Xiao Peng sells CNC cutting tools in Ningbo. In his first year on the job, more than half the calls he made got the same second line back: "We already have a supplier." His first instinct was to quote a price right away and keep cutting it, all the way down to the floor his company allowed — and still nobody switched. Later, the veteran salesperson mentoring him said: "When someone says they already have one, first find out why they haven't switched. Save the price for last." The same line can mean very different things: some owners are genuinely happy with their current supplier, some just can't be bothered to change, some can't afford to switch, and some just want to get off the phone.
First, Who's Saying It: The Small-Factory Owner or the Big-Factory Buyer
The same line — "we already have one" — carries very different weight depending on whether it comes from the owner or from a purchasing staffer. I pulled a breakdown of active manufacturing factories on Tianxia Gongchang by insured headcount. Among factories with recorded insured headcount, there are 1,165,157 in total:
| Insured headcount | Factories | Share | Who usually says this |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1–9 | 618,932 | 53.1% | The owner |
| 10–49 | 374,799 | 32.2% | The owner, or a family member |
| 50–299 | 142,765 | 12.3% | A purchasing staffer, with the owner or factory manager making the final call |
| 300+ | 28,661 | 2.5% | The purchasing department, backed by a supplier-approval process |
(Shares are rounded to one decimal place, so they don't add up to exactly 100%; the last column is a general rule of thumb, not a statistical finding.)
Factories with fewer than 50 insured employees make up 85.3% of the total. Among these, "we already have one" is the owner's personal judgment call. He may have worked with his current supplier for years — maybe they're from the same hometown, maybe old colleagues — maybe that supplier extends him credit terms, or can get goods to him with one middle-of-the-night phone call. When he says he already has one, he usually means "I get along well with that guy." The upside is that the owner alone can make the call — if he nods, you can be added the same day.
Factories with 50 to 299 insured employees generally have a dedicated purchasing staffer by this point. When a purchasing staffer says "we already have one," it's often because adding another supplier means one more price comparison to run, one more account to reconcile, and one more chance to be blamed if something goes wrong. He usually doesn't have the authority to switch suppliers, and no compelling reason to push for it.
Only 28,661 factories have 300 or more insured employees. At this scale, the purchasing department usually keeps an approved-supplier list, and getting onto it means passing qualification review, a factory audit, sample submission, and a small trial batch. When a purchasing staffer here says "we already have one," it's usually literally true: this category already has an incumbent on the list, and getting added means waiting for a list review or a new project.
So with a small factory, what you need to win over is one person. With a large factory, what you need to find is an entry point in the process.
Four Meanings Behind "We Already Have One"
1. Genuinely satisfied
The current supplier's pricing is fair, quality is consistent, deliveries are on time, and when problems have come up, they've been handled cleanly. When someone says this line in a genuinely satisfied tone, they're usually willing to chat a bit more, and may even praise their current supplier in passing. This type of customer is the hardest to pry loose — and the most worth keeping on your list long-term, because they know the business well.
2. Too lazy to switch
The current supplier isn't great, but nothing has gone badly wrong either. Whenever the owner thinks about switching — renegotiating prices, reconciling accounts again, working out the kinks with someone new — it just doesn't feel worth the trouble. The typical answer you'll hear is "it's fine" or "we're used to them." What this type of customer needs is a start that's small and easy enough to bother with.
3. Switching costs too high
What you're selling has already been built into the customer's process or product: switching cutting tools means re-tuning parameters and running trial cuts; switching a raw material may mean re-testing, or even getting sign-off from the end customer. At this point, the customer is doing the math.
Say a factory spends 200,000 yuan a year on this category, and your price is 5% cheaper — that's a saving of 200,000 × 5% = 10,000 yuan a year. But if the new product causes a problem — a batch of workpieces scrapped, a delivery delayed — the loss could easily exceed that 10,000 yuan. The owner can see both the money saved and the risk taken on, and choosing not to switch for now is a rational decision.
4. A polite brush-off
The other person never intended to listen — this line is just the most graceful way to end the call. The tell-tale signs are a quick reply, no details offered, and no engagement with any follow-up questions. They might genuinely be busy, you might have called at a bad time, or this factory simply may have no use for what you're selling.
Two Questions to Tell Them Apart
When you hear "we already have one," don't rush to quote a price, and don't badmouth the current supplier. The customer chose that supplier — telling them it's no good is the same as telling them they chose wrong. Start with something like "That's good, having a stable supplier makes life easier," then ask two questions:
- "How long have you been working with your current supplier? What do you think they do best?"
- "If you ever wanted to add a backup supplier, what's the first hurdle you'd need to clear?"
The first question tells you their satisfaction level; the second tells you the barrier to switching. Match their answer against this:
| Their answer | Most likely | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Gives specifics on what's good: on-time delivery, someone shows up the same day when there's a problem | Genuinely satisfied | Become the backup supplier |
| "It's fine," "we're used to them," can't name anything specific | Too lazy to switch | Start with small orders and non-core specs |
| Can name the barriers to switching: trial cuts needed, testing required, end-customer sign-off, internal approval | Switching costs too high | Send samples for testing |
| "That's just how it is, I'm busy" — won't engage with either question | Polite brush-off | Log it and come back another time |
A customer who answers both questions is already talking to you seriously. One who won't engage with either — don't push any further today.
