Chemicals
A Better Formulation Is Not Enough If the Client Does Not Want to Requalify the Recipe
Chemical companies that sell to other industries, intermediates, additives, surface or water treatment products, run into a specific obstacle. Changing a raw material in a client's recipe means redoing tests and approvals. The client only does it if they have a strong reason, and the reason has to be found together with them.
The starting point
The challenges we meet most often
Challenges 1
Switching cost for the client
Replacing a product in a formulation requires tests, internal approvals and sometimes the end client’s. Without a clear advantage, nobody moves.
Challenges 2
Technical decision, purchasing signs
The lab decides whether the product works, purchasing decides whether to buy it. If you talk to only one of the two, the deal stops.
Challenges 3
Regulations that change the formulations
REACH restrictions, substances being phased out, requests for lower-impact products. They are huge opportunities, but only for those who arrive prepared.
The method in the industry
How we work in this industry
We segment by application and formulation, not by generic industry: those who formulate powder coatings and those who treat metals buy different additives for different reasons. We use upcoming regulatory restrictions, raw material shortages and new plants as triggers. The message goes first to the laboratory, with a concrete technical alternative, for example a product that replaces a substance being phased out, and then to purchasing once the sample is under test. The first step we propose is always a sample or a trial, never a price list.
Who we talk to
R&D or lab manager
Evaluates whether the product works in their formulation. Wants datasheets, samples and an engineer to talk it through with.
Raw materials purchasing manager
Looks for alternative suppliers for supply security and price. Cares about continuity, consistent quality and documentation.
Regulatory or HSE manager
Must replace restricted substances and ensure compliance. Looks for someone who offers already documented alternatives.
Production Director
They look at yields, process times and scrap. A product that improves the process finds an ally in them.
The objection we hear most often
«In chemicals, clients are won through years of technical relationship, not through outbound.»
The technical relationship stays everything, outbound is there to start it with companies that don't know you today. The right message to the lab manager leads to a sample request, and from there your technical sales rep's work begins. Without that first contact, the relationship doesn't start at all.
Recommended services
The channels we use here
Account Based Marketing
Surgical targeting on a named list of companies you want to win. Multi-decision-maker, multichannel, zero waste.
Discover the service →
Cold Email
Email campaigns personalised message by message, aimed at the final decision-maker, on lists defined on your market and with a custom-built infrastructure.
Discover the service →
Frequently asked questions
Questions about the industry
How does a B2B chemical company find new clients?
Starting from the applications where the product gives a measurable advantage, and contacting the labs of companies that use that type of formulation. Regulatory restrictions are one of the strongest triggers, because they force the search for alternatives.
Are REACH restrictions a good sales argument?
Yes, if you have a ready, documented alternative. A client who has to replace a substance has a problem with a deadline, and listens to whoever offers a path already tested. Without documentation, it is just another message.
Does it make sense to contact clients before trade fairs like Chemspec Europe?
Yes, to book meetings with the laboratories and purchasing teams of the companies on the list. At a fair, technical matters are better discussed in person, and arriving with confirmed meetings changes the return on the investment.
Your market is in the industry chemicals? Let's talk.
In the Feasibility Study we tell you honestly whether it makes sense to get started in your industry, and how.