8 Mistakes Suppliers Make About the Brazilian Market

Due to the demand for orders from Europe and the United States, emerging markets in South America have become the focus of Chinese export and foreign trade companies in recent years. Mr. Lincoln Fracari, Marketing and Sales Director of China Link Trading from Brazil, introduced Brazil's business conditions, as well as the purchasing habits and strategies of Brazilian buyers to the entrepreneurs present at the Dongguan Station of the "Zhisheng Future Export Forum".

Mr. Lincoln Fracari is from Brazil and came to China in 2009. China Link is a company serving China-Brazil trade, mainly helping Brazilian companies to purchase and conduct business in China. The main purchased products include plastics, computers, apparel and accessories, engineering materials, home decoration, machinery, and other customized products. Its business scope includes import and export trade, procurement management, LCL, quality control and so on.

Lincoln Fracari: I have 9 years of experience in China-related trade, and 5 years of real business in China. In the past few years of experience, I have summed up 8 common mistakes Chinese companies make when dealing with Brazil. The content I talked about today is very real and very practical. If you want to do business with Brazil, or have already done business with Brazil, and want to improve your business, I believe you can find some tips.

The first mistake, Chinese clients ask some really ridiculous questions about Brazil when they meet with us.

These are rather ridiculous questions, some Chinese people said to me for the first time, "Buenos Aires is your capital, it's very beautiful." "I heard that Brazil is in Africa." Or must be with me Say a few words of Spanish and they will say, do you speak Brazilian?

Here are some basic statistics about Brazil:

We are the largest country on the South American continent and the fifth largest in the world. Next, I will share with you about the population of Brazil. Our area is the fifth in the world, and the population is also the fifth in the world. But when it comes to population distribution, in terms of density, Brazil is much less than China. Coincidentally, its GDP also ranks fifth in the world.

We are not Spanish speakers, Brazil is also the only one in South America who speaks Portuguese, the seventh most spoken language in the world. Our currency is Real, and the ratio to RMB is 1:2.65. The current President Dilma is a lady.

Let's talk about geography. Brazil has 26 states, not provinces like China. Our capital is not Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but Brasilia. Brasilia was colonized by Portugal 1500 years ago. Three-fifths of the Amazon forest is in Brazil, and the world's huge drinking water area is also in Brazil.

In addition, I would like to share with you a more interesting phenomenon. There are many friends in Brazil, blacks, whites, and Asians. For example, when we meet an Asian and black people, where does the problem come from, he may say that we It's from Brazil. What I want to say here is that there are more races in Brazil. Moreover, we are a country of faith dominated by Roman architecture.

Second mistake, someone often uses Google Translate, or wants to enter the Brazilian market in English.

But Google translates from Portuguese to English, which is often incomprehensible. Here is the correct translation. It just mentioned the details of the import from Brazil. The translation is a customs document. If the customs document is not signed with a blue pen, the customs may deduct the goods. This is the correct translation.

Less than 1% of people in Brazil can speak English proficiently. As you can imagine, we are in China. If there are foreigners who speak Chinese to us, we like it very much. We might prefer it if foreigners speak local Portuguese to us. For example, I speak Chinese, you may prefer it, so please don't use Google to translate.

The third mistake is about social etiquette.

We like to do business with customers from all over the world, but we must understand some of the behaviors of local customers and their interests, and can share some examples with you.

The first point, which seems simple enough, is about the handshake. People will say, who doesn't know how to shake hands, of course I know how to shake hands. But in my experience when I came to the factory in China and met with the seller, usually when a man shakes his hand, he doesn't look like a man, and his hands are too soft. If you are a man, and your client is also a man, everyone should shake hands like a man. Kong Wu is stronger.

On the other hand, in addition to the heat, we Brazilians are also very warm. If the customer thinks your business is better and they feel they can get in touch with your business, they may give you a hug or a pat on the back. If the customer does this with you, you should do the same. Don’t be surprised. , don't step back.

It's the face-to-face etiquette between ladies, usually done in greeting. Men don't do it, and it would be weird if men did.

Most Brazilians have a little bit of cleanliness, of course not all. No matter how cold it is, everyone likes to take a shower twice in the morning and evening, and brush their teeth three times a day. We have a lot of dentists, and we have a lot of products in this area. We also love to use perfume. Moreover, Brazilians also like to have a good face. Wearing a brand-name watch or driving a good car is something Brazilians like to do.

