Selling to China Is An Uphill Battle But You Can Succeed
Selling to China Is An Uphill Battle But You Can Succeed
But, to succeed in selling to the Chinese, U.S. companies must know the following seven things.
1. Your agent is your first “customer.” Finding a China sales agent is an important first step, but it is only the beginning. You need to convince your agent that there is money to be made selling your products. Unless your agent is convinced that your products are a stepping stone to a better life and more opportunities, he or she will not be motivated to sell for you.
2. Your ideal agent must be an expert salesman, not just an expert. The most common pitfall among U.S. companies in selling to the Chinese is to hire a technical expert who knows their products. The ideal salesman in China should be an expert “operator.” He or she may not have to a technical expert.
3. Let the Chinese do the selling. Your role is to recruit, train, and support your salespeople in China. A good Western manager knows when to go to China and when to let your Chinese sales people take the lead.
4. Don’t compete on price. When people in China say that “Your price is too high,” they are either trying to negotiate with you or they are the wrong targets. Price is only one of several factors in your success in China, as it is in the U.S. American companies are rarely the low cost vendors, you have to be clear and direct about how you are better.
5. Learn to guard your secrets and train your staff. Your customers in China may also be your competitors. It is not enough that you hire lawyers and use contracts to protect yourself. You must guard your own trade secrets and make sure that your employees are keenly aware of piracy.
6. Emotional intelligence is what works in China, not just intelligence. The Chinese feel proud when they can successfully “reverse engineer” your products so that they don’t have to “depend” on you. Learn to make them feel good buying from you—as opposed to feeling “defeated” that they’ve “failed” to copy you.
7. Respect inspires loyalty, and, in the long run, sales. If you make your own agents and customers feel respected, they will give you critical market information and orders. But if they don’t perceive that you respect them, they shut you off from the market.
Selling to China Is An Uphill Battle But You Can Succeed - To learn more about this author, visit James Chan's Website.
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China’s $3.3 trillion economy has been built largely on exports to the rest of the world. Those who have tried to export American goods and services to China face heavy obstacles. With $1.8 trillion in foreign currency reserves, China can now afford the best. Its market offers real opportunities for American companies who want to export and expand.
But, to succeed in selling to the Chinese, U.S. companies must know the following seven things.
1. Your agent is your first “customer.” Finding a China sales agent is an important first step, but it is only the beginning. You need to convince your agent that there is money to be made selling your products. Unless your agent is convinced that your products are a stepping stone to a better life and more opportunities, he or she will not be motivated to sell for you.
2. Your ideal agent must be an expert salesman, not just an expert. The most common pitfall among U.S. companies in selling to the Chinese is to hire a technical expert who knows their products. The ideal salesman in China should be an expert “operator.” He or she may not have to a technical expert.
3. Let the Chinese do the selling. Your role is to recruit, train, and support your salespeople in China. A good Western manager knows when to go to China and when to let your Chinese sales people take the lead.
4. Don’t compete on price. When people in China say that “Your price is too high,” they are either trying to negotiate with you or they are the wrong targets. Price is only one of several factors in your success in China, as it is in the U.S. American companies are rarely the low cost vendors, you have to be clear and direct about how you are better.
5. Learn to guard your secrets and train your staff. Your customers in China may also be your competitors. It is not enough that you hire lawyers and use contracts to protect yourself. You must guard your own trade secrets and make sure that your employees are keenly aware of piracy.
6. Emotional intelligence is what works in China, not just intelligence. The Chinese feel proud when they can successfully “reverse engineer” your products so that they don’t have to “depend” on you. Learn to make them feel good buying from you—as opposed to feeling “defeated” that they’ve “failed” to copy you.
7. Respect inspires loyalty, and, in the long run, sales. If you make your own agents and customers feel respected, they will give you critical market information and orders. But if they don’t perceive that you respect them, they shut you off from the market.
Selling to China Is An Uphill Battle But You Can Succeed - To learn more about this author, visit James Chan's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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James Chan Video - James Chan, Ph.D., created the phrase "The China Formula" to help Americans understand China in one word.
Dr. Chan is President of the Philadelphia-based, independent consultancy, Asia Marketing and Management (AMM). AMM specializes in advising U.S. manufacturers, trade associations, and information companies in building business relationships in China and in exporting American-made products and services in China and Asia. To view AMM's detailed profile online, go to: www.AsiaMarketingManagement.com.
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