Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Will You Add? - Trade Leads - How To Use Them Profitably
When we initially started our businesses, we had to decide how we were going to market ourselves. Kind of an obvious statement - every business has to do that. But, we had an added challenge. We were new to the area. So, our goal was to get to know as many people as possible.We did that by becoming "promiscuous networkers". We attended and joined any and every association we could afford. This was GREAT for meeting people. After a few months, we could walk into a room and just about everyone would recognize us. They knew us as the Johnsons, that young couple in business.But, it wasn't so great for actually getting business. They remembered us, but often didn't have a *clue* about the services we offered. You see, we had missed a key part to networking, and all forms of marketing for that matter. We hadn't defined our market and therefore weren't attending events where our market was likely to be. Had we done that, people would have remembered us AND our ser
Observe the Language
Do not be unduly influenced by flowery language or very specific requirement. Do not prejudge a lead - exercise normal precautions necessary in international business.
Check the Market
If you are not a manufacturer and outsource products - be careful of locked market activities. This trade lead will specify a particular product. Your company contacts the manufacturer, only to find out that the manufacturer already has representation in that country and will not sell directly to you for resale as they want to protect their distributor relationship.
Letter of Intent ?
Generally Ignore trade leads offering "letter of intent" or "letter of interest".
Jack of all Trades ?
Generally ignore companies who claim to deal in all commodities traded on world markets such as coffee, sugar, urea, oil and gold. Normally, these are very large deals handled by well established companies in well established markets. Such well established companies usually do not place trade leads in Internet.
Do not Believe in Overnight Success
Be cautious of international business scams designed to separate you from your money. Be suspicious of anybody
Should you get reimbursed for interview travel expenses? I've helped a number of job searchers who had to travel a fair distance to get to an interview.In most cases the hiring manager I was dealing with would cover reasonable interview expenses.In some cases it was a fairly easy answer especially when it involved flying a person in. In this case, I have never had an experience where a company required someone to fly in for an interview and didn't pick up the costs ie. I have never had a job searcher have to pay out of their own pocket to be flown in an interview.A reasonable company would cover the costs for flying someone in for an interview, I believe, if they were really interested in the person and were interested in gaining a reputation as a reasonable company.It doesn't take long for companies to get a reputation for doing things the "wrong way" and this case, being cheap if they force potential employees to
How Reliable are Trade Leads ?
It is important to distinguish between trade lead and export order. Trade leads or 'RFQ' (Request For Quote) are enquiries from unknown buyers published in public bulletin boards or b2b marketplaces or sent directly to suppliers. These are certainly not export orders - though some of these could be converted into firm order after successful negotiation. At the same time, many of these could be of questionable value.
So, how do we identify trade leads from serious buyers ? Let us look at these trade leads critically and find out ways of dealing with them profitably.
There are many kinds of trade leads like business opportunities, foreign government tenders etc. For this discussion, we take the most prevalent type of offers in WWW - message placed by private company or individuals to buy or sell a specific product/service within a reasonable period of time.
Who Places Trade Leads ?
Foreign distributors know exactly where to go when they want to buy something for re-sale. Normally, they do not need to post trade leads for sourcing.
Then why such proliferation of trade leads ? How come there are so many thousands of trade leads populating hundreds of trade bulletin boards ? To answer this question - we need to understand effect of Internet on conventional distribution channels.
The advent of Internet has dealt a serious blow to traditional distribution channels, specially in overseas trade. In more specific terms, middlemen are in serious danger of losing substantial business. Earlier, foreign buyers such as retailers had little option but to buy from local distributors who usually imported the stuff in bulk and supplied to retailers in adjoining areas. For retailers, importing in small quantity from unknown sources was difficult and uneconomic.
Internet has helped buyers and sellers from different countries to interact freely. Retailers can now reach sellers in distant countries, see their products in websites, negotiate a favorable price and buy in small quantity. There is no dearth of exporters who are prepared to sell in small quantity at regular intervals.
