Who to Talk To — Decision Makers and Buying Roles
The five roles in every PCB buying committee — and which one to call first.
In a PCB deal, you almost never have just one buyer. You have a buying committee.
The Five Roles
1. The Engineer (Technical Buyer)
Title examples: Hardware Engineer, Electrical Engineer, EE, Design Engineer, PCB Designer, Lead Engineer.
- Designs the board
- Cares about: capability, quality, technical support, DFM feedback, lead time on prototypes
- Won't sign the PO but can KILL a deal if they don't trust your shop
- Speak to them about technical capability and partnership — not price
2. The Buyer / Procurement (Commercial Buyer)
Title examples: Buyer, Sourcing Manager, Procurement Specialist, Strategic Sourcing, Commodity Manager.
- Owns the supplier relationship
- Cares about: price, terms, lead time, on-time delivery, NCR (non-conformance rate)
- Will negotiate hard and ask for cost-downs annually
- Speak to them about pricing, capacity, payment terms, and vendor scorecards
3. Operations / Supply Chain
Title examples: Operations Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Materials Manager, Production Manager.
- Cares about: predictable lead times, EDI, inventory, no production stoppages
- Often the early-warning signal when something goes wrong
- Can be a strong advocate if you save them headaches
4. Quality
Title examples: Quality Manager, Quality Engineer, Supplier Quality Engineer (SQE), QA Director.
- Will audit your shop. Will ask for certifications, control plans, FAI reports.
- Cares about: defect rates, traceability, IPC class, audit findings
- Speak to them about your certifications, processes, and history
5. The Executive / Decision Maker
Title examples: CEO (small companies), VP Engineering, VP Operations, Director of Manufacturing, CTO, COO.
- Final approval on big deals or new suppliers
- Cares about: strategic fit, risk, total cost, business relationship
- Sometimes only meets with you once, but is the one signing off
Who to Call First
For prospecting, target the engineer or the buyer first. Both work. Here's the rule of thumb:
- If your USP is technical capability or speed (HDI, quick-turn, advanced materials), start with the engineer.
- If your USP is price, lead time, or supply chain reliability, start with the buyer.
- If your USP is certifications (ITAR, AS9100, ISO 13485), start with the quality manager or program manager.
Avoid going straight to the C-suite of a mid-size company. You'll get bounced back down.
Multi-Threading
Once you've made first contact, your job is to build relationships across multiple roles in the account. A deal where you only know the buyer is fragile — if they leave, you lose the account. A deal where you know the engineer, the buyer, and the operations manager is sticky.
Make a habit of asking: "Who else on your team should I be talking to about this?"
- Engineers, buyers, operations, quality, and executives are the five roles. Map them in every account.
- Engineers can kill deals; buyers control them; quality blocks them; ops keeps them; execs sign them.
- Multi-thread. Single-threaded deals are fragile.
Practice questions
Which role can KILL a deal even though they don't sign the PO?
If your USP is ITAR and AS9100 certifications, who should you typically start with?
Why is multi-threading important?
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