How to Avoid Scams, Middle-Men, and Fraud on Alibaba


If you’ve been taking action on the previous importing articles, you already know that Alibaba is the world’s biggest B2B marketplace. In fact, it may be a little too big…
There are millions of suppliers listing millions of products on Alibaba. Finding suppliers is easy, the hard part is selecting the right one.
The most dangerous obstacle in your path to the perfect supplier are the ocean of scammers and middle-men.
Luckily, it’s not too difficult to avoid these low lives.
Below, you’ll find a step-by-step guide on avoiding scams, middle-men, and fraud on Alibaba.

Step 1 – Review the Company Profile

Company Profile
The Company Profile consists of information both verified and unverified  by Alibaba.com. For an untrained eye, this short list of information might seem to be completely irrelevant to the purpose of the visit, which is to find the right products. However, you can get a good idea about whether this company is worthy to include in your sourcing process by analyzing the points listed below:

Company name

Company-Name

(Note - Applies to companies registered in Mainland China only)
  • City: Small and medium-sized companies have the city they are located in as part of their company name. For example, “Ningbo Everbright Trading Co., Limited”.
  • Province: Larger companies can be named after the province where they are located. For example “Zhejiang Everbright Trading Co., Limited”.

Business Type

Business-Type
  • Manufacturer: This indicates that the supplier is only selling products it manufactures. A manufacturer is limited by its production line, set-up and tooling. For this reason, manufacturers tend to be highly specialized in their field of products.
  • Trading Company: Some Trading Companies are independent while others own, or are owned by, a manufacturing company. While everybody wants to cut out the middleman, one has to keep in mind that many factories in Asia have neither the knowledge nor resources for exporting their produce. This function can then be filled by a Trading Company. On the other hand, some Trading Companies offer no added value and will only raise your costs.
  • Manufacturer & Trading Company: Many factories have expanded their operation by not only selling and marketing products made in their own facilities, but also by trading similar products manufactured by other factories. While this Business Type indicates that the company is indeed a manufacturer, you cannot be sure whether they are manufacturing or subcontracting your products. So it’s tough to be sure if this supplier is a good choice or not.

Management Certification

Management-Certification
Quality issues is a serious risk when importing from China. In fact, you’re more likely to lose money due to quality issues then getting scammed. Quality issues can  never be completely eliminated, but they can be minimized if the supplier applies a Quality Management System (QMS) such as ISO9001.
  • Even multinationals such as Boeing and Toyota have quality issues. A “good manufacturer” is not a manufacturer that is completely free of quality issues, but one that is continuously monitoring quality during production. You know it’s time to walk away from a Chinese supplier when they claim to be completely free of defective and damaged products.
  • When a defective product is discovered, the supplier should have a routine for how it should be managed. Some suppliers remake, others repair. The most important thing is not how they deal with defective products, but that their employees know exactly what do to when something goes wrong.
  • ISO compliance require more than having a quick check up before the products are packed and shipped. The supplier is required to inspect incoming raw materials and components before production, set up inspection stations during productions and do final inspections after production.
  • Some products require stricter quality assurance than others. These products have a low error tolerance and a mistake at one production stage can ruin a whole order. If you are importing “complex products” such as electronics or mechanical equipment, a Management Certification should be a basic supplier requirement.

Registered Address

Registered-Address
  • City, Province: Many cities in China are highly specialized in one or more industries. If you are sourcing consumer electronics for example, you will discover that Shenzhen, Guangdong, is very dominant. A manufacturer is dependent on the surrounding support industries such as logistics, component suppliers, raw material suppliers and labor. For this reason, a supplier that is based in an industrial cluster is likely to be more competitive than a supplier that is not.

Legal Representative

Legal-RepresentativeThe Legal Representative is the only employee who can sign agreements on behalf of the company. Make sure that he or she writes a signature on any Invoice or Sales Agreement, along with the company stamp.