This direct buying by retailers at a favorable price, in turn puts pressure in local market and distributors feel hard-pressed to find new suppliers, new products and most important lower price. So, what was once a rather lengthy distribution chain of seller to exporter to importer to wholesaler to buyer, is increasingly losing middle players. It is true that large part of international trade is still dominated by traditional distribution channel, but the trend is towards marginalization of middle men, facilitated by an open medium like Internet.
Then Why this Skepticism ?
Like most other areas in life, reality normally lies in shades of grey rather than in black and white. So, along with serious buyers looking for serious sellers there are sundry others ranging from window shoppers, arm-chair international businessmen to downright fraudsters and conmen populating the market. As a result, one can find trade leads posted for variety of reasons such as:
- Self Advertisement - pure and simple product promotion (seller in the garb of buyer)
- Find market price (usually to put pressure on existing supplier)
- Find out about competitors
- Locate alternate or additional suppliers
- Find suppliers for new product
- Begin negotiation for a later purchase
The Challenge - How to Separate Wheat from Chaff
There is no specific rules - but common sense, observation, care and imagination can help you locate potential leads and manage your time and resources that much better. Following are some tips on this regard based on my experience since 1997:
Find Reliable and Exclusive Sources
If you talk to people who actually sell in foreign markets, they may privately disclose that their best leads are those that they generate themselves, usually by direct mail. It is far easier to cultivate a trade lead into business when they come from exclusive source, not available to million others or displayed in free bulletin boards. The options are clear - either invest in research to locate buyers or take professional help. The days of free commercial information from Internet are over.
Keep a Watch for Competitors
Look for keywords that might indicate the intention - if the guy is gathering information and has no intention to buy. Be suspicious of companies who ask for detailed information about manufacturers' prices but do not identify themselves as distributors looking for new lines.
Be Careful of Large Orders
Be cautious of companies who post trade leads for large orders but can not be located easily in company or industry directories. These are often small companies who issue 'RFQ' (request for quote) for large quantities in order to get a lower price. Ultimately, such companies order smaller quantities to 'test' the supplier, making the deal uneconomic for seller.
Observe the Language
Do not be unduly influenced by flowery language or very specific requirement. Do not prejudge a lead - exercise normal precautions necessary in international business.
Check the Market
If you are not a manufacturer and outsource products - be careful of locked market activities. This trade lead will specify a particular product. Your company contacts the manufacturer, only to find out that the manufacturer already has representation in that country and will not sell directly to you for resale as they want to protect their distributor relationship.
Letter of Intent ?
Generally Ignore trade leads offering "letter of intent" or "letter of interest".
Jack of all Trades ?
Generally ignore companies who claim to deal in all commodities traded on world markets such as coffee, sugar, urea, oil and gold. Normally, these are very large deals handled by well established companies in well established markets. Such well established companies usually do not place trade leads in Internet.
Do not Believe in Overnight Success
Be cautious of international business scams designed to separate you from your money. Be suspicious of anybody w
If you are considering a career as a Real Estate Agent, there are some things you should know and think about before taking the plunge. There is a common misconception that becoming a licensed Real Estate Agent is like being given the keys to the U.S. Mint. Nothing could be further from the truth. You can earn big, but it’s hard work and there are lots of expenses and fees along the way.Let’s begin with your motivation and qualifications for becoming an agent. If you want to make money, it’s there to be made. If you’re looking for a way to dig yourself out of a financial hole in a hurry, this isn’t it. The big payday will be a long way off and you shouldn’t expect any earnings whatsoever for three to six months. Oh, yea, and you have to be a terrific Salesperson! If you are not a natural born Seller, decent conversationalist and self-starter who makes Donald Trump look lazy; you will not earn big money as a Realtor. You have to be smart, tough, good with math and
Then why such proliferation of trade leads ? How come there are so many thousands of trade leads populating hundreds of trade bulletin boards ? To answer this question - we need to understand effect of Internet on conventional distribution channels.
