An enquiry arrives from somebody starting a small brand. She has a photograph of something she made herself and wants to know whether it can be produced properly.
The form asks for a drawing, a material specification, a tolerance and a quantity. She has none of those things and does not know what most of them mean.
She gives up on three manufacturers before one of them simply asks what it is for. That one gets a customer who orders for the next six years.
Script 1: what is it for
The opening question. What the thing does and who uses it tells a manufacturer more than most drawings do, and anybody can answer it.
Script 2: how big is it, roughly
Approximate dimensions, or a comparison to a familiar object. Precision comes later and is the manufacturer's job rather than the customer's.
Script 3: what should it feel like
Weight, texture, warmth, rigidity. Non engineers describe products this way and it maps directly onto material choices.
Script 4: what have you got already
A sketch, a photograph, a hand made version or a three dimensional file from a designer. Anything at all is a starting point.
Script 5: how many, roughly, in a year
The single most consequential fact, because it determines the process entirely. Ten units and ten thousand units are made in completely different ways, at completely different unit prices, and nothing useful can be said until it is known.
Script 6: what is it replacing or competing with
An existing product tells a manufacturer about the standard expected, the price point and frequently the exact process being used.
Script 7: what does it have to survive
Outdoors, heat, water, being dropped, daily use for years. This is a plain language version of the environmental specification.
Script 8: what would make it fail
Asking what would be unacceptable frequently reveals the critical requirement faster than asking what is required.
Script 9: when do you need it
Because tooling and production have their own timelines, and a founder with a launch date needs to hear this early.
Script 10: what is the budget for the first run
Asked as a range and framed as a way to recommend the right approach, since process choice depends heavily on it.
Script 11: who else is involved in this decision
A founder frequently has a designer, an investor or a co founder in the background. Knowing who else will be involved shapes how the manufacturer explains the options and frequently shortens the whole process considerably.
Rule: never make somebody feel unqualified
The fastest way to lose a founder is to reply with a list of terms they do not recognise. The manufacturer's expertise is the product being sold.
Rule: explain what a drawing means practically
What is actually needed, who can produce it and roughly what that costs, which is the gap described in enquiries that arrive without a drawing or spec.
Rule: say early if it is not viable
Kindly and with a reason. A founder told honestly that the idea needs a different process respects the firm and frequently returns.
Have the first conversation without a drawing
An assistant that asks what the thing does, how big it is, what it must survive, how many are wanted and when, in plain language, produces a scoped enquiry from somebody who could not have completed a technical form. Technical questions arrive at all hours, as in technical product questions from engineers at midnight, the bespoke pattern in custom and made to order enquiries, and the qualification in receptionist screening questions. See features, start at try, and the sector view sits under manufacturing.