Registered capital

Registered-Capital
  • Indication of company size: Companies with less than RMB 500.000 [around US$ 80,000] should be avoided if possible. This is the strongest indicator of the supplier’s scale of operations. The more capital they have, the more likely they are to care about their reputation. Also keep in mind that even the most reliable supplier cannot compensate you for defective or damaged products if they don’t have the resources (money) to do so.
  • Foreign Currency Capital: Indicates that the company have foreign investors, which usually is a mark of quality. The currency invested can also give a hint about where the investor comes from;
    • Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) indicates that the investors are from Hong Kong. These guys has been exposed to international trade since the place was founded by the Brits back in the 19th century.
    • United States Dollars (USD) indicates that the foreign investors are… well, foreign. European, Asian and Latin American investors also tend to stick to the dollar for their investments in Chinese companies.
    • Taiwan New Dollar (TWD)

Step 2 – Review Other Company Certifications

First, why this is important…
Some products need to be compliant with a predetermined national and/or market standard. Different standards apply to different products, and it’s always the buyer’s responsibility to ensure that the imported products are compliant. Most products won’t require this; but if you’re thinking about buying a product in bulk, you might want to research and make sure.
The “Other Certification” link can be found under “Company Certification”.
Certification compliance is not mandatory for Alibaba suppliers, so don’t be surprised if many suppliers don’t have any “Other Certification” page at all.

Key Facts

  • Compliance requires more than testing; products need to be produced with specific materials and components. If you don’t clearly specify that your products must comply with a certain standard before you place the order, the products will not be compliant.
  • Far from all suppliers in Asia have the knowledge about which and where certain product standards apply, even less have the capability to actually manufacture products that comply with European and/or North American product standards.
  • Many suppliers seldom update their Company Profiles. If you have a hard time to find suppliers with the right certification listed in the “Other Certification” page, then send out a message and ask them directly whether or not they can comply with the required certification standard. It’s quite common that suppliers can offer more than what’s shown in their Alibaba profile.
  • An easy way to find compliant products is to type in the Product name and the certification standard in the Alibaba product search. [E.G. Mp4 player + CE]

Action List

  1. Research which product standard is required for your product in your country and/or market.
  2. Review the “Other Certification” page.
  3. Are any of the product standards listed?
    - If not, review the product description and the company introduction. Some suppliers that have test reports available are not uploading them to the “Other Certification Page”.

Step 3 – Review Supplier’s Product Selection/Niche

There has been a lot of focus on paperwork in this article, but what you’re looking for is products.
An Alibaba suppliers product catalog can give you a lot of information, and it’s the most important factor when selecting a supplier. The golden rule is to find a supplier that is specialized in manufacturing or trading a certain product. Product specialization comes with a number of benefits that will have a large impact on your business.

Checklist

Is your product mentioned in the supplier’s company name?
This is a strong indication that the company was registered for the sole purpose of manufacturing the product you are sourcing. [E.G. Shenzhen Golden Watch Factory Co., Ltd].
Is your product making up the majority of the supplier’s product catalog on Alibaba.com?
It’s a strong indication that the supplier is highly specialized in manufacturing and/or trading the products you are searching. A supplier that is highly specialized in a certain product is more likely to be better at managing the quality standard and offer more customization options. It can also affect the pricing since they buy large volumes of materials, components and tooling that is used only for the manufacturing of your product.
You’ll also want to grow with your supplier and a supplier with only a limited product selection will prevent this from happening.
Is the supplier listing products that are completely different from the type you’re looking for? [e.g. Wrist Watches and iPhone cases]
The factories of the real world are not like Santa’s Workshop where anything imaginable is manufactured. You can’t use the same workforce or tooling for the manufacturing of both 3D Printers and Polyester Ties. This matters because you should not deal with a disorganized and opportunistic supplier selling a little bit of this and a little bit of that.
An “opportunistic” supplier is also more likely to discontinue products than a professional manufacturer. The result could be disastrous since you’re left without products to sell to your customers. This is especially dangerous if you’re selling products to retailers where reputation and reliability is everything.

How to use the Alibaba supplier search to identify specialized suppliers

supplier-search
Last year Alibaba.com introduced the suppliers search, a useful feature for finding highly specialized and professional manufacturers. In the beginning, all it did was presenting a list of suppliers with the product in the company  name. Now, it also searches the suppliers product catalog and shows the number of matching products each supplier have!
  1. Go to Alibaba.com
  2. Change the search box from “Products” to Suppliers
  3. Enter the product name and search
  4. Now you will get a long list of all suppliers selling the product you just searched for. This can save time when sourcing suppliers since you can skip the manual review of the product catalog.