The advent of Internet has dealt a serious blow to traditional distribution channels, specially in overseas trade. In more specific terms, middlemen are in serious danger of losing substantial business. Earlier, foreign buyers such as retailers had little option but to buy from local distributors who usually imported the stuff in bulk and supplied to retailers in adjoining areas. For retailers, importing in small quantity from unknown sources was difficult and uneconomic.
Internet has helped buyers and sellers from different countries to interact freely. Retailers can now reach sellers in distant countries, see their products in websites, negotiate a favorable price and buy in small quantity. There is no dearth of exporters who are prepared to sell in small quantity at regular intervals.
This direct buying by retailers at a favorable price, in turn puts pressure in local market and distributors feel hard-pressed to find new suppliers, new products and most important lower price. So, what was once a rather lengthy distribution chain of seller to exporter to importer to wholesaler to buyer, is increasingly losing middle players. It is true that large part of international trade is still dominated by traditional distribution channel, but the trend is towards marginalization of middle men, facilitated by an open medium like Internet.
Then Why this Skepticism ?
Like most other areas in life, reality normally lies in shades of grey rather than in black and white. So, along with serious buyers looking for serious sellers there are sundry others ranging from window shoppers, arm-chair international businessmen to downright fraudsters and conmen populating the market. As a result, one can find trade leads posted for variety of reasons such as:
- Self Advertisement - pure and simple product promotion (seller in the garb of buyer)
- Find market price (usually to put pressure on existing supplier)
- Find out about competitors
- Locate alternate or additional suppliers
- Find suppliers for new product
- Begin negotiation for a later purchase
The Challenge - How to Separate Wheat from Chaff
There is no specific rules - but common sense, observation, care and imagination can help you locate potential leads and manage your time and resources that much better. Following are some tips on this regard based on my experience since 1997:
Find Reliable and Exclusive Sources
If you talk to people who actually sell in foreign markets, they may privately disclose that their best leads are those that they generate themselves, usually by direct mail. It is far easier to cultivate a trade lead into business when they come from exclusive source, not available to million others or displayed in free bulletin boards. The options are clear - either invest in research to locate buyers or take professional help. The days of free commercial information from Internet are over.
Keep a Watch for Competitors
Look for keywords that might indicate the intention - if the guy is gathering information and has no intention to buy. Be suspicious of companies who ask for detailed information about manufacturers' prices but do not identify themselves as distributors looking for new lines.
Be Careful of Large Orders
Be cautious of companies who post trade leads for large orders but can not be located easily in company or industry directories. These are often small companies who issue 'RFQ' (request for quote) for large quantities in order to get a lower price. Ultimately, such companies order smaller quantities to 'test' the supplier, making the deal uneconomic for seller.
Observe the Language
Do not be unduly influenced by flowery language or very specific requirement. Do not prejudge a lead - exercise normal precautions necessary in international business.
Check the Market
If you are not a manufacturer and outsource products - be careful of locked market activities. This trade lead will specify a particular product. Your company contacts the manufacturer, only to find out that the manufacturer already has representation in that country and will not sell directly to you for resale as they want to protect their distributor relationship.
Letter of Intent ?
Generally Ignore trade leads offering "letter of intent" or "letter of interest".
Jack of all Trades ?
Generally ignore companies who claim to deal in all commodities traded on world markets such as coffee, sugar, urea, oil and gold. Normally, these are very large deals handled by well established companies in well established markets. Such well established companies usually do not place trade leads in Internet.
Do not Believe in Overnight Success
Be cautious of international business scams designed to separate you from your money. Be suspicious of anybody
An advertising network is a company that usually serves as a broker between web site publishers and advertisers. Larger ad networks aggregate sites into general categories so that they can offer advertisers targeted buys. It’s a platform that brings together the advertisers and the relevant publishers. It brings a large number of publishers together; it’s cost effective for the advertisers and opens up huge avenues for the advertiser through which he can reach his desired audience. A testimonial of the success of ad-networks is a campaign run by a leading organization in India for its recruitment purposes. It had an astonishing conversion rate of 80% i.e. 80% of the people who clicked on the ad actually filled the form.The click through rate for the campaign was 4%-5% and the campaign was for recruitment purposes, considering it’s not the most favored. Its quite phenomenal, the rate at which ad-networks are growing in India. For
Then Why this Skepticism ?
