How to Get Off RFQ Portals and Win Direct Customers

To get off RFQ portals, don't quit them overnight. Cap portal work at a share of revenue you can live with, pick the two or three kinds of jobs you want more of, and contact the engineers and buyers at companies that need that work while the portal keeps your machines running. As direct customers come in, the portal share drops on its own.

Why do so many shops want off the portals?

Because the work keeps the spindles turning but often doesn't pay. One machinist summed it up in a thread on r/Machinists: "I always have work but never have money..." Another in the same thread said "a high percentage of the jobs posted barely cover the material."

The price is set before you ever see the job. You don't meet the engineer, so you can't suggest a cheaper way to make the part, and you can't build the kind of trust that turns one job into ten. The next order goes to whoever bids lowest.

That doesn't make portals useless. A shop owner who has run a lot of portal work put it fairly in an AMA on r/Machinists: a portal "may help get your business off the ground but it will never build your business."

Want names instead of advice? We'll find 25 companies with a live buying signal for what you make, and the 5 to call first. Get your 25 buyers

Can I turn my portal customers into direct customers?

Usually not, and you shouldn't try. Xometry's Partner Terms and Conditions say partners may not market to, solicit or contact customers they learn about through the platform outside its own messaging channel. Each prohibited communication carries a $25,000 fee that Xometry can deduct from what it owes you, and it can remove you from the program. Other marketplaces have similar rules, so read yours.

Also, two channels many shops treat as separate have one owner: Xometry acquired Thomas, the company behind Thomasnet.com, in December 2021. Listing on both spreads your risk less than you think.

So the way off the portals is not converting portal buyers. It's finding new buyers yourself.

How much portal work is too much?

When you couldn't make payroll if the portal changed its pricing or its rules next month, it's too much. Pick a ceiling, for example a quarter of revenue from any one platform, and check it every quarter. If you're above it, building direct work becomes the most important sales job in the shop.

Also compare the two kinds of work on the same math. Take a typical portal job and a typical direct job, and work out what each one actually paid per machine hour after material and quoting time.

Where do direct customers come from?

From people, mostly. A buyer who hires fabricators said it plainly in a thread on r/smallbusiness: "Definitely gotta press the flesh, then phone calls, then emails, then any online marketing." Websites and trade shows help buyers decide you're credible, but the first conversation usually starts because someone reached out.

Here is a plan a 20 to 500 person shop can run:

1. Pick the work you want more of. Two or three job types by process, material or part family. "We do everything" gives a buyer no reason to call you. A buyer in another r/Machinists thread said it bluntly: "I would not send work to a "CNC" shop."
2. List the companies that need it. Companies within shipping distance that make products needing your processes. Start with 25, not 2,500.
3. Look for a reason to call now. A new plant or line, a product launch, hiring for manufacturing or supplier quality engineers, a supplier they just lost, reshoring news.
4. Reach the person who picks the vendor. That's often a design or manufacturing engineer first, then purchasing. Engineers decide who gets asked to quote.
5. Lead with what you make for companies like theirs. One or two lines about the parts you run for their industry, and a simple question. No capability brochure.
6. Follow up for weeks, not days. Use email, LinkedIn and a phone call so they see a real person. Most manufacturing buyers don't answer the first message.

If you run a fab shop, our metal fabrication page shows how we run this for fabricators.

How long does it take to replace portal work?

Longer than most owners expect, which is why you start while you're busy. A first conversation leads to a quote, then vendor onboarding, then a purchase order, then net 30. As one commenter put it in a thread about a shop running low on cash: "By the time the work funnel is empty, the situation is usually already too late."

Keep the portal as fill work while direct accounts ramp up, and lower your ceiling as they do.

Who should do the outreach if the owner is too busy?

Someone whose main job it is. When the same person quotes, runs jobs and sells, selling stops every time the shop gets busy, and that's how feast or famine starts.

Shops usually have three options. The owner blocks fixed hours each week for outreach. The shop hires a salesperson. Or the shop rents a dedicated SDR, a sales development rep who finds the accounts, reaches out and books first meetings, while the owner or estimator still runs the meeting and quotes. We compare the last two in SDR rental vs. hiring an in-house SDR.

At Sequence Minds, a dedicated, vetted SDR works only your accounts. You see every conversation, and if the rep isn't a fit, our 45-day replacement guarantee means we replace them. The CRO of a US custom metal fabricator told us their SDR more than doubled qualified discovery calls in two months and was promoted to manager. More on how it works on our outsourced SDR for manufacturing page.

Frequently asked questions

Is Xometry worth it for a machine shop? It can be worth it as fill work when you have open machine time and no better job for it. It's a weak foundation for the business, because the platform sets the price and owns the customer relationship. Track what portal jobs pay per machine hour and cap their share of revenue.

Can I contact a customer I found through a portal? Usually not outside the platform. Xometry's partner terms forbid soliciting or contacting customers learned through the platform outside its messaging channel and set a $25,000 fee per prohibited communication. Check the terms of any marketplace you use before reaching out.

What's the fastest way to find direct customers for a job shop? Build a short list of companies that need your specific processes and have a reason to add a vendor now, such as a new line, a launch or a lost supplier. Reach the engineer who decides who gets asked to quote, then follow up by email, LinkedIn and phone over several weeks.

Should I stop using portals completely? Not right away. Keep them for gaps while you build direct accounts, and lower your ceiling on portal revenue as direct work grows. Quitting before you have a replacement usually means an empty schedule.

Who in a manufacturer should a shop contact first? Usually a design or manufacturing engineer, because engineers decide which shops get asked to quote. Purchasing comes in when it's time to compare prices and onboard the vendor. Reaching both over time works better than mailing purchasing alone.

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