Case Study

guanghao
Guangzhou Guanghao Watch Co., Ltd is manufacturing and exporting LED watches. That’s in fact the only thing they do since they have listed 900 different models. When you work with this company, you can be sure about the following:
  • All this supplier will ever care about is wristwatches, and certainly LED watches. They will develop new models and your company can grow your product selection together with Guangzhou Guanghao.
  • 900 different models equals hundreds of thousands of different components. This supplier certainly know how these things work, and more importantly – what doesn’t work. Perhaps not today, but in the future you might want to create your own product its own unique design and features.
xiamen
You’ll always be limited by the components and product knowledge a supplier can provide you with. If you would choose Xiamen Well Imp & Exp Co., Ltd**as your supplier, you will be very limited. They offer a staggering amount of 6 different LED watches to choose from. Then how can they be competitive? Why do they even bother to add a few watches on Alibaba when articles like this one clearly states that importers should stay away from these suppliers? Because few importers bother to read articles like this, thousands of importers fall for the trick of low prices and positive answers to every question. Don’t be one of these guys that think they’ve are smarter than everybody else – until they realize they just got what they paid for.
* We have no relation with Guangzhou Guanghao Watch Co., Ltd and they are mentioned for reference only. They do however have a nice selection of LED watches.
** We have no relation with Xiamen Well Imp & Exp Co., Ltd and they are mentioned for reference only. They are probably a great supplier, but maybe not for LED watches.