Like most other areas in life, reality normally lies in shades of grey rather than in black and white. So, along with serious buyers looking for serious sellers there are sundry others ranging from window shoppers, arm-chair international businessmen to downright fraudsters and conmen populating the market. As a result, one can find trade leads posted for variety of reasons such as:
- Self Advertisement - pure and simple product promotion (seller in the garb of buyer)
- Find market price (usually to put pressure on existing supplier)
- Find out about competitors
- Locate alternate or additional suppliers
- Find suppliers for new product
- Begin negotiation for a later purchase
The Challenge - How to Separate Wheat from Chaff
There is no specific rules - but common sense, observation, care and imagination can help you locate potential leads and manage your time and resources that much better. Following are some tips on this regard based on my experience since 1997:
Find Reliable and Exclusive Sources
If you talk to people who actually sell in foreign markets, they may privately disclose that their best leads are those that they generate themselves, usually by direct mail. It is far easier to cultivate a trade lead into business when they come from exclusive source, not available to million others or displayed in free bulletin boards. The options are clear - either invest in research to locate buyers or take professional help. The days of free commercial information from Internet are over.
Keep a Watch for Competitors
Look for keywords that might indicate the intention - if the guy is gathering information and has no intention to buy. Be suspicious of companies who ask for detailed information about manufacturers' prices but do not identify themselves as distributors looking for new lines.
Be Careful of Large Orders
Be cautious of companies who post trade leads for large orders but can not be located easily in company or industry directories. These are often small companies who issue 'RFQ' (request for quote) for large quantities in order to get a lower price. Ultimately, such companies order smaller quantities to 'test' the supplier, making the deal uneconomic for seller.
Observe the Language
Do not be unduly influenced by flowery language or very specific requirement. Do not prejudge a lead - exercise normal precautions necessary in international business.
Check the Market
If you are not a manufacturer and outsource products - be careful of locked market activities. This trade lead will specify a particular product. Your company contacts the manufacturer, only to find out that the manufacturer already has representation in that country and will not sell directly to you for resale as they want to protect their distributor relationship.
Letter of Intent ?
Generally Ignore trade leads offering "letter of intent" or "letter of interest".
Jack of all Trades ?
Generally ignore companies who claim to deal in all commodities traded on world markets such as coffee, sugar, urea, oil and gold. Normally, these are very large deals handled by well established companies in well established markets. Such well established companies usually do not place trade leads in Internet.
Do not Believe in Overnight Success
Be cautious of international business scams designed to separate you from your money. Be suspicious of anybody
Advertising is a very precise science. It finds its bases in many different fields including copywriting, psychology and even math. In recent decades, we have observed a slow but steady beautification of advertising. For marketing experts this can work. For less savvy advertisers, it is a huge pitfall that draws attention away from the much more important aspects of a successful selling proposition. Faulty advertising costs its makers billions of dollars a year, and almost all are guilty of it, even the huge corporations.For the sake of clarity, let us define advertising as a call to action, that action being a purchase, a contact for more information or a clickthrough. This distinguishes the former from marketing at large including branding and awareness campaigns, which serve more to build a basis for the influence to make prospects act.You will see many of today’s internet marketing “gurus” recommending volumes several decades old. There is a good
Find Reliable and Exclusive Sources
If you talk to people who actually sell in foreign markets, they may privately disclose that their best leads are those that they generate themselves, usually by direct mail. It is far easier to cultivate a trade lead into business when they come from exclusive source, not available to million others or displayed in free bulletin boards. The options are clear - either invest in research to locate buyers or take professional help. The days of free commercial information from Internet are over.
Keep a Watch for Competitors
Look for keywords that might indicate the intention - if the guy is gathering information and has no intention to buy. Be suspicious of companies who ask for detailed information about manufacturers' prices but do not identify themselves as distributors looking for new lines.
