Four Steps to an Effective Marketing Strategy

The international trade environment is not what it used to be. "Made in China" urgently needs to be transformed. How can foreign trade companies create their own development strategies? Global Sources, together with its "CEConline", continues to create a series of "Outsmart the Future" export forums, providing an excellent exchange and learning platform for foreign trade enterprises. Ms. Li Mizhen, Director of Overseas Marketing Department of Xiamen Lilin Technology Co., Ltd., gave a speech entitled "Marketing Strategy under the New Situation" at the Guangzhou Station of the Forum.

Xiamen Lilin Technology Co., Ltd. is the largest domestic supplier of building intercom and digital home system equipment in China. It has won the titles of "China Famous Brand" and "China Famous Trademark", and is the only company in the industry to win these two awards. , the comprehensive strength ranks among the top three in China's building intercom industry.

Li Mizhen: Through my understanding, companies in Guangdong and companies in Fujian are very different in terms of business philosophy and industry. Our company was established in 1991, the international standard of our industry was drafted in our company last month, and we are the leading unit. We are the winner of the double honors of China Famous Brand and China Famous Trademark, and also one of China's top ten security brands. At present, we have 37 branches in China, more than 200 service networks, and more than 40,000 intelligent communities. We currently occupy a total of about 20%-25% of the domestic market. We entered the overseas market in 2006 and 2007 and have now exported to more than 80 countries.

How is the current foreign trade situation?

What kind of economic situation are we currently in? There are two markets, one is the supplier and the other is the customer. We need to study the market strategy under the new economic situation from the characteristics of the suppliers, that is, what changes in the economic environment we are facing. China's position in the manufacturing industry has changed. More people understand this change as rising labor costs that lead to rising manufacturing costs. In fact, we often feel that labor costs are among the changes. We also found that our entire industrial chain has matured in China. In fact, it is also changing. Maybe our entire industry chain was not as mature as it is now 20 years ago, so we must see a very optimistic side while being very pessimistic.

In many industries, we will feel that we are becoming more and more pessimistic. Some people say that Vietnam is better than us in the investment environment. Is that really true? Not necessarily, this time Vietnam's anti-China is also a help to us, so I don't think it is a very pessimistic change when I watch it very pessimistically. When the external situation is changing, we are pessimistic or optimistic. This is the first indivual.

Second, technological transformation. If someone asked me which industry I was in two years ago, I would have told them that I was in the security industry. People asked you which industry you were in at noon today, and I said I was a smart home. It's not that our company intentionally changed, it's that our company's products have really changed because of technological changes. The scariest thing now is that when people asked me who my competitors were two years ago, I said it was Aifen from Japan and TTP from Italy.

Today I'm telling you, I've suddenly grown taller because my competitors have become Google, iPhone, I'm not bragging, because they're all doing smart homes, they've become my competitors, I can't Do not compete in the market with them on the same stage.

Third, international giants compete. In the past, we could compete with him to do what we could count in our industry. Now when our suppliers come to publicize, they say "we are the largest building equipment supplier in the world", but today I dare not say so, because GOOGLE has become my competitor, dare I say it is the biggest? Our customers have changed and the environment has also changed, which is reflected in: 1. There are more choices for suppliers. Ten years ago, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Malaysia did not have this complete industrial chain, so there were no suppliers at that time. But now he can go to Vietnam, Malaysia, Bangladesh to choose, he has more options for him.

2. The market risk has increased due to the transformation of technology. An order may have been placed two years ago. For the formulation of this product, he may have told you to ask for 10,000. Today, he dares not, because this product is bought today. Ten thousand, it may not be popular after a while. In the first two years of our industry, Bluetooth was very popular. Every customer told me that your competitors use Bluetooth technology. Why don't you? Can you do it or what is the problem? I was thinking about whether I should do it or not. For my guests, I can't tell him that I don't do it, why don't you do it. If I do it, I will buy 10,000 pieces. Would you dare to buy it? If I follow it, I will fail, because there is no market for this thing. If I invested a lot of manpower and material resources and all resources to develop this thing, the cost will rise. My customers will buy this thing and sell it in the market, he Can you get a market? Because of the large changes in products caused by technological transformation, the market risk of my customers is very large, and the current orders will become smaller and smaller, and in turn, there will be some changes in supplier demand.

Third, the competition is getting more and more fierce, and the competition in our customer market is also very fierce. Only you realize that the competition in the customer market is fierce. How can we help your customers and let them win in the fierce market competition? There are several questions we need to understand from the market and the mutual understanding of customers how to do this.

Four Steps of Effective Marketing Strategy

The following four parts will discuss the changes in marketing strategy.