http://www.startupbros.com/how-to-avoid-scams-middle-men-and-fraud-on-alibaba/

How to Find and Work With Suppliers


Suppliers are essential to almost every business. Without raw materials to make what you sell or manufacturers to provide what you resell, you will have a tough time growing. There are also many supplies and services your business consumes as part of general overhead, from paper clips to Internet access.
Suppliers and vendors-the terms are used interchangeably here-can do much more than merely supply you with the materials and services you need to do business. They can also be important sources of information, helping you evaluate the potential of new products, track competitors' actions and identify promising opportunities. Vendors can turn into partners, helping you cut costs, improve product designs and even fund new marketing efforts. If you don't make selecting good suppliers and vendors a part of your growth plan, you're likely to regret it.
Evaluating Your Suppliers and Vendors
Suppliers can be divided into four general categories. They are:
  1. Manufacturers. Most retailers buy through company salespeople or independent representatives who handle the wares of several different companies. Prices from these sources are usually lowest unless the retailer's location makes shipping freight costly.
  2. Distributors. Also known as wholesalers, brokers or jobbers, distributors buy in quantity from several manufacturers and warehouse the goods for sale to retailers. Although their prices are higher than a manufacturer's, they can supply retailers with small orders from a variety of manufacturers. (Some manufacturers refuse to fill small orders.) A lower freight bill and quick delivery time from a nearby distributor often compensates for the higher per-item cost.
  3. Independent craftspeople. Exclusive distribution of unique creations is frequently offered by independent craftspeople who sell through reps or at trade shows.
  4. Import sources. Many retailers buy foreign goods from a domestic importer, who operates much like a domestic wholesaler. Or, depending on your familiarity with overseas sources, you may want to travel abroad to buy goods.
What Makes a Good Supplier?
A lot of growing companies focus on one trait of their suppliers: price. And price certainly is important when you are selecting suppliers to accompany you as you grow your business. But there's more to a supplier than an invoice-and more to the cost of doing business with a supplier than the amount on a purchase order. Remember, too, that suppliers are in business to make money. If you go to the mat with them on every bill, ask them to shave prices on everything they sell to you, or fail to pay your bills promptly, don't be surprised if they stop calling.
After price, reliability is probably the key factor to look for in suppliers. Good suppliers will ship the right number of items, as promised, on time so that they arrive in good shape. Sometimes you can get the best reliability from a large supplier. These companies have the resources to devote to backup systems and sources so that, if something goes wrong, they can still live up to their responsibilities to you. However, don't neglect small suppliers. If you're a large customer of a small company, you'll get more attention and possibly better service and reliability than if you are a small customer of a large supplier. You should also consider splitting your orders among two smaller firms. This can provide you with a backup as well as a high profile.
Stability is another key indicator. You'll want to sign up with vendors who have been in business a long time and have done so without changing businesses every few years. A company that has long-tenured senior executives is another good sign, and a solid reputation with other customers is a promising indicator that a company is stable. When it comes to your own experience, look for telltale signs of vendor trouble, such as shipments that arrive earlier than you requested them-this can be a sign of a vendor that is short on orders and needs to accelerate cash receipts.
Don't forget location. Merchandise ordered from a distant supplier can take a long time to get to you and generate added freight charges quickly. Find out how long a shipment will take to arrive at your loading dock. If you are likely to need something fast, a distant supplier could present a real problem. Also, determine supplier freight policies before you order. If you order a certain quantity, for instance, you may get free shipping. You may be able to combine two or more orders into one and save on freight. Even better, find a comparable supplier closer to home to preserve cost savings and ordering flexibility.
Finally, there's a grab bag of traits that could generally be termed competency. You'll want suppliers who can offer the latest, most advanced products and services. They'll need to have well-trained employees to sell and service their goods. They should be able to offer you a variety of attractive financial terms on purchases. And they should have a realistic attitude toward you, their customer, so that they're willing and eager to work with you to grow both your businesses.
Changing Your Supplier Relationships
You may not need to find new suppliers to get a new deal. You can usually get discounts, obtain improved service and receive other features you need by making a request of your current suppliers-although it may not be as simple as merely asking. Here are some of the options and negotiating strategies for turning mediocre suppliers into top-shelf ones.
  • Getting discounts. If you walk into a department store and purchase a pair of shoes, you'll pay the same price any other shopper would. But business-to-business commerce is more complicated. Businesses that sell to other businesses commonly have a whole range of quoted charges, offering discounts of 50 percent or more depending on the quantity purchased, the terms, the length of the relationship, and other considerations. You may be able to comfortably conform to some of these requirements, qualifying you for a lower price. To find out, ask about discounts and what is necessary to earn them. You may be able to get anything from an interest-free loan in the form of trade credit to a substantial discount for paying early.
  • Improving service. It is the rare businessperson who knows exactly what is happening in all parts of his company at all times or what is going on with all his customers. You probably don't, and you shouldn't assume your suppliers do, either. If you have a service-related problem with a supplier, bring it to someone's attention. If you don't get satisfaction, move up the chain of command until you get what you want or are as high in management as you can get. Odds are, someone will be concerned and possess enough authority to remedy the situation. Only if you ask for better service and don't get it should you sever the relationship.
  • A better relationship. Not every customer wants to buddy up to suppliers, so the fact that your suppliers aren't offering to work closely with you to improve quality, reduce defects and cut costs doesn't necessarily mean they don't want to. They may be under the impression that you are the reluctant one. So if you want a tighter working relationship with suppliers, let them know. You may also drop a hint that those who don't want to work with you may see some of their orders being diverted to those who are more agreeable. Either way, you'll know whether it's your supplier's reluctance, or their perception of your reluctance, that's getting in the way.
Making a Change
Having fewer vendors is usually better than having many vendors. Reducing the number of vendors you deal with cuts the administrative costs of working with many. Closer relationships with fewer vendors allow you to work together to control costs. Getting rid of troublesome vendors can quickly increase the efficiency of your purchasing and administrative staffs. So how do you decide when to change vendors? Here are keys areas to consider:
  • Unreliability. When a vendor's shipments start arriving consistently late, incomplete, damaged or otherwise incorrectly, it's time to consider looking for a new one. Every company has problems from time to time, however, so check into the matter before dumping your vendor. Vendors can experience temporary difficulties as a result of implementing a new product line, shipping procedure or training program. If you stick with a vendor through a rugged interval, you may be glad you did. They might be more willing to see you through a future cash flow crunch.
  • Lack of cost competitiveness. Sometimes vendors fail to change with their industries. When your vendor's rivals start coming in with bids for comparable goods that are lower than your existing supplier's, you need to investigate. Point out the issue to your existing supplier and ask for an explanation. If you don't like what you hear, it may be time to consider taking some of those offers from competing suppliers.
  • Insularity. Some suppliers will let you visit their plants, talk to their workers, quiz their managers, obtain and interview references, and even examine their financial statements. These are the kinds of suppliers you should seek out. The more you know about your suppliers, the better you can evaluate whether you should continue to do business with them. If they shut you out, perhaps you should cut them off.
  • Extra-sale costs. The number at the bottom of the invoice is only the beginning of the cost of dealing with suppliers. You have to lay out money beforehand to draw up specifications, issue request for proposals, evaluate them, check references, and otherwise qualify your suppliers. You have to place the order, negotiate the terms, inspect the goods when they arrive, and deal with any shortages, damage or other errors. Finally, you may have to train workers to use the newly arrived goods or purchase more equipment and material to make use of them. While some of these costs are inevitable, some are traceable to individual suppliers. If too many costs are being tacked onto the sale prices, check out some other suppliers.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/66028

