Wednesday, November 20, 2002

find tradeshow schedules around the world

Hi All,
Just wanna share a fantastic site that list tradeshows around the
world. http://www.tsnn.com

I'm making a trip to Hong Kong in April to attend the giftshow there.
Hope to see you there.


Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)

Re: [spiers] Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)


> I think it is too early to work with independent sales representatives...
if
> you have not redesigned the product to meet the needs of the market, then
you
> don't need to have a rep yet.
>
My wife and I are independent reps in the gift industry, and I agree with
John that you don't need a rep yet. You might, however, still want to find
and contact some as part of your design research. Since they are in the
middle of the industries they work in, they are in contact with more
retailers (who pass along what they hear from customers) than any other
group. For example, we sell to 300 independent gift retailers, and have
accumulated a large body of feedback and knowledge about how to design gift
products, at a level that few retailers or manufacturers would ever get in
touch with.

To find reps, you might contact dealerships of similar products to your
industry (be aware that some types of businesses may consider your questions
competitive, so you may need to pose as a "Geee, what's happening in your
industry" innocent, interested bystander approach. This is called
"industrial espionage" and everyone does it... including your competitors,
so you are shooting yourself in the foot if you don't include this in your
due diligence.) Others will be more than happy to help. Ask them if there
are reps they could recommend. (Note that most reps cannot and morally
should not, carry directly competing lines, so you may want to find reps who
sell related products to the same accounts, and may be looking to pick up an
AVT account.

Other ways to find reps:

Industry trade publications
Wholesale showrooms or marts
Attend industry trade shows/events
Contact manufacturers of related accessories, and ask who they use and can
recommend.
Contact/join associations (for example, in our industry, the United
Association of Manufacturers Representatives, www.uamr.com, is the
definitive choice. I am sure there is more more relevant to the AVT
industry.)

> You might find the book on Harley Davidson and how they got back into the
> market useful, they have a theme called "immersion in the culture of the
> market" meaning they redesigned the product based on what the customers
> wanted. They found out what the customers wanted by every harley davidson
> employee joining a motorcycle club. What ATV club have you joined?

The book "Radical Marketing" profiles ten companies, including Harley, on
this topic of immersing yourself in the customer culture.

Malcolm Dell


Monday, November 18, 2002

Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)

Re: [spiers] Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)

Thanks John for the helpful comments. You are right I have not modified the
ATV according to customer needs. I will explore the ATV clubs around this
area and hopefully have a change to talk to customers about about ATV. This
maybe limited because ATV are mostly used in rural/country areas.

***Ah, then you'll have to spend weekends in the woods with these good ol'
boys...***

The reason
I need an engineer is because the manufacturer in China are not highly skill
in making advance changes.

***then, is China the best place in the world to have ATV made to your
customer specifications?***

In the meantime, I was hoping that I can compete on price, in comparason to
the Japanese brands.

***Well, to compete on price you have to offer the same thing at a lower
price. You've said the Chinese engineering is not equal to the Japanese,
therefore you cannot compete on price because you haven't a product similar
to the Japanese to offer at a lower price. The is no compairson to the
Japanese products. What you are proposing to do is offer lower quality at a
lower price, which means you'll be going after a completely different market.
I suspect after you study this market you'll find they are people who do not
repair what is broken and don't pay what they borrowed to buy a product such
as you propose: less quality at a lower price.

More than half of the profits in the automative industry is in repair and
maintenance income; if there is no money there, you will never build a
network of dealers.

Now this is not to say you could not be successful selling Chinese ATV with
minor modifications. Say your new friends in the ATV clubs wished there was
a simpler ATV for a specific purpose (orchardists needing a longer, narrower
wheelbase ATV) which was actually quite simple to engineer, but not enough
market for the Japanese to go after. And where as Japanese ATV cost $2000 to
make and sells for $3000; your specialized orchardist ATV costs $500 to make
and sells for $2000. Although to the customer your ATV costs less, you
actually make more money. And the Japanese do not want this business because
the amrket is too small for them (but plenty big for you).

Actually, this is exactly what Honda Motor company did in the late 60's in
the USA to get into the market and compete with the likes of peugeot. Just
because your price is lower does not mean you are competing on price. In
this instance, the orchardist ATV is not competiing on price at all. Yes the
price is lower than other ATV's, but the orchardist ATV is not the same as
other ATV's, so there is no comparison on that point. Therefore there is no
competing on price. We are in fact competing on design, and charging a
premium price for the design.

I hope this makes sense... if not let me know.

John


Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)

Re: [spiers] Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)


In a message dated 11/18/02 8:43:09 AM, joonkho@hotmail.com writes:

<< Hello,

I'm new to this group. I'm currently working on a venture in China to import
AVT (four wheels drive go cart). I'm competing against all the japenese
brands in terms of price. Do anybody know of any independent sales
representative here in US that can help me sell through trade shows, etc?
Also, do anybody know of an engineer or company that works with AVT? I want
to compete in terms of design as well, therefore, I need a senior level
engineer to modify the design. Please advise. Thank you.

Joon Ho >>

I think it is too early to work with independent sales representatives... if
you have not redesigned the product to meet the needs of the market, then you
don't need to have a rep yet.

I am not sure why you think you need a "senior level engineer," did your
potential customers tell you that?

You might find the book on Harley Davidson and how they got back into the
market useful, they have a theme called "immersion in the culture of the
market" meaning they redesigned the product based on what the customers
wanted. They found out what the customers wanted by every harley davidson
employee joining a motorcycle club. What ATV club have you joined?

John


Sunday, November 17, 2002

Sales Rep. in US to sell AVT (Go cart)

Hello,

I'm new to this group. I'm currently working on a venture in China to import
AVT (four wheels drive go cart). I'm competing against all the japenese
brands in terms of price. Do anybody know of any independent sales
representative here in US that can help me sell through trade shows, etc?
Also, do anybody know of an engineer or company that works with AVT? I want
to compete in terms of design as well, therefore, I need a senior level
engineer to modify the design. Please advise. Thank you.

Joon Ho