From PLCs to Personas: Boost Industrial Automation Product Sales with Effective Messaging

If you’re an engineering company selling industrial automation products or control system services, you know your technology inside and out. Whether it’s PLC programming, system integration, or custom automation solutions, you live and breathe the details.

Customers don’t buy technology—they buy business solutions

But here’s the catch: your customers don’t buy technology—they buy business solutions that solve their operational challenges.

Step 1: Understand Your Customer Persona, Not Just the Technical Specs of Your Industrial Automation Products

Your clients aren’t always technical experts like you—they’re plant managers, operations directors, or maintenance supervisors. Each has unique goals and pain points:

• Minimizing equipment downtime

• Improving operational efficiency

• Reducing maintenance costs

reaching out, focus on your customers’ priorities. Speak their language. Instead of leading with specs like “our system supports Modbus TCP,” talk about how your industrial automation solutions help them hit their KPIs.

Your clients aren’t always technical experts like you.

Step 2: Translate Technical Product Features of Industrial Automation Solutions into Customer Benefits

It’s easy to get lost in technical jargon. To win the sale, convert technical product features into outcomes your customers care about:

• Feature: “We provide real-time data integration.”

• Benefit: “You get instant alerts on equipment issues before they cause costly downtime.”

• Why it matters: “That means less unplanned maintenance and more uptime on your production line.”

This approach makes your message clear and compelling—turning engineering excellence into measurable business value.

Step 3: Equip Your Sales Team with Benefit-Focused Messaging for Industrial Automation Products and Services

Sales teams aren’t always technical experts. Help them bridge the gap by providing:

• Simple, benefit-focused messaging

• Use cases relevant to your customers’ industries

• Visual aids that illustrate both system design and ROI of automation solutions

When your salespeople confidently explain how your technology solves real industrial challenges, they close deals faster.

The best products and services deserve to be understood clearly by decision-makers.

Final Thought

For engineering companies, success isn’t just about building great products—it’s about communicating technical value effectively. The best industrial automation products and services deserve to be understood clearly by decision-makers.

Move from PLCs to personas, and watch your industrial automation sales and customer engagement improve.