People may think, "Why do you say this? I take a bath every day, brush my teeth every day, what's so strange?" There may be some places that don't do this. If you are the boss, you have a business under you, or you yourself You're a sales manager, and you're visiting a Brazilian client. Be sure to dress well, stay clean, and chew some gum. I tell this to my Chinese friends and they will say thank you and say they have never heard of it before, it's a useful detail.

The food itself is different in our two countries, and the way of eating is different. Of course, I have been in China for five years, and I often eat noodles here, and I make some noise when eating noodles. But if you go abroad to meet clients, or if clients come to China to have dinner with you, we must pay attention to the etiquette in this regard, not to open your mouth too wide, and not to chew too loudly. Of course, you don't see these customers every day, but once or twice a year. It is necessary to pay attention to this aspect.

I have also encountered some situations in China. I often go to see suppliers. When I go to the supplier's factory for the first time, I meet the owner or salesperson of that factory. When I first meet, these people ask some too personal questions. Questions, such as how much money you make, how old a woman is, how many girlfriends a man has, how old you are and not married, how fat you are, etc., are to be avoided.

I have given some examples here, that is, what appropriate questions should be asked. These questions can help you get closer to the relationship with your customers, and can better help the business of both parties. For example, you can have a chat How the company was created, was it created by his father or by himself. When Brazilian guests come here or you go to Brazil, you can talk about the situation in your hometown, whether the food is good or not, and discuss how the two sides can cooperate better. You can also share with him the history of your own company. I went to China to ask some suppliers or the current situation of the factory, and how many years it has been established. They would say 10 or 15 years, which are very direct figures. In fact, I can honestly talk about how the business of this factory has grown over the years. Yes, these will help your business.

The fourth mistake, when we go to Brazil to do business, we must know how Brazilians view China.

People who have been to Brazil know that our 25th Street is very famous. Many of the business people here are from Chaozhou, Jiangmen, and Shantou. We know that everyone here is doing serious business, but they left us with the impression that the products are relatively poor.

The reason for the bad impression of Chinese products in Brazil is that Chinese businessmen like to say, "This is no problem, of course we can do it." Sample?" The Chinese businessman said, "There is no problem." When they got the sample and placed the order, they said, "I'm sorry, I couldn't do what I promised before. If I want to do it, the price will change." Such a bad promise makes customers Your relationship has gotten so bad. So we try to provide samples to improve product quality, and we also know that rework costs are very high. Also, acquiring a new customer is much more expensive and more difficult than retaining an old one.

The fifth mistake, regarding the market, does not understand why the Brazilian economy is so protected.

Why is the Brazilian market so protected? In fact, Brazil, like China and other developing countries, has relatively heavy taxes. Some clients say how much tax should I pay and what license should I have if I export to Brazil. This is what will be discussed next. The import cost is very high, here are some data, you can look at it, the Big Mac is the second most expensive in the world, the iPad is the most expensive in the world in Brazil, the mobile phone is more expensive, and the hotel is also very expensive.

First of all, we must know that if Brazil wants to import products, this company must have an import certificate, and there may be more than one. If you want to do electronically, you also need another qualification certificate for electronic certification. Sometimes you think that CE and FCC are all you need, which is not enough in Brazil. Having these two certificates does not necessarily allow your products to pass through customs, but it can help you get the Brazilian certificate more easily, but it may cost 3 Get certified in 24 months. You can find a local company to do the certification for you, or find a local representative office for certification.

Our tax system is similar to China's, with a "snowball" effect. The longer the value chain, the more tax we pay. This is a tax-plus-tax system. To import, of course, there is an import tax. According to different customs codes, the product tax ranges from 0-60%, the industrial product tax ranges from 0-35%, and the social contribution tax.

Let me give you an example. This is about all taxes on imported products. Let me calculate for you. The tax on imported electronic products is very high. Here is an example of a car audio. , the sum is 10,000 US dollars, and the ratio of US dollars to Barbies is 1:2.3.

As we said before, many taxes follow the customs code. According to the customs code, the electronic product tax is 20%, the industrial product tax is 30%, and the social contribution tax is 9.25%. If it is Sao Paulo In such a busiest port, VAT is 18%. The import tax of 20% is 20% of 23,000. The industrial product tax is 30%, so it cannot be calculated according to 23,000. After the value-added of 23,000, 23% is added, and the same is true for the latter. When the customs clearance fee is not counted, the cost reaches 50.47 US dollars.

