I look at a lot of industrial and manufacturing websites. Machines everywhere. Specs. Certifications. Obviously buyers need that stuff to build a business case internally. But something is missing on most of these sites: actual human beings.
Crutchfield, the electronics retailer, does this better than almost anyone. They've been around forever. If you've done anything with car audio, you know them. But the thing that stands out isn't their product selection or their prices. It's how they put humans first at every single touchpoint.
Why this matters now
We're in the AI slop era. Stock photos of diverse teams gathered around a laptop. Generic headshots that look slightly off. Chatbots pretending to be people. As more sites lean into this, the ones with real humans will stand out.
People want to see other humans. There's data to back this up. They want to know what experiences other people had with a brand. They want to know they can get in touch with someone real. They want opinions and perspectives, not corporate speak.
What Crutchfield does right
Right off the bat, when you click their "get in touch" button, you see an actual advisor. Not a form. Not a chatbot. A person with a name and a face.
Throughout the entire site, team members show up everywhere. Hover over their photos and you get fun facts about each person. It's a small thing, but it signals: these are real people who work here.
They have a B2B business too. On those pages, they show you the account managers you'd actually be working with. Not "our team of experts." Specific people.
Their advisors page lets you look up every department in the company. Who does what. How long they've been there. Obviously people come and go, but maintaining this is clearly a priority for them.
Even the contact page is loaded with humans. Multiple ways to get in touch, and real people behind each one. Not AI-generated cyborg faces that we're going to see more of. Actual human beings.
The trust payoff
If you're comparing eight different vendors and trying to decide where to buy, this stuff goes a long way. It builds trust quickly. It says something about the company before you've even talked to them.
Their founder story could have been boring corporate history. Instead, they made an attempt to make it interesting. Photos of gear. Photos of the founder. A timeline. Team members. Awards. It all adds up.
The takeaway for manufacturers
Invest in photography. Real photography of your actual team.
Invest in writing those profiles. Not "John has 20 years of experience in the industry." Something with personality.
Invest in team pages. Make them a priority, not an afterthought.
This has always been important. But as AI-generated content floods the web, I think the companies that lean against the grain here are going to do well. The payoff is trust, conversion, and long-term value.
Related: Manufacturing website design · Common manufacturer website mistakes
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