OutreachAuto is manufacturing lead generation software for B2B manufacturers, contract manufacturers and job shops. It builds a list of OEMs and plants that buy what you make, researches each account, emails the engineer, buyer or operations lead, follows up for weeks and books the call where the RFQ starts. Plans start at 49 USD a month billed yearly, or 99 USD month to month, with no setup fee, no per-lead charge and no agency retainer.
Try it once on your own manufacturing company website, no card needed.
Most manufacturers get new B2B customers from referrals, trade shows and distributors, and those channels stop the moment the show ends or the referral dries up. Your real market is often a few hundred companies, not millions, so the job is steady, specific contact with the right engineer and the right buyer at each of them. OutreachAuto does that every business day from your own inboxes, so your sales engineer spends time on drawings and quotes instead of on lists and follow-up.
Describe what you make and for whom: "CNC machined aluminum and stainless parts, 50 to 5,000 pieces, for medical device and aerospace OEMs in the Midwest", or "injection molded enclosures for industrial electronics companies with 50 to 500 employees". OutreachAuto finds matching companies, reads their websites and public news, and writes a short brief on each account: what they build, where they produce, and why your capability could matter to them.
Engineers and buyers ignore "we are a full-service precision manufacturer with 40 CNC machines". The first line comes from the brief instead: a new product line that needs a second source, a plant expansion, a reshoring announcement, a certification they require that you already hold. Your equipment list belongs in the second email, after they care.
Supplier changes move slowly. A buyer may need a first article, a quality audit and a budget year before switching. Each account gets a 4 to 6 step sequence over five to six weeks, and contacts who answer "we review suppliers in Q2" can be scheduled again before that window.
A manufacturing deal usually involves an engineer who cares about tolerances and materials and a buyer who cares about price, lead time and terms. OutreachAuto can write to both roles at the same company with different angles, and stops writing to everyone at that account the moment one person replies.
Every reply is labeled: interested, not now, wrong person, unsubscribe, out of office. "Send me your capabilities sheet" and "Talk to our supplier quality manager in Ohio" become two different next steps instead of two buried emails.
Interested contacts get your booking link with proposed times. On Growth and Scale, the thread and the account brief sync to your CRM, so whoever takes the call knows the part family, the volume range and the reason they answered.
Here is how the usual options compare for a manufacturer with a sales engineer or two and no full-time business development team. Costs are typical 2026 ranges, not quotes, and vary by region and vendor; confirm with any provider before you buy.
| Option | Typical cost | What you get | Where it falls short |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade shows | Booth, travel and staff time for each show | Face-to-face meetings with buyers who came to look | A few days a year, and follow-up after the show is often lost |
| Supplier directories and RFQ platforms | Listing or membership fees, plus your quoting time | Inbound RFQs from buyers already searching | Price-led competition, you quote against many shops |
| Manufacturers' reps | Commission on sales, usually a percentage of revenue | Existing relationships in a territory | Slow to start, and the rep's attention is split across lines |
| Outsourced lead generation agency | Monthly retainer, often several thousand USD | Meetings booked by someone else's team | You rarely see the scripts, and the agency learns your process slowly |
| Sales engineer prospecting between quotes | Hidden, it is the first thing dropped when quotes pile up | Someone who can talk tolerances on the first call | Stops when the shop is busy and restarts when it is empty |
| OutreachAuto | 49 to 299 USD a month billed yearly | Account research, emails, follow-up, reply labels and booking from your own inboxes | No phone dialing, no quoting, no trade show booth |
Trade shows
Supplier directories and RFQ platforms
Manufacturers' reps
Outsourced lead generation agency
Sales engineer prospecting between quotes
OutreachAuto
The honest trade-off: OutreachAuto does not quote parts, does not attend shows and does not replace a rep who already owns a territory. It keeps outbound going every week to accounts your team never has time to reach, which is the part that usually stalls when the floor is busy. See AI lead generation for how the list is built.
Manufacturers that grow steadily keep three habits all year. First, a tight target list: industries where your certifications, materials and volumes already fit, ideally where you have one or two reference customers. Second, a low-risk first step for the buyer, such as a quote on one part number, a sample run or a capability review call. Third, follow-up that outlasts the buyer's supplier review cycle, which is usually months, not days.
