Whether to give samples, how to give them, whether to charge sample fees and express delivery fees are often headaches for business novices.
First of all, samples should be given. For target customers, it is better to give them actively. Seeing is believing, a physical product is more convincing than ten long development letters. This is a necessary expense for foreign trade business.
But you can’t give them to everyone. There are three basic practices:
1. Select customers. Only those customers with clear purposes and strong intentions will consider providing samples. Some customers do not have clear purchasing intentions, but just want to collect samples to expand their market. The probability of such customers making a deal is very low. Some customers are laymen themselves, do not understand the products at all, and they themselves do not know which products are suitable. Such customers who ask for samples randomly have lower transaction hopes. Truly valuable customers can often be seen through their inquiries, such as accurate industry terms and specifications, clear purchase quantities and delivery requirements, etc. Such customers are more experienced, know what they want, know more about goods, and relatively will not ask for samples randomly. As long as the sample meets the industry requirements and the price is moderate, the possibility of a deal is very high. As for other customers’ requests for samples, you can politely refuse by providing product pictures and detailed technical parameters.
2. Confirm the details. First, determine the details of the transaction, and try to persuade the customer to first use “qualified samples” as the assumption to confirm all transaction matters, including price, quantity, delivery date, etc. “Everything is ready except samples”, and it is not too late to send samples. Really knowledgeable and valuable customers will understand this. On the contrary, those customers who “can’t talk without samples” have little hope.
Second, after confirming the details, you can determine what samples to send, specifications, colors, etc. It is best to show the photos and parameters to the customer before deciding to send samples, so as not to send the wrong ones.
3. Charge fees. The fees include sample fees and postage. As a customer, of course, you are not willing to bear it. Then, as a compromise, if the sample value is low, you can waive the sample fee and charge the postage; if the value is high, promise that once the customer places an order, you can deduct the paid sample fee. These are the two most common and generally accepted practices in the foreign trade industry. Customers who are really interested in making a deal will also accept it readily. And those customers who have no confidence in the deal themselves are often prone to refuse.
When doing the specific operation, ask the customer to provide an international express company’s “account payable” and then pay for the delivery. The express company will charge the customer the postage based on the “account payable”.
There is also a psychological factor in insisting on charging express fees. It is human nature not to cherish things that are easily obtained. Charging express fees makes customers pay a certain transaction cost. Customers tend to pay more attention to this transaction and are willing to seriously consider it.
Customers who have special requirements for products sometimes need to make samples specifically according to his requirements. This cost is higher, involving opening molds, purchasing raw materials, etc. It is an industry practice to charge a “proofing fee”. The proofing fee is high, and it is generally paid in installments, with part of it paid before the mold is opened, part of it paid after the mold is opened, and all paid after the sample is made.