Industrial Selling: Escape the Commoditization Trap

A few years ago, I was sitting across from a prospective customer comparing machines from three manufacturers. We had a technically strong offering. So did the other two.

The questions were almost identical for each supplier: What is the output? What is the accuracy? Which components do you use? What is the price?

I remember thinking: we had spent months improving the machine, but somehow all three companies were now selling “the same” machine.

Does this sound familiar?

You know your machine is not a commodity. But what does the buyer see?

I am sure many of us have seen this happen. Once the comparison is reduced to specifications and price, the market has already started commoditising us.

Industrial selling becomes dangerous when everything sounds familiar

That, in my opinion, is the real commoditisation trap in industrial selling.

We often blame competitors, imports, price-sensitive buyers or procurement teams. But another uncomfortable possibility exists: we have helped create the comparison ourselves.

Look at many machinery websites, brochures and exhibition displays. Higher speed. Better accuracy. Advanced controls. Energy efficient. Robust construction. Excellent after-sales support.

All true. And almost impossible to remember.

If every supplier speaks in the same technical language, how does the buyer decide who is different?

The buying journey also gives buyers more opportunities to compare without us. McKinsey’s 2024 B2B Pulse research found that B2B customers use an average of ten interaction channels in their buying journey, compared with five in 2016.

So the old assumption — “our salesperson will explain why we are better” — is getting weaker.

And capital-equipment buying is already difficult. Gartner reported that B2B buyers with moderate to high uncertainty were 78% less likely to complete a high-quality deal.

I see three principles making the difference.

1. Positioning before persuasion

A salesperson cannot easily persuade a buyer that a company is different when the company has positioned itself as “another leading manufacturer”.

Positioning is not a clever slogan. It is a choice about where you want to be understood.

Who are you especially good for? Which application do you understand unusually well? Which business problem can you solve better than a broader supplier?

Hilti is a useful example. Its stated strategy is built around differentiation and direct customer relationships, with offerings that combine hardware, software, and services.

The lesson is simple: define the value territory you want to own.

2. Niche focus makes differences visible

We sometimes fear that specialising will shrink the market.

In reality, a sharper niche can make the market understand us faster.

That distinction matters.

“Packaging machinery manufacturer” is a category.

“Machine partner for high-speed flexible-packaging lines where changeover time is the critical constraint” is a position.

Which one gives your salesperson a better conversation?

3. Proof beats adjectives

The easiest way to commoditise an offering is to describe it with adjectives.

Advanced. Reliable. Innovative. High quality.

The harder job is to prove what those words mean.

What was the output improvement? What happened to changeover time? How much energy was saved? What happened to rejection rates? How quickly was the machine commissioned?

Buying groups are rarely made up of one technical evaluator. Gartner’s 2025 research found that 74% of B2B buying teams experience unhealthy conflict; buying groups that reach consensus are 2.5 times more likely to report a high-quality deal.

Your proof has to travel beyond the engineer to production, finance, procurement and management.

The 2025 Edelman-LinkedIn B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that more than 40% of B2B deals stall because of internal misalignment, while strong content can influence “hidden buyers” inside the buying group.

In industrial selling, differentiation is not only about being technically different.

It is about making the difference easy to understand, believe and defend.

What should change on the ground?

Now, look at your next proposal, brochure or sales presentation.

Could a competitor replace your company name with theirs and leave most of the document unchanged?

That is a revealing test.

Ask another question: if the specification page disappeared tomorrow, what would remain that makes the customer remember you?

I feel the answer should be a specific position, a clear customer problem and credible proof.

So instead of adding another feature to the brochure, remove some noise. Instead of saying “serving multiple industries”, decide where you have the strongest right to win. Instead of telling buyers that your machine is reliable, show them the evidence.

You do not escape commoditisation by shouting louder.

You escape it by becoming easier to distinguish.

To sum up

• Positioning creates the difference. Decide what you want the market to associate you with before the sales comparison begins.

• Niche focus sharpens value. A clearly defined application, customer or business problem can make a technically similar machine feel meaningfully different.

• Proof protects the premium. Replace adjectives with measurable evidence that the entire buying committee can understand and defend.

Peter Drucker put the role of marketing remarkably well: “The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”

That, to me, is the way out of the sea of sameness — and a healthier future for industrial selling.