In a world where most heavy machinery is still sold through calls and factory visits, Aliko is taking a different path: helping buyers self-educate online, size the right machine, and kick off pricing discussions digitally – before a salesperson ever lifts the phone.
Within weeks of launch, the configurator began producing qualified leads. Early results suggest a faster path from first inquiry to specification, especially for buyers who prefer self-service over phone and want to prepare thoroughly before engaging sales.
Meet Aliko
Founded in Finland, Aliko designs and manufactures press brakes and bending tools, and is recognized as a leading bending technology developer. Its portfolio spans three families — F-Series, Heavy Duty, and Giant, covering bending lengths from roughly 3 to 14 meters and forces from 220 tons up past 1000+ tons.
“Our buyers range from mid-heavy to heavy machine shops and plate service centers. When you need to bend thicker plate with serious force, that’s a press brake.” — Timo Valtanen, Sales Manager, Aliko
The Buying Reality: Complex, Expensive, and Multi-Stakeholder
A typical Aliko deal can involve production managers, plant/operations leadership, and in larger companies a purchasing function. Budget holders vary widely by firm size. Price points range from €130,000 to several million, and sales cycles span weeks to years, with an average around 3–5 months:
“At best we can close deal in a week; at the long end it can take three years. On average, I’d say three to five months. Many customers have an annual CapEx plan: start early in the year, aim to order before Midsummer, and target delivery within 16–20 weeks.” – Timo Valtanen
What triggers a purchase for Aliko’s customers:
- Capacity expansion (most common)
- New site / second unit
- Replacement of aging equipment
The Challenge: Meet Buyers Where They Research — Online
Aliko noticed a clear pattern: even traditional buyers do significant homework before talking to sales.
“There’s a lot of research happening. People want to prepare properly before entering the sales ‘drumbeat.’ No one wants a phone call as step one. They prefer to do a lot of research on the machinery on their own” — Timo
The team had already invested in online bending force calculators so engineers could size their needs. The next step was obvious: let buyers jump straight from “how much force do I need?” to configuring a suitable press brake and, where possible, seeing indicative pricing.
Breaking the Industry Habit: Transparency Over Secrecy
Common objection in heavy machinery: “If we show prices, competitors will see them.”
Here’s what Aliko’s Sales Manager thinks about this:
“Competitors usually know roughly where pricing sits anyway. The upside is buyers self-qualify. If it feels too expensive, sales wouldn’t win them after a long cycle either.”- Timo Valtanen
Sometimes companies might face some internal resistance on putting the pricing online. Aliko didn’t face internal resistance.
“Our CEO had this vision five or six years ago to put prices out there. We just lacked a practical way to implement it. When HeadQ appeared, there wasn’t much ‘internal selling’ to do.” – Timo Valtanen
The HeadQ Solution: Calculators → Configurators → Quotes
Aliko layered HeadQ on top of its research journey:
- Bending Force Calculator to size the job (material, thickness, V-opening, length).
- Configurator to explore F-Series, Heavy Duty, and Giant options and submit specs to sales.
- Price visibility where ready (live for F-Series first), with HD/Giant offering structured spec collection while pricing logic is finalized.
“F-Series pricing works great. HD and Giant are more complex, so we launched specs there first and will keep iterating. Even without prices, letting customers assemble their machine is already a big step forward. I think it’s about taking the first steps and learn as we go rather than wait until everything is perfect.” –Timo Valtanen
The rollout philosophy of Aliko & HeadQ: ship value early, iterate continuously, rather than hold launch until “perfect.”
Early Traction: Warmer Conversations, Faster Paths
- Leads began landing immediately after go-live.
- A trade-fair contact was directed to “send specs via the configurator” on Friday; by early the next week, the opportunity had accelerated to a software demo and near-term order discussion.
“The hot lead moved incredibly fast. They may order this week.” — Timo Valtanen
Beyond single anecdotes, the configurator is changing the quality of first conversations: buyers arrive pre-educated, with concrete specs, and a baseline understanding of force and options.
What Buyers Appreciate and why Aliko invested in HeadQ:
- Self-service research before engaging sales
- Structured spec handoff (less back-and-forth)
- Option clarity across families (F-Series, Heavy Duty, Giant)
- Transparency where indicative pricing is available
The Bottom Line
Aliko is modernizing a conservative purchase journey without losing the high-touch relationship buyers expect. By letting the buyers calculate, configure, and start a price conversation online, the team:
- captures timing when need is “live”,
- reduces unproductive early calls, and
- accelerates qualified deals into the pipeline.
“People want to prepare well before they talk. Giving them calculators and configurators helps everyone move faster.” Timo Valtanen
Now Aliko can also see data from different configurators and how much and which products customers are configuring:
Want to see how calculator-to-configurator journeys work for heavy equipment. Book a 30-minute walkthrough.