Four Ways to Respond
Become the backup supplier
For a genuinely satisfied customer, it's enough to suggest keeping a backup. Relying on a single supplier carries real risk: they could run out of stock, raise prices suddenly, or have their capacity taken up by a bigger client. You could put it like this:
"You don't need to switch — just keep me as a backup. If your supplier ever can't keep up, give me a call and I'll cover it."
Then send over a quote, lead times, and stock levels for the specs they use most often, so you're the first name that comes to mind on the day they actually need someone. For factories with 300+ insured employees, ask a different question at this stage: find out how often the approved-supplier list for this category gets reviewed and whether there's a backup slot available — the goal is to get onto the list first, then wait for an opening.
Start with small orders and non-core specs
For a customer who's too lazy to switch, you need to make switching as painless as possible. Try asking:
"Are there any specs on your end that are low-volume, always take a while to get, or that your current supplier isn't that keen on making? Let me try those first."
Suppliers usually put their energy into the high-volume, core specs — low-volume, non-standard, and rush orders are the ones most likely to get neglected. If you come in through this gap, the customer doesn't have to touch their main supplier relationship, so the risk to them is close to zero. If you deliver on time and keep clean accounts over a few orders, the owner will naturally start asking what else you can supply.
Send samples for testing
For a customer facing high switching costs, you need to let them evaluate you without disrupting production. Before sending samples, agree on three things up front: which metrics will be tested, what they'll be compared against with the current supplier, and how long results will take. A trial with nothing agreed upfront usually goes quiet the moment the samples run out.
After the test passes comes a small trial order, and after that, pricing and moving the deal forward. For how to keep pushing a deal forward over a long decision cycle after quoting a price, see Methodology Lesson 9: How to Move a Deal Forward Over a Long Decision Cycle — What to Do After You've Quoted a Price.
Log the switching window and trigger events
For a customer who gave you a polite brush-off, as well as for the previous three types when there's no progress for now, keep a record. Ask one more question — "When was the last time you switched suppliers, and what made you do it?" — and the answer tells you this factory's logic for switching suppliers. At minimum, record four things: whether they currently use a local distributor or buy direct from the manufacturer, how long they've worked together, the reason for the last switch, and which month their annual review or tender takes place.
What actually gets a customer to switch suppliers is usually one specific event: the current supplier raises prices, runs out of stock, has a quality problem, or the sales rep they deal with leaves — or the customer itself expands production, relocates, adds a new production line, or lands a big order. For how to track these signals, see Methodology Lesson 7: When Is a Factory Most Likely to Buy — Watch These 6 Demand-Window Signals.
When to Let Go, and How Often to Follow Up
Three situations call for letting go:
- They explicitly say "we don't need it, stop calling": mark it on your list, stop calling, and don't try calling again from a different number.
- Two contacts, and neither question yields any information: you haven't made it onto their radar yet.
- After asking, you find out it's simply not a fit: this factory's process or volume has no use for what you're selling.
For how to judge which customers are worth continuing to pursue and which you should cut losses on early, see Methodology Lesson 8: Learn to Say "No" Early — Qualifying Customers in Industrial Sales.
For customers you haven't let go of, set the follow-up cadence by type:
| Type | Follow-up cadence | What to bring |
|---|---|---|
| Genuinely satisfied | Once a quarter | New specs, market changes, lead-time updates |
| Too lazy to switch | Within a week of the sample or small order | Usage feedback, the next spec to try |
| Switching costs too high | Timed to their review and new-project milestones | Test data, improvement proposals |
| Polite brush-off | Again after a quarter, with a new reason | One specific piece of new information |
Every follow-up needs to bring something new. Asking "do you need anything lately?" will just get you the same "we already have one" again. For how to handle a customer who added you on WeChat but never replies, there's a separate article on that: You Added a Factory Buyer on WeChat and They Never Reply — Now What.
Letting go only works if there's a next factory on your list to call. If the list is too short, you end up reluctant to drop anyone, and you keep burning time on customers who already gave you a polite brush-off. Tianxia Gongchang covers 4.8 million factories, more than 3 million of them with direct contact details for the owner or decision-maker — you can top up your next batch by industry, region, and insured headcount. For example, for Xiao Peng's machining customers in Ningbo, he could filter for Ningbo metal-products and general-equipment factories with 10 to 100 insured employees and decision-maker contact details; or he could just ask the AI on Tianxia Gongchang, "Ningbo metal-products factories and general-equipment factories with 50+ insured employees," and it will break the request into filters and list the results.
One-Line Checklist
- Genuinely satisfied: suggest you become their backup, for the day their current supplier can't keep up.
- Too lazy to switch: land a small order in a low-volume, non-core spec and take the hassle of switching onto yourself.
- Switching costs too high: before sending samples, agree on what will be tested, what it's compared against, and how long results will take.
- Polite brush-off: log the reason for their last switch and the month of their annual review, then come back after a quarter with a new reason.
- Small-factory owner: he makes the call alone — being responsive, easy to work with, and available on short notice beats a lower price.
- Big-factory buyer: ask how often the supplier list gets reviewed, and aim to get onto it.
- Letting go: if they say stop calling, mark it and stop; always keep a next factory on your list.
- Throughout: never badmouth their current supplier.
→ Filter for factories with decision-maker contact details on Tianxia Gongchang | → Get a Tianxia Gongchang membership
Published by the Tianxia Gongchang Research Institute. Data note: factory counts are from Tianxia Gongchang, covering active-status manufacturing factories, as of September 2026.