MRO · Vertical playbook

Selling to Marine / Ports & Shipyards

U.S. marine and port-related MRO spend is estimated at $12-16B annually when including vessel maintenance, port infrastructure, and cargo handling equipment. Major ports and large shipyards represent the highest concentration of spend.

Typical sales cycle

60-180 days for most consumables and shop supplies. 6-24 months for major contracts, capital equipment, or multi-year service agreements. Government and port authority procurement are common.

Deal size

$10K-$150K for initial trials; $200K-$3M+ annual for approved vendors on large ports or active shipyards.

Coverage

Sub-segments inside Marine / Ports & Shipyards

Commercial Ports & Terminals

Major ports (LA/Long Beach, Houston, NY/NJ, Savannah, Seattle/Tacoma) with extensive land-side infrastructure and cargo handling equipment.

High volume of land-side MRO (cranes, straddle carriers, reach stackers, terminal tractors, buildings, utilities). Heavy focus on uptime for cargo operations.

Ship Repair Yards & Dry Docks

Commercial shipyards performing repairs, maintenance, and conversions on cargo vessels, tankers, ferries, and offshore support vessels.

High concentration of specialized trades (welding, pipefitting, marine electricians, coatings). Heavy regulatory and safety requirements. Often project-based work.

Vessel Operators (Cargo, Ferry, Offshore)

Shipping companies, ferry operators, and offshore support vessel companies that maintain their own fleets or contract maintenance.

Focus on vessel availability, voyage schedule reliability, and regulatory compliance (class society, flag state, port state control).

Port Authority Maintenance Operations

Port authorities responsible for infrastructure maintenance (wharves, docks, roads, utilities, buildings, navigation aids).

Often operates like a large facilities organization with marine-specific challenges (corrosion, tidal conditions, environmental permits).

The room

Key personas you'll meet

5 researched personas for Marine / Ports & Shipyards. Each one carries its own vocabulary, pain-point ranking, and discovery question bank — used to make every brief persona-specific.

port_engineer

Department Director

vessel_superintendent

Department Director

dry_dock_superintendent

Department Director

equipment_maintenance_supervisor

Hands-On Operator

lead_marine_mechanic

Hands-On Operator

Inside the building

Departments inside the buyer's building

Vessel Maintenance & Ship RepairDry Dock OperationsPort Facilities & Infrastructure MaintenanceCargo Handling Equipment MaintenanceVessel & Tank Cleaning

How it works

How The Friend Method handles Marine / Ports & Shipyards

Every brief for this vertical is grounded in the data above plus the methodology bible. The Translator reads the Marine / Ports & Shipyardsplaybook as cached context, so the brief uses persona vocabulary the buyer would recognize, names pains from the typical_pain_points list above, and quotes sample scripts verbatim from a real persona's script bank.

The methodology layer adds the 8-stage discipline — plus the always-on Remember practice and the 4 indecision diagnoses for the moment the buyer hesitates. The result reads like a 25-year rep prepped you for this exact meeting.

01Approach02Connect03Agree04Discover05Map06Insight07Mode Switch08Decide

Pick yours

Try a brief for Marine / Ports & Shipyards

Tell us about your next meeting in this vertical. We'll generate a full brief in under a minute.

Generate a free brief