Export Import Primer - Finding Overseas Buyers
Perhaps the most daunting challenge any budding exporter faces
is to find buyers for his/her products. Selling in international
market has never been simple - with diverse language,
geographical distance, cultural difference and lack of market
knowledge posing real challenge to any manufacturer/ exporter.
However, given right homework and planning, selling in overseas
market today could be easier, simpler and less expensive than it
was a decade ago. There are many silver linings in the forms of
positive Govt Policy, favourable international climate, less
tariff and non-tariff barriers and above all easy and
inexpensive access to an incredibly powerful and
all-encompassing medium like Internet. Never before in the
history of human civilization so many people from so vastly
different places and societies freely interacted with each other
as we witness today in Internet.
So, how do today's exporters take advantage of this favourable
business climate and become successful ? The answer lies in
thoughtful planning, effective implementation and perseverance.
In fact, large number of Indian exporters have used these
advantages successfully as reflected in unprecedented export
growth witnessed over last 10 years.
How To Find Buyers
To put it simply, there are only two ways you can find buyers of
your products - either you find the buyer or buyer finds you.
Your sales strategy must take into account both the factors and
plan for effective use of both sources.
Some of the ways to locate buyers are :
Searching directories, trade literature etc.
Using buyer-seller meets organized by trade associations
Conducting Market Research
Employing Commercial Agent/Representatives
Subscribing to information services etc.
Some of the ways of attracting buyers are:
Advertisement
Promotion (e.g. direct mail)
Trade Shows
Web-sites
Search Engines etc.
We shall analyze each source in detail and examine what steps an
exporter should take to make best use of the opportunities.
How Important is the Internet in your Marketing Strategy ?
10 years ago - buying agents and trade shows were the two most
popular avenues for selling in international markets.
Participation in overseas trade shows was, and still is,
prohibitively expensive for most small and medium exporters.
Internet has not only made available new avenues for sellers, it
has also drastically changed distribution pattern. Today,
conventional distribution channel of Indian seller to large
importer to distributor to local stockiest to retailer is
severely disrupted as small retailers from USA and Europe
regularly visit Indian web-sites and order directly. This is a
win-win situation as both buyer and seller stand to gain
substantially by transacting directly without middlemen. It does
add to business risks but profit margins also become very
impressive by going direct.
In coming years, we shall see more and more buyers coming
through the Internet route. To be successful - you should be
able to make best use of this opportunity that was not available
to your predecessors even 10 years back.