a deal (key methods)

Most foreign trade salespersons fail because:

• The engineer did not receive the technical documents

• The procurement process lacked certification and procedures.

• The boss didn't see the ROI.

You need to use the right information to make decisions without pain for any role.

1. For engineers: Technical documentation system

Required documents:

• Technical White Paper

• Parameter table

• Operating Condition Adaptation Guide

• Selection Manual

• 3D image file

• Test Report

• Case comparison data

2. For procurement: Risk reduction package

• CE / ISO and other certificates

• Outgoing Inspection Form

• Delivery control process

• Quality Traceability Process

• Compliance assurance documents

3. For business owners: Return on investment package

• ROI Measurement

• Customer success stories

• Cost-saving model

• Three-year maintenance cost model

• Cost comparison with competitors

The quality of your materials determines how quickly you close a deal.

V. How to present information in the most professional way?

Machinery export customers place particular emphasis on whether the "data system is standardized".

Many companies have their documents scattered locally, with inconsistent PDFs and messy versions, making them look unprofessional.

Solution (natural and not excessive):

These technical documents, certification files, and case studies can be managed centrally using ABK's intelligent website building knowledge base module , allowing customers to view all the information on a single page. For the machinery industry, this is a very effective way to enhance professionalism and trustworthiness.

VI. Conclusion: Understanding the decision-making chain is essential for closing deals.

The logic of foreign trade in machinery and equipment is not "one customer," but rather:

• The engineer decides whether it can be used.

• The purchasing decision determines whether or not to buy.

• The boss decides whether it's worth buying.

What you need to do is not "push the product", but "drive the entire decision-making chain".