Hidden market


Quote:
Originally Posted by iskandar69 View Post
Hidden market adalah market yang jarang dicari dan dikenalpasti sebagai satu market yang betul betul genuine. I hendak membezakan antara senarai syarikat broker dan yang pembekal. Seperti di dalam platform Alibaba,kebanyakan senarai syarikat yang ada sudah bercampur dengan broker atau agen. Maka sukar untuk mengenalpasti yang mana satu syarikat yang betul betul ada produk.

Tidak semestinya kita kena daftar ataupun membayar kecuali kita mempunyai peruntukan. Hidden market ini adalah jenis online printed edition atau offline printed. Jenis ini kebanyakan syarikat yang berdaftar kena bayar. Maka, selalunya broker atau agen tidak akan memasuki platform ini kerana ia perlu dibayar. Contoh platform itu ialah ala ala Yellow pages
Hidden market ni sebenarnya adalah manufacturer directories yg ada online version DAN ada printed version sekali. Ada banyak manufacturer directories yg hanya berbentuk online version sahaja. Selalunya kita boleh register online as a free member. Kebanyakan B2B portal spt Alibaba, EC Plaza dll mmg ada manufacturer directories yg berbentuk online version ini. Kita tak nak manufacturer directories yg begini

Selalunya manufacturer directories yg ada printed version ni mmg mahal harganya. Nak masuk/listed kat dalam tu kena bayar dulu. Yellow Pages is a good example. Disebabkan kena bayar dulu tu lah yg menyebabkan kebanyakan agen atau broker tak nak masuk ke dalam tu. Jadi hanya yg betul2 manufacturer sahaja yg nak masuk ke situ. Secara tak langsung masalah menapis agen/broker dah dapat dikurangkan dgn banyaknya.

Ada manufacturer directories yg hanya ada printed version. Kalau kita nak beli selalunya harga mahal . So some of them have online version as well for reference purposes. Some of the online version are open to the public without prior registration while for others you need to register as a guest first to see the online content.

So once inside you can safely say that nearly 95% of them are real manufacturers. They produce finished products. We approach them as a supplier first to sell their finished products. But always keep in mind that for them to come up with finished products they must first have raw materials. So they are already confirmed buyers. Usually if we can show them that we can perform, at one stage they themselves will ask us to source for their raw materials. When this happens we make money from both ends

Supplier verification


Quote:
Originally Posted by En. Apai View Post
Kekadang kita jumpa trader, lagi bagus jumpa manufacturer. Apapun dua2 kalau genuine pulun jer.

Asalnya saya konpius steps. Ok, dah klear water sikit. Saya cuma nak pastikan steps yg dibuat nanti adalah steps biasa. Taknak nanti tersalah minta dokumen yang exporter rasa pelik.

Jadi steps supplier's verification dengan minta latest BL dan company profile adalah common. Ini akan digunakan.

Satu lagi, consultation agreement tu sesuainya buat immediate selepas supplier disahkan ke atau tunggu bila dah ada buyer baru approach supplier deal dgn term.

Keasnnya kalau deal dulu (immediate), mungkin ada lag time, buyer masih tak dapat tapi supplier dah asyik tanya2 takda buyer ker? sebab supplier mesti ingat kita ni full time fokus cari utk dia.

kesan kalau deal bila dah ada buyer, mungkin buyer kena tunggu hanya selepas supplier agree dengan term, delay nak bagi senarai supplier. Mungkin juga hanya contoh 2 dari 5 yang respond awal, yang lain tu lambat respond. kita mungkin terpaksa bagi 2 list dulu takut kalau lambat sangat buyer dapat lain.

