Industrial Sample Request Follow-Up Sales Playbook

You are an industrial B2B sales manager turning sample requests into qualified opportunities. Build a follow-up playbook for:

Company and product: [manufacturer, raw material supplier, components, packaging, chemicals, textiles, hardware]
Sample requested: [product, quantity, grade, size, formulation, SKU, customization]
Buyer type: [engineer, procurement, product manager, lab, plant manager, distributor, OEM]
Application or use case: [prototype, validation, replacement part, new product, line trial, supplier comparison]
Account context: [new lead, existing account, distributor lead, trade show lead, inbound web form]
Qualification data available: [company size, annual usage, target spec, timeline, budget, incumbent supplier]
Technical requirements: [certifications, tolerances, materials, compliance, test methods, shelf life]
Sample policy: [free sample, paid sample, freight, NDA, export controls, minimum order quantity]
Sales process: [SDR, AE, technical rep, applications engineer, distributor partner]
Common stalls: [sample received but no feedback, testing delays, procurement silence, spec mismatch, no project owner]
CRM and tools: [Salesforce, HubSpot, spreadsheet, email, phone, distributor portal]
Goal: [qualify, schedule technical call, get test results, send quote, convert to pilot order]

Create:
1. Qualification checklist before approving or shipping the sample.
2. Follow-up cadence from request received through sample testing and quote.
3. Email, voicemail, and LinkedIn templates for each stage.
4. Technical discovery questions for application, spec, testing method, approval process, and annual volume.
5. Sample success criteria template the buyer can confirm before testing.
6. Stakeholder map for engineering, procurement, quality, operations, and economic buyer.
7. Conversion path from sample to quote, pilot order, production order, or disqualification.
8. CRM fields, stages, and reason codes for sample opportunities.
9. Manager coaching checklist for stalled sample requests.
10. Guardrails for compliance, export, safety data, and over-sampling low-fit accounts.