Many foreign suppliers sell a product that is at least as good as what German manufacturers already use, with good references in their home market. And still their first attempts in Germany meet silence.
In most cases the silence is about risk. The buyer sees a risk in choosing an unknown supplier, and nobody has addressed it.
An unknown supplier has to be clearly better
A German plant manager who stays with the established supplier takes no personal risk. If he switches to an unknown company from abroad and the machine stops the line, he has to explain that decision.
So being "just as good" is not enough for a new supplier. You have to be clearly better at something he cares about, and you have to remove the risk that comes with choosing you.
The questions he will not ask
German buyers rarely write back "I am worried about your service." They simply do not answer. The usual concerns are:
- Who repairs the machine, and how fast?
- Where do spare parts come from, and how long do they take?
- Can someone speak German with our maintenance team when something goes wrong?
- Is this company still around in ten years?
- Which comparable plant uses it, and can I talk to them?
Name the risks first
This is where working with a short list of companies helps a foreign supplier most. You know each target company, so you can answer these questions for that plant before anyone asks. A service partner within driving distance. Spare parts stocked in the EU. A reference installation in a similar plant, with numbers the engineer can recalculate himself. A German-speaking contact person.
German engineers want to check your claims themselves. Give them something they can check.
References travel within DACH
A reference from Austria or Switzerland needs no explanation in Germany. Buyers know the companies, the approval processes and what it takes to be accepted there. This is one reason why many foreign suppliers start in Austria: purchasing power per person is almost the same as in Germany, the market is about nine times smaller, and a mistake there costs a quarter rather than a year.
Your first impression happens only once
In a market of a few hundred possible customers, you meet each company for the first time only once. If that first contact ignores the risk they see in you, you rarely get a second one. Naming the risk yourself shows that you understand how a German plant decides.
If you want to test the market first, read why Austria is the lowest-risk entry into Germany. Planning your entry into German manufacturing? Book a call.