Minta pandangan Abg Bear dan kawan2 yg dah ada pengalaman. TK

For first time suppliers - we don't know them and they don't know us. Pushing them for a formal agreement immediately is not really recommended. It is just common sense. Nobody in their right mind will ever sign a formal agreement with somebody they hardly knew. Would you sign a formal agreement with a total stranger? (look at page 13, The 300K Manual)Some of them might be offended if we push a formal agreement down their throat so soon.

For the first few deals, it is better to go on a "per-deal" basis as both parties are still new to each other. Letters are normally used for "per-deal" cases while formal agreements are usually used for longer-term cases.

After completing a few deals and if you are comfortable with them (and vice versa) then you can start to ask them about doing a time-based consulting agreement with you. At this stage it will be easier to tackle this touchy subject as both parties are already familiar with each other. You know that you can trust them and they know that you are able to bring them good buyers on a regular basis. The scales are already tipped in your favor at this stage.



So this is how we normally do it in the office. You can find this tactic in the "Advanced Series Volume 10 - The Secret of the Monkey’s Fist". This is how we do it.

We tell them that we will do it step-by step. Then we make this offer to them.

Tell them that as a goodwill gesture we will bring 2 new buyers to them. For each of the buyer the deal will be will be a one-off deal, no repeat payments yet. Tell them that instead of a formal agreement, it is enough for you if they can just issue a formal fee-authorization letter. Show them the sample letter in the 300K Manual - page 73, Sample Letter 6. The important points to be mentioned in that letter are
1) how much they will pay you(the percentage) and when they will pay you
2) how they will pay you


You are effectively baiting them to agree to pay you. It doesn't matter that the two deals are just one-off deals. We want to show them what we can do and we want things to start moving.

After the two deals are done then we can approach the supplier again. This time we already have a track record with them. They know that we can do the job for them but most importantly we also know that THEY can also perform and do their job well.

This is the time to ask for repeat payments for other buyers which you are going to bring to them in the future. And this is also the time to use the formal agreement included in the GPC Full Course.

If you look at the steps in the 300K Manual we started with just formal letters to make it easier for those who are new to GPC. This is to simplify things. The second stage will be to get a formal agreement with the supplier. But by all means if you can get to the formal agreement directly then go for it. It depends a lot on your supplier. You must also do your homework on your supplier.

Soal supplier dah asyik tanya2 takda buyer ke - just tell the supplier we are looking for a good buyer for him and this takes time. Tell him that we also have to do our homework because we do not want to waste his time with unreliable buyers.

Atau kalau nak buat style Nabil masa dptkan first client dulu tu pun boleh jugak.

Ask the supplier TWO(2) questions

1) If we can bring a buyer to you how much(% of the contract value) are you comfortable to share with us?

2) If we can get you a buyer who is willing to commit to a long-term contract(2,3 or 4 years) how much(% of the contract value) are you willing to share with us?

The answers/figures should be different for those two different situations.


Notice the word "share" here. Never ask for a fixed figure or ask them how much they can give us. It gives them an upperhand/advantage. By "sharing" we are positioning ourselves as an equal partner in this venture. Banyak psychology kan dalam GPC ni? We learn about people, approaches, tactics, buying triggers, etc so that things move in our direction and to our advantage. This is why GPC consultants make more money than agents or brokers. But you need to read a lot to learn these things. Those who don't like to read can never do GPC, as simple as that


Qualifying supplier


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Quote:
Originally Posted by ismael View Post
Hehe... saya pun terlupa untuk renew tahun lepas... huhuhu...kena la bayar penalti dekat RM60 kalau tak silap...

PS: nak minta opinion abg. bear kalau nak filter our supplier as you mention.. ask for license, BL apa lagi ye jika kita nak lebih confident that they is not scammer....
Boleh mintak company profile dgn customer list. Dalam customer list tu mintak dia org list out details utk 3 customers je - company name , contact name/position and phone number/skype ID, contact punya email address, produk yg dibeli. Bagitau pada supplier yg kita akan contact 3 customers ni utk verification purposes.

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Approach buyer


Menurut pemahaman saya, itu mesej follow up bila first time kita dah approach buyer minta detail spec.

