Customers are the most important thing in business. Getting the product (or service) right, as defined by the customer, is the hardest thing in business.
Feel free to forward this by email to three of your friends.
To start up an exporting business, you must at some point speak to the customer. If you already are selling a product, and want to test if you can get export business every bit as easy and profitable as domestic business (perhaps better?) then you need to go straight at the customers.
First, with some simple research you find the most likely country to have customers for your product. You will be the only person with this information.
Second, you prepare a sales offer which no legitimate buyer can refuse, so either a sale or no sale. If no sale, you learn why not, right now, specifically how your offer does not meet their needs. You get direct and solid information.. Then you can decide to overcome objections, or stay domestic. Little ventured, much learned.
When you get the export sale, you begin to develop your market overseas with the customer overseas. At this point you are an exporter, and it is time to step up the game, and search and learn more opportunity.
After 40 years in world trade, I can say with confidence, for nearly every category, there is no better place than Hong Kong to meet peers from around the world at trade shows. Not only is Hong Kong easy and inexpensive to reach for you and about everyone else on earth, working in Hong Kong is probably the most efficient place on earth. If you are serious about international trade, as is your customer, you both should meet not in USA or his country, but where you can meet countless others from around the world in your field: Hong Kong
A beginners mistake is to go to a trade show without first having customers. Since you can find customers first without attending a trade show, why spend so much money up front hoping to find customers at a trade show? I make clients find customers first, then think about trade shows.
Once you have export customers, here is the decision tree as to participation:
(eMail me if you want this graph as a .pdf)
And to create a deadline around which to organize and focus, we’ve targeted the November wine and food show in Hong Kong for 2014. The trip itself will be a seminar including “how to Master Trade Shows.”
Of course, as I said above, find those customers first, and I have a 4 week online seminar on this topic here, starting in ten days. Register here... Join us!
And to create a deadline around which to organize and focus, we’ve targeted the November wine and food show in Hong Kong for 2014. The trip itself will be a seminar including “how to Master Trade Shows.”
Of course, as I said above, find those customers first, and I have a 4 week online seminar on this topic here, starting in ten days. Register here... Join us!
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