The first one is market demand. We need to do what the market needs first, that is, the target product. Under the new economic situation, we ask for more details, what are the consumption habits of this market, and we also need to understand the consumption of the other party. What is the ability. Many people say that overseas markets, whether they are the same in overseas markets, and whether their consumers can afford it, everyone said that going out, we found that things in the United States are cheaper than ours, so what is its consumption power? I often joke, everyone thinks that Africa is poor, but it is rude to say that the things we sell in Africa are the most expensive, because he knows what my things are. For him, the products I eliminated may be very new to him. My pricing will not be set based on the average level of the country. It depends on where my product is sold and who the consumer group is. Calculate the GDP of that country, calculate the average height, and calculate the average height of Pan Changjiang and Yao Ming. What is the spending power of your target consumer group?

Second, lock your target customers, who do you want to sell your stuff to, not who will buy my stuff, who are your target customers and who you want to sell to, you should research these people , what kind of product your customers will buy, and what kind of price this person can accept.

So it is only after your target customers are locked in that you can differentiate your products in more detail. Just like we want to do the Middle East market, it turns out that we have a very small function, which is broadcasting. One thing is installed in four rooms. I can speak, but the people in these four rooms can’t answer. We didn’t do this function at first. I went in, and later my client told me that I had to, but he didn't tell me why. Later, they told me that because there are many Muslims in the Middle East, one of them has several wives, and it must be fair to the wives, because they have faith The country, when I marry the second wife, I must get the consent of the first wife. They hold a family meeting. I have a notice that the Quartet has heard all. This thing is necessary for them, and there is nothing to discuss. of. Therefore, only by targeting target customers can we analyze them in detail. This function is completely unnecessary in Germany, because he finds it very troublesome to have this function.

Third, after we have thoroughly researched these customer markets, we will come back and talk about what we can do. Maybe there are many things in the market that he needs very much, very good, so whether we can do it is very important. When we were sharing, they talked about making batteries, some said can we do it, they have personal advantages, he may have channel advantages, I may have product advantages, he may have network advantages, can you imitate this content? come out. Now the question we are talking about is whether we can build, and gradually we have higher and higher requirements for team building. When we were chatting with Global Sources yesterday, the quality of Chinese bosses is improving. Ten years ago, the boss patted his head and finished it. Now we talk about marketing strategies. In the past, market and sales were considered the same, but now the market is the same. It has been separated from sales. What kind of people do we use for team building in the market? What kind of people do you want? Whether it is a fresh graduate, someone with experience, or someone who has the ability to build a team, you have to choose What kind of person matters. The second is product development. The third is to improve the system.

Fourth, market means, one end is the supplier, the other end is the market, they have personal information, how to transfer the information to each other is the most effective and cost-effective. Including print advertisements, electronic networks, exhibition visits, etc.

First of all, let's talk about the needs of customers. When we talk about customer needs, we will immediately think of price, quality, delivery time, payment method, and some also say that the quality of personnel, professionalism, etc. will be put forward. When we see these words, we think, do we still need price? For example, for $5, he has been haggling with you and it becomes $4.50. Does he really want the price? No, customers want profit. I often say that when a customer negotiates the price with you, you have to calculate how much your product occupies in his total cost. Because I myself work part-time, didn't you say "Boss, he said the price is too high", the boss said "There is no need to lower the price", well, it's a dead end, must it be like this? No, customers want profit. You go to discuss with the customer, if you want me to lower the price, how much is it when you sell it, we will discuss how to do it after pushing it backwards. Quality, do guests have to be quality? What he wants is cost-effectiveness, find a balance point, if you sell a thing for ten years and it will not break, if you still do it or not, what else do you do? If it is not bad for ten years, there will be no market. Why do I use ten dollars to make 100 points? Might as well do 90 points for nine dollars. Let's analyze one by one. When a customer asks you for a demand, what is his real demand? It may not be the customer who tells you to ask for price, quality, delivery time, and payment method. What is hidden behind him is what our real salesperson really needs. excavated. So we have to think about what the guests want, the requirements that the guests put forward one by one, the functional requirements, the latest requirements, what does he want later? Some people say that what the customer wants is the price. I don't know what he wants. If you don't know, how can we get this information.