Ada dua kaedah utk approach buyer
1- buyer yg ada detail spec;
2- buyer yang hanya bgtau jenis produk tanpa detail.

Klu yg ada detail, kita boleh terus rekomen supplier yg meet spec... straight forward.
Klu yg general request tu yg first time approach kita minta mereka detailkan keperluan mereka. Bila takda respon, kita boleh guna mesej No 7 utk follow up.

Mesej 7 ada pelbagai kegunaan merujuk kpd "please choose one", boleh gunakan ikut keperluan.

Bagi saya mesej tu hanya sebagai panduan umum dan kita boleh adjust ikut keperluan sendiri.

Fast deal tips


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maaf sbb lambat post,ok ni tips from me utk fast deal between buyer and supplier :

1.verify supplier : tentukan siapa y anda deal and expect brapa besar company diorag.

klw y anda deal sale manager,if ada perkara ttg spec n payment term,product spec diorg bole jwab in 24-48H, once diorag 4ward FCO,in quantity availability and payment term or POP can expect diorag punya liability cmne..so if they ready for big quantity no prob if you come forward with few contract to them.

type of company : manufacturer,trading or agent? klw trading to offer for them is a bit lower from market price bcz they will RESELL it again to end user...and perlu fkir strategi;few factor will involve

if agent, it is scary bcz they want kick back to them(commission) as they bring buyer to u.

* one of my case is deal with mandate,buyer give all authority to mandate in verify supplier : there are pro and contrast

PRO : they have real buyer and they want fast deal..
CONTRAST : layer in transaction..2-5party involve

1.2 verify buyer : sama sperti supplier but u have to check both technical and traditional. Technical seperti status web,valid mail and so on..traditional in document.

ada disentuh in Buyer acknowledgement dlm full course..

**tips : MAKE A PHONE CALL, APPROACH THEM FIRST SO NO TIME WASTER!!

2.key factor : straight to the point as specific as they can :

SUPPLIER : DRAFT CONTRACT

BUYER : LOI/BCL

antara key element between both SUPPLIER & BUYER :

1. PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
2. TARGET PRICE
3. PAYMENT TERM.

this 3 key aspect yg jadi punca ia lepas/tidak

if buyer have demo draft,forward to seller tp make sure ia akan sama dgn draft contract dari seller,jika tidak, seller tpaksa review balik,jika ini berlaku ia sperti bermula blik dari ZERO..so time waster..kecuali minor term seperti inspection at loading port.

ini pernah tjadi pd saya sblum ini..apabila buyer tidak meletakkan syarat sepenuhnya..dan hingga hari ini masih dlm rundingan,..

kenapa 3 factor tersebut?

ia akan jadi SUPPLIER VS BUYER

ia mengelakkan TIME WASTER & MONEY..dlm masa bjalan,kos smakin menigkat dan taktikal anda akn smakin mnurun..

after few deal (even xjadi) anda akan lihat perforance from both party..dlm menjwab setiap isu y dikemukakan..sama ada dlm 24-48H max..

so kt sni scara langsng,anda boleh KICK 2 in 1 lorhh..nmpak cm simple tp after time anda akan nmpak pattern ni..

thats why tendang menendang nni kne rajin

if your niche is changing price by day you have to move 2x faster.. Bcz factor lain y tlibat ialah stock availability

cm skrag saya tlibat dlm Steam Coal and metal scrap(used rail & hms 1&2)..perubahan harga setiap bulan/tahun...all procedure tmsuk yg seller through melalui government of origin of product saya kne taw..so bole anggar masa between draft and shipment..

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How to approach buyer



Bro Shah....saya cuba review apa yg bro nak ye...cara nak approach buyer....

1. Step pertama yg mesti kita ada adalah BARANG...(supplier)
Disini sy beri contoh saya dah ada barang iaitu tuna...seperti supplier yg offer saya (pada post saya diatas) Disini harap dah ada AUTHORIZE LETTER dari supplier.

2. Kita dah ada barang so kita pegi kat B2B portal yg dah kita register la semestinya...dan buat carian di kotak carian....contoh disini sy menggunakan B2B portal alibaba.com


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3. Cuba kita baca isinya dulu....


