How to sell to Procurement leads at Manufacturing companies
Procurement leads in manufacturing are primarily measured on cost savings achieved in sourcing materials. They respond to outreach that demonstrates a clear understanding of supply chain disruptions and how to mitigate them. Providing insights on supplier reliability and cost efficiency will resonate, as these factors are critical to their role in maintaining production schedules.
Written and maintained by the SoloRiff team, who build outbound software and run outbound with it. The figures below are our own: we measured 552 manufacturing company domains over public DNS on 2026-09-03. Last updated 2026-09-03.
What actually hurts
- supply chain delays
- budget overruns
- supplier reliability issues
- cost management pressures
The playbook
- 01
Identify recent supply chain disruptions
Use industry news sources to find companies that have recently reported supply chain issues. Filter for manufacturing firms that have faced delays or shortages. This gives you a relevant reason to reach out, showing you understand their current challenges.
- 02
Research their current suppliers
Look up the procurement strategies of your target companies to identify their key suppliers. Use tools like LinkedIn or industry reports to gather insights on their supplier relationships. This information can help you tailor your messaging to highlight how you can provide better alternatives.
- 03
Craft a message around cost-saving potential
In your outreach, focus on how your solutions can reduce costs in their procurement process. Be specific about the types of savings you can help achieve, referencing industry benchmarks if possible. This will align your offering with their main performance metric.
- 04
Anticipate objections about supplier loyalty
Prepare for pushback regarding their existing supplier relationships. Acknowledge their loyalty but emphasize the potential for risk mitigation and cost efficiency. Position your solution as a way to enhance their current strategy rather than replace it.
- 05
Suggest a timely follow-up after quarterly reviews
Timing is key; reach out after the end of their quarterly reviews when they may be reassessing supplier performance. This is when they are most likely to consider new options. Propose a brief call to discuss potential improvements to their procurement strategy.
Can manufacturing companies even receive your mail?
We measured the DNS of 552 manufacturing companies, sampled evenly across company sizes, to see how many authenticate their own email. It matters in both directions: a domain that does not authenticate is a domain whose team is used to mail going missing — and if your own domain is in the gap, yours is the mail going missing.
Publishes a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject — the domain actually asks receivers to act on failures.
The gap is the finding: 24.3% of 1–10-person companies against 83.1% of the largest — 59 points apart. Small companies are where the unauthenticated domains are, and small companies are who most cold outreach is aimed at.
Where does your domain sit?
Same three lookups, run live against your domain. Nothing is stored and nothing is emailed to you.
How this was measured
Company domains were sampled within employee-count bands, then queried over public DNS for SPF (TXT at the apex), DMARC (TXT at _dmarc.) and MX. One domain per company, deduplicated. Anyone can reproduce any single row of this with dig.
DKIM is deliberately absent. A DKIM key lives under a selector that cannot be enumerated from outside the domain, so a company with flawless DKIM under a name we did not guess would be counted as having none. That would measure our guess list, not the industry.
Domains with no MX record are excluded rather than counted as failures — parked and redirect-only domains would otherwise drag every figure down and make the result an artefact of the sample.
Sampled within bands, so this describes the population of companies, not of employees: a 10-person company counts once, as does a 10,000-person one. Each band is at least 60 domains; bands below that are not published. Figures are percentages of the sample, not of the whole industry, and we publish no company names — only counts.
Measured 2026-09-03. Re-measured monthly.
The full census across every industry — sortable, with sample sizes, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Subject lines that fit
- Improving supplier reliability
- Cost savings in procurement
- Navigating supply chain challenges
Questions
- Why do procurement leads in manufacturing ignore cold outreach?
- Procurement leads often receive numerous sales pitches that fail to address their specific challenges. If outreach doesn't demonstrate a clear understanding of their current supply chain issues or cost-saving opportunities, it's likely to be overlooked. Tailoring messages to their unique pain points is essential.
- What challenges do procurement leads face in manufacturing?
- Procurement leads in manufacturing frequently deal with fluctuating material costs and unreliable suppliers. They must also navigate the complexities of maintaining production schedules while ensuring quality. These challenges make it critical for them to find reliable partners who can offer cost-effective solutions.
- How can I effectively engage procurement leads?
- Engaging procurement leads requires demonstrating an understanding of their specific needs. Highlighting insights on supply chain trends and offering solutions that can alleviate their pain points is key. Building credibility through relevant case studies or industry knowledge can also enhance engagement.
- What timing works best for reaching out to procurement leads?
- The best time to reach out is typically after quarterly reviews when procurement leads are reassessing their supplier performance. They are more open to discussing potential improvements and exploring new options. Timing your outreach accordingly can increase the chances of a positive response.
Or have it run itself
SoloRiff does every step above on its own — finds the companies, finds the people, writes each of them individually, and handles the replies. Drop your URL and watch it work before you sign up for anything.
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