Let’s discuss how to completely or ideally solve the buyer’s information problem. I think that first of all, customer information needs to be classified according to customer potential as follows:
Find out the complete list of customers in other countries who are importing the same products from China (buying from you or your competitors). This book calls this type of customer A customers.
Find many foreign importers who have not yet imported from China but are looking for Chinese suppliers. This type of customer can be divided into two categories:
Already selling or using Chinese products, but purchased from other channels, and now want to purchase directly from China. This type of customer includes some small and medium-sized wholesalers, distributors and end users. This book calls this type of customer B customers.
Previously operating products from other countries, and now hope to use China’s high-quality and low-priced products instead. This book calls this type of customer C customers.
Find companies that currently do not import similar products from foreign countries but have marketing networks and resources that can sell our company’s products well. This type of customer belongs to the name of related potential customers, which is also very useful for opening up new products in the international market. This book calls this type of customer D customers.
Find advantageous foreign trade companies in China that are exporting the same products. This book calls this type of foreign trade company an E-type customer.
For different target markets, we have different requirements for customer information. For example, for key regional markets, we most want to obtain information about A, B, and D customers; for secondary key regional markets, we want to obtain information about A and C customers, so as to avoid competition.
At different stages of developing international markets, our needs for customer information are also different. For example, in the early stages, we want to know information about E-type customers and A-type customers. As the market deepens, our demand for information about B, C, and D customers also begins to increase.
For the above different types of individual customers, our information requirements are different. For example, for A-type customers, the ideal information should include the customer’s current purchase quantity and current Chinese supplier in addition to contact information; for B-type customers, we want to know contact information and their market price; and for C-type customers, we often need to know their contact information. So our requirements for different types of customer information are also different.