- Next step
- Reply this week with the decorative closures page and offer a sample run.
- Path
- Bottled spirits
→Plastic closure→Metallized decorative finish
Part inferred from their product pages. - Ask them
- "Are your cap finishes done in-house or by your closure supplier?"
- Ordered by
- Brand specifies, closure supplier orders
The Path to Purchase
The B2B buyer journey, traced company by company: the chain from what a company makes to a purchase of what you do. SiteSonar traces it for every company that visits your website, then tells you how close they are to converting.
The five links
A purchase needs every link in the chain.
Industrial buyers rarely arrive saying "we need your process". They make something, that something contains a part, and that part needs work a shop like yours does. SiteSonar checks each link in order.
1 · They make
An end product
Read from their own product pages, not an industry code. "Test instruments", not "electronics".
2 · Which contains
A component
The housing, cap, bracket, board or sub-assembly inside that product.
3 · Which needs
Your process
Coating, molding, machining, shielding, assembly: the work that component requires.
4 · That you can do
Within your limits
Material, size, tolerance, volume and certifications you actually handle.
5 · Ordered by
A specifier and a buyer
Often different companies and different tiers: the OEM specifies, the tier above you places the order. See the ladder.
Where the path ends
Purchases start with a conversation. Conversations start with a conversion.
The end of the path depends on how you sell. You tell SiteSonar your conversion points, and every lead's signal and next step follow them.
| How you sell | What "ready to buy" looks like | The conversation it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Job shop, contract manufacturer | RFQ with drawings or CAD | Quote review with an estimator |
| Engineered components | RFI, "ask an engineer", sample request | Application call with an engineer |
| Catalog and stock products | Cart, PO, account application | Account setup and first order |
| Sold through distributors | Where-to-buy or distributor lookup | Hand-off to the right distributor rep |
| Existing customers | Reorder, blanket PO, new part number | Account review, expansion |
Trace a path
Pick an example. See a path SiteSonar would find.
CompanyNorthline Spirits Co.
VerdictInitiate
SignalContact
ActionReply this week
CompanyKestrel Instruments
VerdictInitiate
SignalEcho
ActionSend the page
- Next step
- By Friday, send the EMI shielding application page to the design engineering lead.
- Path
- Bench test instruments
→Plastic instrument housings→Conductive EMI coating
Part inferred from their product pages. - Ask them
- "Are your housings passing emissions with the current shielding?"
- Ordered by
- Design engineering specifies, sourcing orders
CompanyHarbor Medical
VerdictInitiate
SignalLock
ActionCall today
- Next step
- Call today: they filled your contact form asking about ISO 13485 molding.
- Path
- Single-use medical devices
→Disposable housings→Cleanroom injection molding - Ask them
- "Is this program moving to a second source?"
- Ordered by
- OEM engineering and supply chain
CompanyAxion Robotics
VerdictInitiate
SignalContact
ActionReply this week
- Next step
- Reply this week with your robotics parts gallery and tolerance capability.
- Path
- Collaborative robots
→End-effector brackets→CNC machined aluminum
Part inferred from their product pages. - Ask them
- "What volumes after the prototype run?"
- Ordered by
- Engineering specifies, purchasing orders
CompanyPrairie Food Systems
VerdictInvestigate
SignalContact
ActionInvestigate
- Next step
- Investigate: confirm whether they outsource stainless frames or guards.
- Path
- Food processing equipment
→Stainless frames and guards→Sanitary welding and fabrication
Part inferred from their product pages. - Ask them
- "Are you building frames in-house or outsourcing?"
- Ordered by
- OEM engineering
CompanyLumen Process Tools
VerdictInitiate
SignalEcho
ActionSend the page
- Next step
- Send your semiconductor sub-assembly case study to operations.
- Path
- Semiconductor equipment
→Sub-assemblies→Build-to-print assembly
Part inferred from their product pages. - Ask them
- "Which sub-assemblies are you moving out of house?"
- Ordered by
- OEM operations
Example companies are illustrative.
The agent's verdict
Ignore, Investigate, Initiate.
Our agent investigates every company with a signal and decides what to do with the account.
Initiate · I3
The path is clear: a specific part is named and it matches an application you serve. Start the conversation.
Investigate · I2
Something may be there that our agent couldn't see. It runs a second, targeted pass, then shows a person what it checked and where it got stuck.
Ignore · I1
Investigated, no path: they don't make physical products, sit outside your limits, or are on your skip list.
Signal
How strong a signal they give, from what they actually did.
Signals follow the calls to action industrial sites already have. A real form fill or download always beats a guess from page views.
| Signal | What it looks like | What to send |
|---|---|---|
Noise S0 | No buying behaviour, or a job seeker, student or vendor selling to you. | Nothing. Kept out of sales email. |
Echo S1 | Light research: one short visit, an application page, a catalog or brochure download. | The matching application page or case study. |
Contact S2 | Evaluating: return visits, real reading on capabilities, materials or quality, "ask an expert" questions. | A direct reply from someone technical. |
Lock S3 | Converted or about to: quote or contact page, RFQ or RFI form, sample request, cart, distributor lookup. | A call today, with the checklist for that endpoint. |
The Sonar Reading
Verdict × signal sets the action.
The verdict tells sales whether there's a purchase to win. The signal tells them when to step in. Strong behaviour is never skipped, even when the agent found nothing.
Echo
S1Contact S2Lock S3 Initiate I3 Send the page application page, case study
Reply this week expert answer
Call today endpoint checklist
Investigate I2 Watch agent rechecks
Investigate a person takes a look
Call and find out ask what they need
Ignore I1 Skip
Skip
Review today referral or a miss
Why not just industry codes?
Codes and data-provider bios describe the company, not the parts inside its products. A distiller's bio talks about vodka. The cap that needs your finish is only visible on its product pages.
Guarding against over-reach
Not every consumer brand is a buyer. Inferred parts are labelled as inferred and never override your hard limits (a metal part for a plastics shop stays out). "Probably" without a named part is Investigate, not Initiate.