One of the biggest breakthroughs in an industrial salesperson’s career is realising that customers don’t actually buy products — they buy improvements to workflows. They buy smoother operator routines. Faster assembly. Fewer troubleshooting steps. Lower cognitive load on technicians. Clearer wiring paths. More predictable production. Less firefighting.
Once you shift your thinking from parts to processes, everything about the job becomes easier — and your value skyrockets.
Consider an OEM design engineer. On paper, they’re selecting components. In reality, they’re orchestrating a workflow: the steps it takes to design, assemble, route, connect, test, and ship a machine reliably. When you suggest a better component, you’re not really offering a part — you’re offering fewer build hours, fewer mistakes, fewer field-service calls, and fewer moments when the engineering manager is asked, “Why did we design it this way?”
Now look at an end user. They aren’t evaluating your product in isolation. They’re evaluating how your product affects a technician on a Tuesday night when half the crew is out sick. They’re evaluating how much faster they can find a fault, how much easier it is to train new staff, and how much less time they spend crawling inside equipment with a flashlight and a sense of dread. Their workflow isn’t theoretical. It’s daily. It’s emotional. It shapes how they feel about your solution long after the paperwork is done.
When you think in workflows, your questions change — and customers feel that instantly.
Instead of:
“Do you need this feature?”
You’ll say:
“Show me the exact step where things slow down.”
Instead of:
“What component are you using now?”
You’ll say:
“Walk me through your assembly sequence — where does it get tight?”
Instead of:
“Are you experiencing issues with this part?”
You’ll say:
“When this machine stops, what’s the first thing your techs check?”
Instead of pitching into a void, you’re diagnosing a living system.
This is where average reps fall short. They evaluate opportunities based on catalogues. Great reps evaluate opportunities based on constraints — the friction, effort, time, and risk required to complete a task.
Machines don’t fail in catalogues.
Plants don’t struggle in catalogues.
Engineers don’t lose time in catalogues.
Workflows are where the truth hides.
Once you get good at seeing the world this way, you start uncovering opportunities nobody else notices. You begin spotting inefficiencies long before the customer points them out. You help OEMs design with the end user in mind. You help plants operate with less stress. You make the invisible visible — and customers remember the person who helps them see what they’ve been stepping over for years.
Thinking in workflows is the difference between selling a product and becoming indispensable.
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