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4. Nampaknya buyer ini adalah AGENT...kita elakkan dulu dari agent ni dulu... maka skip....cari lain...


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5. Kita cuba yg ni pula....

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6. maka saya cuba approach dari apa yg supplier tadi cuba offer kat saya....


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7. Disini pada akhir ayat approach kita pada buyer kita sertakan alamat email kita.... contoh...

Please reply to us directly at (email kita)
Dah siap boleh la kita send...


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Ok dah terhantar approach kita tadi....cari lagi dalam 10-20 buyer lagi....

Harap dapat pencerahan dari saya....





Teknik 2



Contoh approach letter for first time....



Barulah kita emailkan formal letter ini kepada supplier yg kita kehendaki tersebut...

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Approach untuk product ini 10-20 supplier...

Harap dapat membantu teman2 yg baru atau yg dah stop nak mula balik...

**tinggal tunggu fedback dari 10-20 supplier esoknya...






Persoalan??? Dimana kita hendak mencari buyer untuk product ini???
Saya rasa bro BART72 boleh membantu kita @ memberi penjelasan bagaimana beliau boleh mendapat buyer bagi product tersebut......

 Perkongsian lagi utk malam ni...sambungan dari persoalan HOW TO GET BUYER FOR THIS PRODUCT??

Kita kene wat reseacrh untuk apa kegunaan product ni....hehehe..
Just google... Mari2 kita kongsi2 apa yg kita google....
ILMU ni.....

Hehehe....saya dapat dulu...



Dan kesimpulannya anda dah boleh approach buyer dengan pendekatan ini....insyaallah pasti ada feedback

Harap dapat membantu dan sekiranya ada pertanyaan bolehlah di ajukan di thread ini insyaallah ada teman2 disini akan membantu...

 FORMAL LETTER = Surat Rasmi yg ada kepala surat.... cth formal/official letter



Minta official/formal letter daripada buyer bro.... biar ada hitam putih yg menandakan dia adalah serious nak berurusan... kalau x jgn layan banyak lagi kat luar sana...tinggal pilih dan filter..

Harap membantu dari newB.....

page 78














Refresh GPC



Saya mulakan sessi refresh ini dengan DOA ini....



.........Amin

Harap teman2 yg lain sudah membaca manual yg pernah saya beri sebelum ini....

Ok untuk step 1........



Disini kita boleh memilih barang yg kita selesa atau NICHE kita ... seperti biasa first step kita adalah seperti sample letter dibawah....



Jika kita sudah mempunyai barang pilihan kita yg hendak kita dagangkan kita kene register pada B2B portal.....
contoh dimana kita boleh memilih B2b portal yg kita ingini...pilihlah dimana antara berikut...




Disini saya memilih B2b www.eceurope.com sebagai wadah untuk mencari supplier...(saya sudah memiliki akaun pada B2B portal ini)
maka sebagai contoh Niche atau barangan yg sy cuba dagangkan adalah Aluminum - Scrap...maka saya memilih supplier ini...


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Bagi saya B2B portal adalah sebagai satu wadah/tempat untuk mengetahui barangan yg kita mahu dan suppliernya sahaja...
Maka dengan itu just google ataupun saya lebih menggemari menggunakan copernic search engine lebih dalam dia mengorek data di sesawang untuk mendapatkan email address company tersebut......

 Wallaaaa....



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 Langkah selanjutnya is prepare our formal approach letter....
Tidak silap saya ada beri contoh dihalaman belakang...untuk approach supplier.....

Seperti yg saya usulkan sebelumnya kita prepare untuk formal letter..

Saya akan beri contoh sebentar lagi.... tungguuuu....

Sebelum itu kita kene tau apa sebenarnya barang yg hendak kita niagakan ini...kita kene buat le research barang ni.... jgn pakai hentam keromo je....
contoh Wire Scrap TALON adalah seperti berikut sebenarnya....



Kita juga boleh research untuk world market price for this item...


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Contoh approach letter for first time....



Barulah kita emailkan formal letter ini kepada supplier yg kita kehendaki tersebut...

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Approach untuk product ini 10-20 supplier...

Harap dapat membantu teman2 yg baru atau yg dah stop nak mula balik...

**tinggal tunggu fedback dari 10-20 supplier esoknya...