How to make money from the desertified foreign trade market?

Source/Zhisheng Future Export Forum Shenzhen Station

Organization/Wang Miao (Intern)

Panelists:

Greg Fisher : Berkeley Sourcing Group CEO

Mr. Zeng Yu, Chairman of Shenzhen Galaxy Fengyun Network System Co., Ltd.;

Mr. Shuai Dian, Deputy General Manager of Shenzhen Xinmaolong Circuit Co., Ltd.;

Mr. Yin Huahong, Shenzhen Kerui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd.;

Moderator:

Pei Ke is the publisher of "CEConline"

About foreign trade business management

"CEConline": Both of them are elites in this industry. Could you please introduce your company's products and market in detail?

Yin Huahong: I'm from Kerui Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. We make single products for smart home, such as smart sockets. As far as the market is concerned, 12 customers were sold at the exhibition in April, and more than a dozen are under negotiation. At the same time, we also went to the United Kingdom, Brazil, India, Dubai and other countries to participate in the exhibition. To be honest, Global Sources Exhibition will be the first exhibition for our company in the future.

Shuai Dian: I am from Xinmaolong Circuit Co., Ltd. We are the traditional circuit board industry. Maintaining the stability of quality is our innovation point. Our circuit board industry is a very basic industry, including the Internet of Things just mentioned. The Internet of Things must use hardware. Our circuit boards are the foundation and matrix of hardware.

▲ In the discussion of the guests at the Shenzhen Station of the Zhisheng Future Export Series Forum

"CEConline": What do you think of your company's positioning and advantages? Why do customers work with you?

Yin Huahong: We should be at the forefront of the industry in terms of design, because we have an excellent R&D team.

Shuai Dian: In the past few years, the entry threshold for our industry was not very high, so there was overcapacity. We made some changes, hoping to locate a sample, small batch factory in an industry. Because in high volume orders, we simply can't compete with the giants. In terms of samples and small batches, I hope that the company has a thousand customers, and each customer can make 50,000 to 100,000 yuan. At the same time, we also need O2O, online and offline promotion. After realizing this, we cooperated with Global Sources.

"CEConline": What new changes have taken place in the global foreign trade market recently?

Shuai Dian: I believe that many of the people here today are engaged in foreign trade business. Some customers can bring you a lot of orders, and at the same time put a lot of pressure on you. You are very worried about such a big customer. What if it is lost? And now there are many small buyers in the market, and the market has gradually fragmented. If we can find more small buyers, we have to accept them, because these small customers don't make us worry and worry all day long. In addition, the entire company will consider financial risks and order balance. I personally think that fragmented customers are an opportunity.

Yin Huahong: Our company is slightly different, and the orders are indeed becoming more and more fragmented. If our company encounters a customer whose order volume is too small, we will suggest him to go to Yidai, Tao.bao or Amazon to buy.

"CEConline": The profit of the foreign trade market is getting thinner and thinner. In such a desert that is getting drier and drier, how should we deal with it?

Zeng Yu: I remember someone saying that blasting a gap in the Himalayas could turn the desert in the northwest into an oasis. What I'm talking about is a strategic issue. What the Internet brings to the industry is an upgrade. This upgrade can enable companies that can be seized to develop from no brand to a third-tier brand, a second-tier brand, or even a first-tier brand. On the contrary, if you can't catch it, it may even disappear from the first line to the second line. We need to rely on innovation to enhance our corporate competitiveness. The ability of an enterprise lies in the vitality in its bones. It is important to find out how to change, how to take root and blossom and bear fruit in the new Internet environment.

Yin Huahong: On the one hand, we will get some customer demand information through email. In addition, participating in the exhibition is also a good choice. At the exhibition, you can know some specific requirements of customers for us. Many customers also sincerely tell us the direction of improvement. Our R&D director will solve the problems raised by customers on the spot.

"CEConline": The loss of employees in the foreign trade industry is very serious. How can we give employees a sense of belonging and achievement through innovative methods? How can traditional enterprises break through traditional management methods?

Zeng Yu: Keeping up with the general trend is the most important thing, because choosing the wrong direction may bring huge losses. Let's talk about a recent incident. A company insisted on doing something, and finally did something worthless. Is it possible to solve this wrong direction with some management methods? I don't think it can be solved. When a company reaches a certain scale, it is an aircraft carrier. If it goes in the wrong direction and enters a minefield, no one can pull it, so the direction is very important.

Shuai Dian: I discussed it with Mr. Yin below. He told me that his employees are mostly women born in the 1990s, which means that there are problems with having children and raising children. To be close to employees, there should be no sense of distance, and there should be lasting and meticulous communication with employees, moisturizing things silently. As the owner of the company, I really hope that employees can get married in our company, have children, have children, and continue to work in our company. As for the middle method and method, it may be different from person to person, and it needs to be deeply understood.

Yin Huahong: Almost every company is faced with this problem, and now it is basically the post-90s generation. If you want to retain employees, corporate culture is very critical. You must have a good corporate atmosphere, care about your employees, grow together with your employees, so that the foreign trade salesman has a good growth space, and let him have a sense of identity with the company.

Greg Fisher: I think recruiting and retaining talent is really the same as building a brand, just the content is different. In terms of brand, we need to establish a good mechanism, and in terms of talents, it is the compensation mechanism. It is the same as the approach of brands. When building a brand, we look at what kind of needs they have. When doing human resources, we need to look at what kind of talents are needed, and how can we find talents with long-term retention. My company is the same, we have employees of different ages, but we will set up different compensation mechanisms according to different positions.

"CEConline": If the order quantity is small, but the customer's requirements are diversified and the price is low, how can we meet the customer's requirements?

Yin Huahong: We should choose to lose weight, that is, to reduce product categories. We might sell 100 products originally, but now we may only sell 15 products. In other words, customers only choose from these 15 models.

Shuai Dian: When encountering this type of order, we will consider it according to the value of long-term cooperation with customers. If this customer is more in line with our positioning, we will cooperate with him even if there is no profit. We hope to establish a long-term customer through our competitiveness, at least in the initial stage, we will choose to do so.

About innovation

"CEConline": I heard Greg Fisher talk about a maker movement in the United States, but this movement needs creativity. I want to ask Greg Fisher, innovation Where did it come from?

Greg Fisher: I live in Silicon Valley, the paradise of the maker movement, where people are very personal, very innovative, and they believe they can create new things. Because Silicon Valley is a city with a strong cultural atmosphere of innovation, many young people from all over the world come to Silicon Valley. Some makers first started the maker movement, and later more people joined in, forming such a maker atmosphere. Innovation as I understand it starts from a fun hobby. At first, a small number of people play, and then more and more people recognize it, forming an innovative culture.

"CEConline": How does the company build a culture of innovation step by step? As a team, with such an innovative idea, how to implement it step by step?

Zeng Yu: In a sense, culture is accumulated over thousands of years, including the influence of social environment and economy. Let me give an example. I went to the United States in 2000. At that time, I was in the 2B business, and I liked to invite people to eat and drink. I also did the same when I arrived in the United States. While we are doing American business, Americans are doing our business. In fact, it is interactive, just like today's Global Sources is more like using the Chinese culture, which is in line with Chinese personality. A few days ago, I went to a party at the maker center. It was a cultural interaction. I think it is the foundation that conforms to the characteristics of the talents and the genes of the company itself. You should find someone to play with, who is reliable, so that you can win. It is like looking for a partner. If you find the wrong partner, you may get divorced, so I think it will be more realistic to find a reliable person and use the culture you have in your bones.