| 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 is 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.
Happy and Productive Surfing
Dr. Amit K Chatterjee
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