"Trade Leads" have long been a desultory source of business, and so when Alibaba came along, I doubted it would be of much use. One of my students availed himself of Alibaba, and wasted some time, and is now back on track.
Since one can buy ones way on alibaba, it also attracts plenty of scamsters and wannabees. there very well may be first rate vendors listed there, but the vast majority of the traffic they receive from alibaba sources must be risible, therefore a fatigue sets in regarding alibaba generated inquiries, such as yours.
For China, HKTDC.com still reigns supreme. Inquiries through that source are of higher quality to both sides, so less fatigue. HKTDC does allow, indeed provide, email contact.
And all of this suggests somethign in my book true to this day: the paper letter mailed through the postal service will distinguish you. Emails are easy to delete and ignore. A piece of paper, in an envelope, with a stamp, warrants a file folder and a manager reviewing it.
Back to the future!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Alibaba Fatigue
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
John,
I must confess that I had some doubts about your suggestion to mail paper letters. I thought it was outdated since everyone had email now. However, I did it anyway and your advice proved correct. I actually sent both email and paper letters. The ones who replied to the paper letter were all of a higher caliber. In some cases, they replied only to my letter even though my email got to them first! They all replied by email so that then became the method of communication. Two other things you suggested that I found true:
1. If dealing with China, don't bother with the consulate. Just go straight to HKTDC. I wasted a lot of time waiting for replies from Chinese consulate and when I did they were not much help.
2. Contact as many suppliers as you can since only a handful will reply. I contacted close to 40 suppliers and heard back from nine, one of which I've already crossed off the list. I will soon find out which others will need to be crossed off.
-sash
Post a Comment