For so many years in foreign trade, I have seen various situations, especially for some newcomers. There are always various problems that arise. Many people in foreign trade have some misconceptions when doing business, and these people feel particularly good about themselves in these misconceptions. They have always believed that their actions are correct, but they have not achieved much success, which makes them very worried.
Especially for newcomers, they may be trapped in these misconceptions and cannot extricate themselves as they grope their way forward step by step without being led by anyone. List some common misconceptions for everyone to avoid taking a detour.
Myth 1: Customers are not sought after
It is a thing of the past for customers to be gods. Nowadays, customers cannot be gods. We cannot see the current market from the perspective of the past. Many people still use this concept to treat customers, believing that customers are above all else and that any conditions should be met. However, the fact is that customers are not sought after, let alone kneeled and licked.
It's not the past era anymore. If you lower your profile, customers will definitely buy. Nowadays, customers value practical interests more. Are there many customers who are greedy for small and cheap things you encounter when doing foreign trade? Nowadays, customers don't just need to lower their profile. There is nothing wrong with lowering their profile, but they should not lower their bottom line. They still need to have a certain level of self, not say what the customer says, and some unreasonable demands must be forcefully rejected.
If you really have a kneeling and licking posture, customers not only won't like you, but also look down on you even more. As long as you spend money, you can provide some service, why must they come to you? If he needs to find such a sense of presence, he can definitely go to the foot washing city to spend money. On the contrary, if you have a certain degree of autonomy and persistence in your personality, customers will actually value you more. Only by respecting yourself can customers respect you.
To place an order with a customer, it is not based on posture, but on profit. To place an order with a customer, there must be sufficient profit for them, just like fishing requires baiting. We need to give the customer tangible benefits or show them a long-term prospect in order to motivate them to place an order.
Myth 2: First check household registration before quoting
Many foreign trade salespeople have the misconception that they like to understand the details of the customer before quoting. Without understanding the specific situation of the customer, they refuse to quote. We do not rush to quote in order to strive for more profits, but we cannot lose customers just because we want to win more. Often, it is necessary to stop at a moderate pace.
Many times, when customers ask us for a quote, they usually only give us one opportunity to communicate, which may be an email. If we cannot obtain your quotation information or if your email cannot attract customers, there may not be any communication opportunities in the future. You should know that customers will definitely not only look for you, they will search for many companies and screen based on some standards, and it is likely that you will be rejected in the first round.
When a customer needs a quotation, we cannot procrastinate. We try to offer a moderate price first to stabilize the customer, and we can discuss other conditions later, such as quantity, delivery time, transportation method, and so on.
Myth 3: Always wanting to be friends before doing business
We often talk about building good relationships with customers and becoming friends, which is beneficial for business negotiations, but there should also be a priority order. When customers are discussing business and prices with you, do you want to talk about emotions with them? Will they talk to you? Talking about money hurts emotions, and talking about emotions also hurts money. Before you give him enough benefits, why should I be friends with you?
When customers are discussing business with you, they use working hours. We must not use their working hours to communicate emotions. Customers are very busy and do not have much time to gossip with you. Benefits are the key to maintaining the relationship between us and customers in the early stage. We cannot casually discuss emotions with customers until we have sufficient cooperation foundation.
Myth 4: Likes to argue when encountering problems
When encountering problems and disputes, if you still want to cooperate with customers urgently, don't think about arguing with them about right and wrong. If you win the argument, your order will be lost. If you lose the argument, your order will also be lost. This is a losing but not winning business.
Some people may ask, what should we do without arguing? Of course, we need to find a way to solve the problem first! How could someone like an attitude of not thinking about how to solve problems first, but arguing about responsibilities first? Customers also dislike suppliers who shirk responsibility by not solving problems.
To achieve long-term success, it is necessary to avoid making similar mistakes in foreign trade. In daily work, when encountering areas that you feel are not right, you should summarize them, analyze and summarize them more, and avoid mistakes. Only then can you go further.