Although our taxes are so high, there is still a market for our products, because we know that Brazil imports a lot of electronic products, and all taxes add up to the consumer, and the premium may reach 172%. Is there any other way to introduce it? Yes, and there are many ways. One of the ways is to go to Brazil to open a factory or an assembly line. Of course, the cost is very high, but almost all these taxes can be avoided. You can create a lot of opportunities for local people by opening a factory there. Of course, there are many other ways besides this one, so I won't talk about it today.

If these taxes can be saved, it is certainly a good practice for our customers or potential future customers. How do we do it? One of the ways is to contact Brazil's trading partners, companies like us, we can get good deals during the import process.

The sixth mistake, not understanding the thoughts and preferences of Brazilian culture.

We often don't know what to say to our Brazilian customers, so here's a suggestion for what we should say. We know that most Brazilian men like football, just like Chinese people like basketball, badminton, and table tennis. We can ask him which team he likes, which position he likes to play, and we can invite customers to watch the game. This allows the client to be very close to you.

Brazil is famous for the Carnival held in February every year. In addition to this, Brazil has very long holidays. There are 45-50 days of public holidays every year. This does not include weekends, so every year in addition to weekends, there are Almost two months off, which affects the timing of a lot of business. Many Chinese people go to Brazil and feel that Brazilians are too lazy, yes, because our vacation is too long, which affects our orders or decisions, such as receiving an order or sending a quote, the time to get or get a response from the customer will change be slower. Don't be surprised that sometimes very old customers take a long time to send you an order or quote.

We are a Catholic country, so Christmas is very important, except that there is no snow in Brazil, and everything else is like on TV, with Santa Claus and a tree. Like the Chinese New Year, everyone eats together, gives gifts to each other and to children. So keep in mind at Christmas, if it is a very important customer, send a small gift or send an email, do not copy, and write something different for big customers. Another culture is that birthdays are very important, we eat cakes and light candles when we are very young. If you have the opportunity, you can ask the customer when his birthday is, record it in the computer's calendar, the computer will remind you at that time, you can call the customer, and the customer will be very happy.

The seventh mistake is about thinking, thinking should change.

Some people say, "Why should we change? We used to do business this way, and we still do business this way." In fact, this is a mistake. Now I ask you a question. Do you think Brazil is an important market for you? If you think Brazil is an important market, then you need to change.

I don't know if you have foreign friends. We know that there are many foreigners in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan. Maybe you have foreign friends. If you meet such a foreigner, for example, he says "I have been in China for three years, I don't speak Chinese, I don't eat Chinese food", or he thinks "Chinese people do things differently from me, and I will correspond to my own method. I do things, and I have no Chinese friends.” Eventually he would ask why my business was not successful in China.

Before, it was equivalent to empathy. We replaced this person with a Chinese who went to Brazil. I say this because of personal experience. He worked for Huawei Brazil for three years before, and finally asked why he was in Brazil. The business is not successful, as Bruce Lee said, what are you interested in, is it yourself or your customers.

The eighth mistake, you want to own everything.

A man can do anything he wants to do. I have a friend in Brazil who sells a very successful product in Brazil that allows you to darken your skin without sun exposure. He thinks that Brazil sells very well, and it can definitely be sold in China. Even if the Chinese market share reaches 1% or 5%, it should be a lot.

If you don't know the Brazilian market, you can find a partner, which can be a current customer or a former customer, or an acquaintance. Learn about the situation in Brazil. If you want to sell a product, learn how much the product plus tax is. What is the function of the product, whether it can develop a customized product for Brazil, or which state in Brazil the product is sold to, these are the data that can be obtained through research.

About what I just said, this is a service provided by our company, we will help startups, small and medium-sized enterprises to expand the Brazilian market. If you have any questions you can ask me or my colleague Steve.

I said eight mistakes just now, why mention the ninth one? The ninth more common mistake is that people always behave like everyone else. Don't go the other way, it's better if you can surprise your customers.

We have to constantly think of some new ways to improve the existing business, try our best to improve the training level, provide better service and customized service to customers, we do some different things in the factory to improve ourselves. Find a good partner, such as a good partner like Global Sources.