Outbound handles all three when it is kept up. Many shops also sell through distributors and channel partners, and a partner relationship management tool helps you find and manage those distributors while OutreachAuto works the direct OEM accounts. Want to know who you are up against before you write? Pair the outreach with your own notes on the suppliers each account uses today.
Connect two or three inboxes on a domain kept apart from the one you use for quotes, purchase orders and invoices. OutreachAuto checks SPF, DKIM and DMARC and starts warmup before the first campaign email.
Write what you make, the materials, tolerances, volumes and certifications (ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 13485, ITAR registration if it applies) and the industries and regions you want. Add current customers, distributors and competitors as exclusions so they are never emailed.
Read the account briefs and every email before anything sends. Change the tone, add a line about your lead times or your quality record, cut a step. Nothing goes out until a person clicks approve.
Sending runs in each prospect's business hours. You read labeled replies, answer the interested ones and walk into calls that are already on the calendar, with the brief in hand.
CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication, injection molding and stamping shops sell capacity and capability. Outbound to OEMs that need a second source or are reshoring production keeps the schedule fuller between big programs.
Makers of fasteners, seals, cables, enclosures and sub-assemblies sell into design cycles. Reaching the engineer before a new product is frozen is worth more than reaching purchasing after it ships.
Machine builders and equipment makers sell high-ticket products with long cycles. Steady, specific contact with plant managers and maintenance leads keeps you on the shortlist when a capital budget opens. See automated follow up for how long sequences keep a warm account warm.
Companies with several plants or product lines can give each one its own workspace, offer and target list, and keep every reply with the right sales team.
An owner or a single sales engineer can start on Starter: 3 inboxes, 1,500 new contacts a month and 1 seat for 49 USD a month billed yearly, or 99 USD month to month. A team with sales, an engineer and a customer service lead usually fits Growth: 10 inboxes, 5,000 contacts, 5 seats and 3 workspaces (one per product line or plant) for 124 USD a month billed yearly, or 249 month to month. Every limit is on the pricing page, and the AI SDR pricing comparison shows how that compares with other AI SDR tools and with an outsourced SDR.
Manufacturers generate leads through referrals, trade shows, supplier directories, distributors and reps, their own website and search, and outbound to target accounts. The most predictable of these is outbound, because you pick the companies and control the pace every week. Software keeps it going when the sales engineer is busy quoting.
Most manufacturers win new customers by reaching the engineer and the buyer at companies that already need what they make, offering a low-risk first step such as a quote on one part or a sample run, and following up through the supplier review cycle. Reference customers in the same industry shorten that cycle.
The best lead generation for a manufacturer is a mix: steady outbound to a defined list of OEMs and plants, a website with clear capability and certification pages, and the trade shows your buyers actually attend. Outbound is the part you control all year, and it costs far less than a retainer.
Agencies that run outbound for manufacturers usually charge a monthly retainer of several thousand USD, and some add fees per meeting. Software that does the research, writing and follow-up from your own inboxes costs from 49 USD a month billed yearly with OutreachAuto, plus your team's time for calls and quotes.
Contact two roles. The design or manufacturing engineer decides whether your part or process fits, and the buyer or purchasing manager owns price, lead time and supplier approval. At smaller companies, the operations manager or owner often decides both.
Yes. Cold email to businesses is legal in the US under the CAN-SPAM Act if the sender is identified honestly, the subject line is not misleading, the email has a working unsubscribe and a physical mailing address, and opt-outs are honored. See cold email compliance for the full checklist.
Enter your company website, what you make and who you sell to. OutreachAuto picks a matching account, researches it and writes the first email in about a minute, so you can judge the output before you pay anything.
Your trial run covers one company and one sequence. A plan researches, writes, sends from your own inboxes, follows up, sorts replies and books meetings every month.
Billed yearly. Cancel any time.
Billed monthly. Cancel any time.
Plan
49 USDYearly, per month
99 USDMonthly
Each month
3 inboxes, 1 500 new contacts, 5 active sequences, 1 seat
Plan
124 USDYearly, per month
249 USDMonthly
Each month
10 inboxes, 5 000 new contacts, 25 active sequences, 5 seats
Growth fits a sales team of 2 to 5
Plan
299 USDYearly, per month
599 USDMonthly
Each month
30 inboxes, 12 000 new contacts, unlimited sequences within the contact limit, 15 seats
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