A request arrives for a sample. It might be an engineer specifying a component for a production run of forty thousand, or a student on a project, or a competitor.
Most companies respond to all three the same way, which is either to send it without asking anything or to demand so much information that the engineer gives up.
Qualify around the project, not the person
What it is for, the application, the expected volume, the timescale and what happens after evaluation. These are questions a serious buyer wants to answer because they lead to a better recommendation.
Example conversations
These scripts use information a supplier might publish. Your answers should come from your own pages.
Buyer: Can I get a sample of this? Assistant: The samples page explains what is available and how requests are handled. So the right item is sent, could you tell me what application it is for, roughly what annual volume you are looking at and when you need to make a decision? I will pass it to the technical team with your details.
Buyer: We need to test it before specifying it. Assistant: The page explains the evaluation support available, including larger trial quantities for production testing and what the team can provide alongside, such as the technical documentation and a contact for questions during testing. Could you tell me what testing you plan and over what period?
Buyer: Is there a charge for samples? Assistant: The page explains which samples are free, where a charge applies and whether it is credited against a first order. It also explains delivery timescales and what is included with each sample.
Publish the terms
What is free, what is chargeable, what quantities are available and how long delivery takes. Buyers who know the terms request appropriately rather than asking for a pallet.
Send something useful with it
Technical documentation, a named contact, what to look for in testing and what the next step is. A sample alone is a box on a desk.
Decide the free sample policy deliberately
Free for qualified requests with a named application, charged otherwise and credited against an order. Publishing the rule stops it being negotiated every time.
Follow up on a schedule
Two weeks after delivery, ask what they found. This single habit converts more samples than any change to what is sent, and almost nobody does it.
Handle the evaluation period properly
Buyers testing a product have questions during testing. Being reachable then, with technical answers, is what wins the specification.
Treat trial units differently
Equipment on loan, larger production trials and pilot quantities need terms, a return arrangement and a defined period. These are worth doing and need agreeing in writing.
Do not obstruct the researcher
Some requests are from people who will specify you in two years. A student today is an engineer later, and an ungenerous response is remembered.
Technical questions arrive alongside
They are covered in technical pre-sales questions that stall B2B deals.
Buyers research long before contact
It is the pattern in B2B buyers who research for weeks before contact, samples work similarly in sample and showroom visit requests for flooring firms, and trial design is covered in an AI receptionist free trial test plan.
Getting started
Publish your sample terms, what is included and the evaluation support available, then qualify and capture requests at any hour. SpideyChat for B2B companies answers from your published pages. Try SpideyChat on your own site, or read about capture on the features page.