Almost every industrial company uses the same language to describe themselves: high quality, reliable, and trusted. But here’s the hard truth: those words don’t mean anything unless you back them up.
When I was in university, I had a marketing professor who made a point that stuck with me. He said: “Never use the word ‘quality’ in advertising. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His argument was simple. Without a qualifier – high, low, poor – the word is empty. And even with a qualifier, it’s weak. If you have to modify a word just to make it meaningful, maybe the word wasn’t doing much to begin with.
Decades later, I still see “high quality” show up in almost every industrial brand’s messaging. And it still falls flat.
Buyers are skeptical, and for good reason. They’ve been burned by inflated claims. They’ve seen products that looked great on paper fail in real-world conditions. And they’ve learned to question anything that sounds too easy, too perfect, or too familiar. So when your website or sales deck leads with “high quality,” what you’re really offering is a cliché.
The real differentiator isn’t the claim. It’s the evidence.
What Buyers Actually Believe
In technical and industrial sales, credibility is earned through verification. Certifications, test results, and application data. This is the language your buyers trust. They’re not looking for polished promises, just reasons to believe.
The most effective brands in this space are the ones that understand how to translate “we’re better” into something measurable. That might be third-party testing. It might be independent lab reports. It might be a testimonial with real numbers attached. What it isn’t is a quote about how easy you were to work with.
And yes, even photos and videos matter. If your product performs in tough conditions, show it. That level of visual proof goes further than any marketing copy ever will.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
Most of your prospects are researching silently. They’re looking you up before they ever get on a call. They’re comparing websites, spec sheets, certifications, and installation photos without saying a word. If your competitors are showing proof and you’re still leading with adjectives, you’re not even in the running.
You don’t have to flood your homepage with white papers, but you do need to start showing your work. Give your buyers something that builds confidence, and not just claims they’ve seen before.
Where to Start
If you’ve been in the market for a while, you probably already have proof points. They might be scattered across inboxes, proposals, and internal docs, but they are likely there. Start by gathering them. Pull together your third-party certifications, field photos, performance data, and customer outcomes. Organize them in a way that supports the story you’re trying to tell.
Then take a hard look at your public messaging. If a statement can’t be backed by evidence, it probably needs to be rewritten or deleted. And if your best proof is still trapped inside your team’s heads, it’s time to start turning those internal wins into market-facing stories.
Because in this market, what buyers believe is shaped by what you can show, not just what you say.
Ready to Adapt Your Marketing Strategy?
If you’re ready to start connecting with manufacturers in a way that builds trust and drives results, we can help. Contact us today to learn how to position your business for success in a rapidly evolving landscape.