How do I get this information? Between people, I never think that customers are gods. I have been doing foreign trade for more than ten years. Our company started with domestic sales. I think the Chinese have achieved the ultimate in sales skills. I use my In his spare time, he was moved by being a nanny for him, and then he bought things from me. This is a service concept that many bosses emphasize. I told my team that we don’t do this kind of thing, the customer is not our god, you Only by correctly recognizing that the customer is not your god can you correct your attitude when negotiating a business, and our entire cooperation can become benign. Don’t put it in the position of God. A one-time compromise makes it difficult for your business to do business. Your cost is extremely high, but one day, what should you do when he forces you to do it? When we talk to customers, we must first think that buying and selling is a very equal process, and it must be very equal. If there is no such correct concept to hold him as a god, one day the glass will be broken. Yes, because you can't make unlimited concessions, you can't make it, and when you can't make it, he still has to buy it from someone else. 2. We often have a mentality. We used to think that foreigners are really stupid. Foreigners can make good money. They are all European and American guests. If you fool around, he seems to really believe you, but we need to know that the guests are very smart. , he's not really stupid, it's because we have different cultural backgrounds, he chose to trust you, but the cost of believing you to break it up is huge, so you have to believe that your guests are very smart, and when we fight for equality You must respect each other and your guests, so that every word you say is responsible. This respect includes our saying "NO". Many customers report to us that the Chinese companies they encounter make them very confused. Every time they leave work, they say "Yes, of course" to them. When it comes to commitment, they keep saying "" I'm sorry, but..." The client said he didn't know what was going on as long as he heard this. Customers are very committed to commitment, we should be more cautious when making commitments.

Text wishes on their holidays, greetings on holidays. What I want to emphasize is your value. These services are very important. This is a sales skill, but not a sales method. If your service can make money for him, I think this is the most important. Therefore, when we are doing it, we often emphasize one point with my team. Before your order is signed, if you talk to the customer about this thing, how you plan to sell it, where do you sell it, how do you sell it, and how do you sell it? To whom, and how you price, we discuss together as you get market information. If we analyze, the information makes the customer feel valuable, and the service that he can make money will be more attractive to the customer. When we emphasize service, we provide a service that allows customers to earn money, which may be more realistic than parents who babysit him on weekends. If you want to treat the customer as God, you must make your service valuable, one is virtual respect, and the other is that he can make money. Why do customers do business? We want to make money, and the customer also wants to make money. Your behavior is to allow him to make money.

A very important point of this behavior is whether we are doing business with each other or what we are doing. The one we are emphasizing now is that you are doing business and we are buying and selling. If we are just doing business, you will make money today. I make money and then leave. Under the new economic situation, we have to cooperate, not just simple transactions, but also to cooperate with each other. Only with the concept of cooperation, the previous market information will be told to you. It is a community of interests. You can make money only if the customer can make money. Don’t think that you can leave the company after making money. When the customer knows that you want to make money and leave, you don’t know that the customer already knows, and you think he doesn’t know. We need to make buying and selling into a market behavior, and turn the original sales behavior into a market behavior, and the sustainable development of the market may be more lasting.

At this point I wondered who our target customers are? Who do you sell to? Some are sold to large supermarkets, because only when we know who the target customer is, can we know what to do in the future, whether it is a large supermarket or an electronic chain store, or a retailer, or an engineering company, or a developer, or something on the e-commerce network. , Do you want to do these markets, who are your target customers, and whoever buys from you, you have to sell them to him, maybe some of them are short-term interests.

Our company can maintain this growth every year, and we have achieved substantial growth every year. I came to this company from another company. During the negotiation, our boss can't understand English, but he can understand a word "NO", he said that a negotiation sounds unbearable, I said why, he said that although I don't know what you are talking about, but I heard you say "no", I said that we can't meet the requirements of the guests, And there are some things we can do and we have to tell him that they can't do it, because the customer's harvest exceeds the expected value, it is called satisfaction, it does not mean that the better I serve, he feels good, not like this, set his expectations and tell him about me What can be achieved, that distance is satisfaction. At this time, tell him what I can do. When we were doing it, we would not sell it to end customers. I would not sell some people because it would disrupt the market. So it's important to target who your target customers are. In today's competitive situation, it's not that you can sell to anyone who buys from you. This is our philosophy at that time.

A talent management approach for foreign trade companies

What should we do? There are two directions: one is the company, what the company should do, and what the salesmen should do, because many of the people here are bosses, I would like to say one thing from my heart as a worker, one point is that the boss is very important, "what the boss doesn't want to do Xi Jinping can't do anything either." Because all the resources are in his hands, you tell him what to do, but the boss says he won't do it, and you have no choice at all. As salesmen, how do we transform market information to the boss, and how do we make the boss feel that the information you provide is effective? This is actually what our salesmen should do. Some salespeople feel very helpless and tell the boss that he won't listen. Have you ever thought about how you pass the market information to the boss and why your boss won't listen. Our boss started out in domestic sales. When I told him something, he was very angry. For example, in the Indian market, many people said that the Indian market needs low prices. We are now selling very well in the Indian market, and the prices are not low. I told him, "We have a device that we don't want." Our boss said why not. Later, I took the picture to him and said, when we go home, press the button of the host when the doorbell is pressed. I told the boss that this is not necessary, the guest Say no, the boss said that this guest must be nonsense, he is not in this business, he does not understand. The boss's business is successful and feels that what he said is right. Then I took a photo and told him why not. The Indians are chatting with a bunch of people at each door. There are two or three people at the door opening the door for you. You don’t need to press to enter. You have to convert it to the boss, let him accept the need for a method, how you tell your boss is very important.

