There are many Members in here who ask for suggestions of how to attract a customer. Some have problems with the payment methods, some with the pricing, some with customer itself, and some don't know what to do with their product.



In order to attract a Customer one needs to understand the basic nature of Business. What it is? What are factors effecting it? And most importantly how one can manipulate it in his/hers favor?



Business is nothing more then figure matching, but as simple it may sounds, the more difficult it is to make it work.



Of course business is nothing more then demand and supply, the prices should match that really matters. But in order to do all that one need to understand that.



Initially its suggested that to first figure out what product one is holding in their hands that they want to deal in. A lots of members keep on saying study the market and advertise, that's it and forget to explain how to study it. To a newcomer that can mean anything, so here is how you can study the market.



Whatever product you have, you need to first have a basic tool ready, a telephone and of course a Internet, and the willingness to actually visit your local market place.


-Initially its suggested that whatever product you want to deal in, that you survey the local market.


# you need to ask around if someone else is dealing in the


product already, find out who they are


# if you do find a supplier, never ever tell them that you are


a going to supply as well, instead pretend to be a customer


find out the prices and the payment terms, and delivery times


(in order to find out the actual market prices you will need to


act up like that, this will give you the inside information of


local market, and the some trade clues payment terms etc.)


# Try to get some sample pcs to see what the difference is


between your product and theirs.


- Once you have figured out your local market, go to the Internet, find out which countries are buying and selling. Find out the differences in rates and qualities.


# here its suggested that you search out some exporters or


importers, call them up, tell them what you have, and they


will ask you to send them the details per mail, do that


with as many as you can (A telephone call has more value


then an email, you introduce yourself, and get straight to


the point, in most cases that gives a positive feedback)


# When you do send the details, initially never include the


payment terms as not to scare of the buyer,and only


give ex warehouse pricing, and ask the customer to tell


you the port of import. Make sure you have attached


pictures of the product and a positive description of the


products, be honest.



Once you have done that you will pretty soon see where your mistakes, since the customers will correspond to that. If a customer doesn´t reply, don´t panic, that only means you might have scared him off, so its advisable to recheck the email that you initially send him.




Okay now what you did if you followed the steps, you have


# Studied the product


# Studied the different prices


# Studied the customer feed backs



Now it gets a bit tricky, a major problem with most new comers is that they always forget about the freight costs, and are quiet often fixed at one price.



Here is how you can avoid that. So after you have send out all the initial in formations, with the ex warehouse prices and description of the product, most customers will reply for shipping costs now before


for which you should already be prepared for.


# Find a local forwarding agent, and ask them for a


Quotation based on FOB and for CNF basis you


you will need to know the country of the buyer(if you


don't know the incoterms, you can easily look them


up and study them, the most common used is


Ex warehouse, FOB, CNF and CIF)


# All you need is the prices, if the customer does ask


for how many pcs can be fitted in a container or so


then make sure you ask a experience guy, like in


study case for the local market, pretend to be a buyer


and a local exporter should tell you.


# The next possible thing a customer might ask is


the payment terms, make sure that its in your favor


since you are starting up your business, and don´t


just agree to anything just to get a customer.


Its advised to have some sort of down payment that


secures the order.



Now that you have pretty much have anticipated the Customers response, and were prepared for it, you sound more reliable and professional. That in turn attracts a customer closer to you.



As to make sure that the customer bites in you have to have done a pretty good calculation on the products, that gives you a buffer zone in case the customer does feel like bargaining. NOTE: some customers will not buy from you if they don´t feel that they cannot lower the price a bit, so as for attraction keep the buffer zone, if the customer is really trying to press you down and fighting for it, let him win, you still have profit. But make sure that you have also bound him in that quantity, and agree that the price only goes for the quantity taken.



Now you have in-cooperated the following things:


# Anticipation of the customer reply


# Good Calculations is a must


# Customer needs



The final thing no matter what happens is to stay cool, make sure that you never get mad or anything, show that the customer is special but that you are also not depending on him, otherwise they will misuse your position or might even misunderstand you for a fraud.



Of course its no guarantee that you will get every customer that comes your way, but you will have higher chances, and also with the advise given here it will be more or less a long term business.



So good luck on your customer hunt.

Good job.

Really very good.

but what about the terms of payment ?

Quoting from [lushang1215]:

Really very good.

but what about the terms of payment ?

As for the payment terms, I even added that chapter but only in minor detail, mostly because depending on the goods the payment terms can vary, but as I mentioned above, its best to have them in your favor, a part prepayment would be considered the best to secure the order.

Please note that what I have written is only a little help guide line for those who get frustrated in getting a customer, so its a general aspect of how to get one rather then a deep analysis since every customer varies in behavior and needs.

But if you try to keep your basics solid as I have mentioned then your chances of getting a customer will increase.

peace