Hollis Precision has five people, three CNC mills and a lathe. Last year its largest customer was 47 percent of revenue, and the top three were 81 percent. Then that largest customer moved a product line overseas, and the owner spent two months finding out how few other people knew the shop existed.

This is the plan the owner, Ben Hollis, ran afterward: 45 days, one goal (add a second and third real customer), and a method that gets requests for quote from people who have a part print and need someone to make it. The shop and the numbers are illustrative.

The shop and the goal

Hollis Precision does aluminum and stainless milled parts in runs of 10 to 500, with a coordinate measuring machine for inspection. Monthly revenue is about $62,000. The biggest customer is $29,000 of that. Ben wants two new accounts that each reach $6,000 a month within the next six months, which would bring the top customer under 40 percent.

Job shops tend to rely on three to five customers, and the pattern is common: a change at one customer, a supplier consolidation or a part design change, can take a third of the revenue with it. The fix is more customers of a smaller size, not one big one.

Days 1 to 7: forty companies who might send an RFQ

Ben listed three kinds of buyers, because each has a different trigger:

  • Small manufacturers (15 to 100 employees) that make a product with machined components and have a purchasing manager or buyer. Trigger: a supplier failure or a late delivery.
  • Hardware startups, with a founder or a mechanical engineer. Trigger: a prototype moving to a first production batch, often shown by a funding announcement or a crowdfunding campaign.
  • Aerospace and medical suppliers at the second or third tier. Trigger: a growing order book and an approved-vendor list that has gaps.

He found them through the state manufacturers' directory, a regional trade-show exhibitor list, and the crowdfunding site's hardware category. Forty companies, 14 hours of work spread across the week. For each he noted the buyer or engineer's name, the type of parts they likely used, and the trigger. He dropped any whose parts were outside his tolerances or materials. The decision-maker guide covers how to confirm who handles purchasing.

Days 8 to 14: a capabilities sheet that fits one page

Ben made a one-page sheet that an engineer could skim in 30 seconds: machine list with travel dimensions, materials he machines, tightest tolerance he holds routinely, inspection equipment, typical lead time for a prototype and a production run, certifications he has (and a plain note on those he doesn't), and three part photos with the material and quantity. At the bottom: "RFQs answered within 48 hours."

Then the email. It is built for the person who will open the attachment and send back a print:

Subject: Machined aluminum brackets, 10 to 500 pieces, quotes in 48 hours

Hi Lars, I saw that Kestrel Drives is moving the controller housing into production this fall. We're a five-person shop, three CNC mills and a CMM, doing aluminum and stainless in runs of 10 to 500. Our capabilities sheet is attached. If you send a print and quantity, I'll return a firm quote within 48 hours, and I'll tell you honestly if the part is outside what we do well. Ben Hollis, Hollis Precision, [mailing address]. Reply "no" and I won't write again.

The line about telling them honestly when it is outside his range is a sales line. Buyers have been burned by shops that quote everything and deliver late.

Days 15 to 28: RFQs arrive and get quoted fast

Ben sent 40 emails in two weeks. By day 28 he had six replies: two "not now," one "already have a supplier," and three RFQs. One more RFQ arrived from a company that hadn't replied to the email but forwarded it to an engineer. He quoted all four within 48 hours, using a quoting spreadsheet he kept for exactly this: material cost, setup time, run time per piece, inspection time, shipping, margin.

On a print for 25 aluminum brackets: material $4.10 per piece, setup 90 minutes at $85 an hour ($127.50 total), run time 14 minutes per piece at $85 an hour (about $19.83 each), inspection 2 minutes per piece (about $2.83), so $26.76 per piece before setup. Setup spread over 25 pieces adds $5.10, for a cost of $31.86 each. A 20 percent markup brings it to $38.23, which he quoted at $38.25. Total for the run: $956.25. That is the sort of arithmetic that has to be quick, because the buyer is also collecting two other quotes. The quote follow-up guide covers what to do after sending.

Days 29 to 45: follow-ups and a first order

Two days after each quote, Ben sent one line: "Any questions on the quote? I can adjust the lead time if the date is tight." Three of the four buyers answered. One chose a cheaper shop. One needed a revision to a tolerance and re-ordered the print. The third, Lars's company, placed a $5,800 order for a prototype batch of 25 machined housings ($232 each), with a note that a production release of about 200 pieces was likely in January. The fourth quote, a $14,000 job, was still pending on day 45.

Ledger at day 45

  • 40 companies listed, 40 emails, 40 follow-ups (about 22 hours in total over the 45 days).
  • 6 replies, 4 RFQs quoted within 48 hours.
  • 1 order won: $5,800. 1 quote pending: $14,000. 1 lost on price. 1 lost to an incumbent.
  • If the January release of about 200 housings comes through, even at a lower per-piece price once setup is spread across the run, that single order is larger than the $6,000 a month he was aiming for.

One of four quoted jobs won, in 45 days, from cold lists, is typical enough to plan on. If you assume 1 in 4 on quotes and 1 in 10 on emails turning into an RFQ, 40 emails gives you roughly four RFQs and one order. To add three new customers a year, plan for about 120 emails. See companies that are about to buy for triggers worth adding to your list.

Fitting the plan to your equipment

Copy the 48-hour quote promise and the capabilities sheet. Change the buyer types to match your equipment: a shop with five-axis machines and titanium experience should skip the hardware startups with simple parts. Don't promise 48 hours unless your quoting process can do it. If you want to see how to sell the engineering side, read engineering consulting clients.

A job shop's list never runs out of new startups and new buyers, and the follow-up after each quote is easy to forget on a busy week. Rocketship finds buyers and engineers by name, emails them from your own Gmail, follows up, and books the call on its own. Plans that get you customers start at $24.99 a month (Launch), and both Launch and Frontier start with a 7-day free trial, card required. See the AI workers.