As an enterprise, the first thing you have to do is to standardize. As a buyer, no matter how big the company is, this company needs a management system. Now the buyer does not think that your company is reliable because your sample is OK. Many companies need to inspect the factory, but the factory inspection is not an inspection. Factory, in fact, your factory is big or not. As long as the production capacity meets my needs, it will be OK. He inspects the factory to check whether your management is sustainable. Your current batch is OK, and the next batch is OK. . The second is institutionalization. Only by institutionalizing your personnel can a company be stable, and only by institutionalizing your products can it maintain continuous stability. For our business staff, many people asked me if I could speak English and would do export sales, and I bluntly said, "According to what you said, will you do domestic sales as long as you are not dumb?" With such a way of understanding, people will feel that my words are very rude, and it is like this. Twenty years ago, many bosses who could not speak a word of English could do well in exporting, but today they feel a lot of pressure. Today, customers may tell you how to develop in the future, what competitors are like, and how to build channels. He may ask you some questions, can you give him guidance, he can give you guidance, when you talk about these topics, if you talk about price, you have already reached a dead end, we have nothing to talk about, how much we talk about you Price, how much is my price, when the computer presses yes or no, the added value of my product is to buy an expectation for the customer, which requires your company to be very professional. Second, the business ability and professional ability of business personnel are very important. Then there is professionalization. We went to the Middle East to talk, and a person asked me a very interesting phenomenon. He said that I would discuss with you a question, why there are more girls in sales in China, and then I made a joke with him, because overseas Buy more boys. We only have two girls in Xiamen, why are there more boys in your team, aren't you afraid? I say because my team is not looking for sales. My graduate study is economics, and I have never studied English. I am joking now. Among engineers, I have the best English. In our team, I have the strongest technology. Now salesmen require comprehensive ability. When I went to the UK in 2008, the customer didn't tell me anything at first. He picked me up to his company. We were connected by a system. At that time, something broke, so I picked it up. I Picked up, it really doesn't work. Then he told me if I could return it, and he said is your item rubbish? I said you can't say that my stuff is garbage. He said that if you can't pick it up today, I won't ask you to refund the money, but please take your stuff down and throw it in the trash can. In fact, this is a humiliation of Chinese manufacturing. At that time, I told the salesman not to be too afraid. I told him that the item you bought was still there. equipment. I said it doesn't matter, my stuff works without that stuff. At that time, we had our salesman pick it up, and then it really worked. Later, I told my guests, no matter whether we cooperate in the future or not, but I want to tell you that "Made in China is not garbage", it is impossible for anyone's products to be 100%, and we have broken something as simple as this technology. It's our fault, but it doesn't mean all my stuff is bad, the other system is working as usual. The guest said, no problem, let's go. This client has a very close working relationship with us now. At that time, I cried all the way out, I was very wronged, and that kind of grievance came from being humiliated by a kind of national pride. After I came back, I was very angry, so I sent these things to him with PI, and I said to refund the broken part of the money to you. Now we have a very close cooperation.

Tell everyone through this example that we need to know your product very well when we sell something, if you don't know it will be very embarrassing when you visit customers, because you represent your company or even your country. The comprehensive quality requirements of salespersons are very high. How can we improve our skills so that people will not think that as long as they can speak English, they can do sales. This concept must be broken.

The last point is how to communicate the information of the two parties to each other. There are many market means, including the Internet, magazines, exhibitions, and visits. Because we go through the agent channel, visits are the most effective for us. I told the salesman not to send emails if it's all right, you would be foolish if the guest set you up on a blacklist one day, and you wouldn't know if he set you up on a blacklist. Our services are valuable, and when our market means go out, it must be valuable. We have to calculate how much money we spend going out and what we can get. For example, network, which network is more cost-effective, Alibaba or Global Sources. Which magazine is the most cost-effective. Which exhibition to attend. For example, for emerging markets, which exhibition is cheaper, I will participate in it, but for professional markets, you need to participate in professional exhibitions. For markets that already have customers, what form of cooperation do you and customers take to participate in exhibitions? We often participate in exhibitions, what kind of exhibitions do you participate in? The exhibition, in what form, this is very important. There are also visits. At present, it may be very effective to combine our visits and exhibitions in the market. Because we do the market like this, we think it is a more effective method, because we have our industry characteristics.

I would like to share with you a few topics today, one is what the market needs, the other is how do we get this market information, and the third is how do we know what to do. Knowing ourselves and others, knowing what others do, what we are going to do, and how to communicate information to each other.