As one of the world’s mainstream cross-border e-commerce B2B platforms, Alibaba International Station also provides some information query methods and channels to facilitate sales staff to determine the type of inquiry. In addition to the above methods, for inquiries received on Alibaba International Station, sales staff can use the following methods to determine the authenticity of inquiries.
1. Is the customer a blue-label customer?
Enter the inquiry box interface of Alibaba International Station. In the middle of the inquiry box interface, there is a list of inquiries arranged in chronological order, as shown in Figure 3-5. There is a small business card next to the inquiry name. If the small business card is blue, it means that the customer is a blue-label customer of Alibaba International Station, that is, a customer certified by Alibaba International Station. If there is a small portrait next to the blue label, it means that the customer has been added as a member. Blue-label customers are an important indicator of customer credibility.
2. Customer company information
On the inquiry box interface, open any inquiry, and you can see the customer company information that sent the inquiry in the upper left corner of the interface. You can use search engines, social media, etc. to determine the authenticity and effectiveness of the inquiry.
3. On-site behavior in the past 90 days
In the inquiry box interface, open any inquiry, and you can see the customer’s on-site behavior in the past 90 days in the lower right corner of the interface, including the number of product views, the number of valid inquiries/reply inquiries, the number of valid RFQs, the number of login days, the number of junk inquiries, and the number of blacklisted. Based on these, you can judge the authenticity of the inquiry and obtain more information about the customer. Figure 3-6 shows an Algerian customer and his on-site behavior in the past 90 days. His on-site behavior in the past 90 days shows that he is a relatively active customer with a large purchasing demand. The “number of junk inquiries” and “number of blacklisted” are both 0, which further proves the authenticity of this customer’s inquiry.
4. Customer’s access data, procurement needs, trade data, inquiry data, search data
Click the customer name in the upper left corner of the interface to see more detailed information about this customer, including the customer’s access data, procurement needs, trade data, inquiry data, search data, etc. Search data can help salesmen judge what products this customer is interested in and the degree of interest. The company where this Algerian customer works is likely to be a trading company, because most of the products this customer searches for are unrelated.
5. Visitor details
Finally, you can view some of the customer’s behaviors through the visitor details interface of Alibaba International Station. In this interface, you can see the visitor’s relevant information, including page views, region, common search terms, store behavior (how many pages of the store have been viewed), website behavior (how many products and how many sellers have been viewed on Alibaba International Station), etc. From the common search terms, store behavior and website behavior, you can judge their activity, products of interest and professionalism. This information can lay a good foundation for effective communication between salesmen and customers.