An Auto Parts Company

This is a composite scenario drawn from patterns we see repeatedly across the sector — not a case study of a specific real client. The figures are illustrative of a launch pattern, not a claim about a named business.

An auto parts company produced OEM-grade suspension and braking components and had completed third-party testing to U.S. standards before shipping. The launch friction was not the product. It was the sales motion.

The team assumed U.S. auto parts distributors bought the way many European buyers did: a conversation, a sample, and a purchase order. In practice, most distributors required products to be listed in a specific parts catalog or database before counter staff could even quote a part to a mechanic.

The numbers we could verify

• The first 3 distributor conversations went nowhere for the same undiagnosed reason: the parts were not in the catalog database the distributors actually searched.
• Getting listed took about 10 weeks and required a specific data format and a fee per SKU — a step absent from the original go-to-market plan.
• After listing, the same outreach list converted at roughly 1 in 6 distributors contacted, compared with 0 in 14 before.
• First-year wholesale revenue reached approximately $310,000 against a $500,000 target. The shortfall was attributed mainly to the 10-week catalog delay, which pushed the sales cycle back a full quarter.
• Section 301 and tariff costs on landed goods ran about 4 percentage points higher than the original pricing model assumed, compressing gross margin until pricing was adjusted in month 5.

The mistakes we would not repeat

• Building a distributor outreach list and sales script before confirming how U.S. distributors discover and quote new parts.
• Pricing before obtaining a firm, current duty and tariff figure from a customs broker rather than reusing a number from an older sourcing conversation.
• Treating catalog and database listing as a marketing nice-to-have rather than the first blocking step in the sales process.