Be Careful of Large Orders
Be cautious of companies who post trade leads for large orders but can not be located easily in company or industry directories. These are often small companies who issue 'RFQ' (request for quote) for large quantities in order to get a lower price. Ultimately, such companies order smaller quantities to 'test' the supplier, making the deal uneconomic for seller.
Observe the Language
Do not be unduly influenced by flowery language or very specific requirement. Do not prejudge a lead - exercise normal precautions necessary in international business.
Check the Market
If you are not a manufacturer and outsource products - be careful of locked market activities. This trade lead will specify a particular product. Your company contacts the manufacturer, only to find out that the manufacturer already has representation in that country and will not sell directly to you for resale as they want to protect their distributor relationship.
Letter of Intent ?
Generally Ignore trade leads offering "letter of intent" or "letter of interest".
Jack of all Trades ?
Generally ignore companies who claim to deal in all commodities traded on world markets such as coffee, sugar, urea, oil and gold. Normally, these are very large deals handled by well established companies in well established markets. Such well established companies usually do not place trade leads in Internet.
Do not Believe in Overnight Success
Be cautious of international business scams designed to separate you from your money. Be suspicious of anybody
The Internet has undoubtedly conquered every aspect of the business arena. It is rare to find business offices without computers these days. Practically a hundred percent of the business offices in the United States own computers to process their business transactions. This holds true in other first world countries such as Japan, Western Europe and China. In a simplified concept, the face of the earth is basically connected to the worldwide web that makes business more profitable and accessible.Information technology is soaring these days. However, connectivity does not solve the entire problem, and it is a fact that cannot be ignored. But, the availability of cost-effective IT service management opens doors for network problem solutions. Internet connectivity coupled with high quality IT service management pave way for an increasingly competitive, technological future for the entire world to enjoy.The IT department chiefly handles IT service management. It
Observe the Language
Do not be unduly influenced by flowery language or very specific requirement. Do not prejudge a lead - exercise normal precautions necessary in international business.
Check the Market
If you are not a manufacturer and outsource products - be careful of locked market activities. This trade lead will specify a particular product. Your company contacts the manufacturer, only to find out that the manufacturer already has representation in that country and will not sell directly to you for resale as they want to protect their distributor relationship.
Letter of Intent ?
Generally Ignore trade leads offering "letter of intent" or "letter of interest".
Jack of all Trades ?
Generally ignore companies who claim to deal in all commodities traded on world markets such as coffee, sugar, urea, oil and gold. Normally, these are very large deals handled by well established companies in well established markets. Such well established companies usually do not place trade leads in Internet.
Do not Believe in Overnight Success
Be cautious of international business scams designed to separate you from your money. Be suspicious of anybody who prefers phone conversations to written documents. Do not get sucked into fantastic business opportunities which promise to yield huge profits with no risk. Learn which countries and areas have a reputation for spawning international business fraud. Never respond to business opportunities which require you to make wire transfers in advance for receiving goods or services.
Understand the Virtue of Patience
Understand that most foreign distributors do not make fast buying decisions. It is not at all unusual for an initial order to require 9-18 months from the time of the initial solicitation depending upon the cost of the item.
Develop Relationship
Instead of treating the leads as 'export order' with a hit or miss attitude - use the opportunity to develop lasting relationship. Understand buyers' requirements and offer solution accordingly. Do not indulge in monologue on your products - make it a dialogue on how both the companies can stand to gain from a mutual understanding.
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.atriclecheck.com/article/28042/atriclecheck-Trade-Leads--How-To-Use-Them-Profitably.html">Trade Leads - How To Use Them Profitably</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.atriclecheck.com/article/28042/atriclecheck-Trade-Leads--How-To-Use-Them-Profitably.html]Trade Leads - How To Use Them Profitably[/url]
Related Articles:
Simple Guide to Setting up an Offshore Company
Handling Customer Complaints With Class
Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2)
Bookmark it:
|