Solve the Six Problems of Export Enterprises_x000D_

What is the biggest challenge your company faces in the international market?

Not long ago, the CEConlines website conducted a survey on this topic. It can be seen from the results that more than 1/3 of the voters chose talents who lacked international management and related experience, indicating that the problem of talents has also become the primary problem facing enterprises engaged in foreign trade operations; excluding talents, 11.18% And 12.84% of the voters chose the question of establishing channels and brands in the international market, the two are almost tied for second; the third major problem is the product issue, choosing "too low technical content" and "too low degree of differentiation" The voters of 9.94% and 8.49% respectively; in addition, threats from competitors and the general environment, too high requirements from customers, cultural differences, etc. are also some of the factors that cause headaches for exporters.

Talents, brands, channels and products, it can be seen that the top problems faced by exporters are actually problems faced by domestic enterprises. However, factors such as trade barriers and cultural differences with the nature of exporting enterprises are ranked at the bottom of the export challenge, which actually reflects the lack of management experience and methods of exporting enterprises. In the long run, the issue of cultural differences will become more and more prominent with the intensification of economic globalization.

Six major problems of export enterprises

Problem 1: The mentality of quick success In the practice of many export enterprises, short-term operations such as fierce price competition and destruction of intellectual property rights are common. Driven by interests, corporate vision, understanding of the market, talent training plans, and investment budgets are all out of the question. The exaggerated mentality directly leads to a series of problems such as the lack of superior talents, the difficulty of establishing a brand, and the weak products.

"There are many examples of export companies with impetuous mentality. Many exporters told me that they didn't want to diversify at first, but after reaching a certain scale, people will ask you why you don't have your own business? At this time, his The mentality has changed." said Zhu Wei, associate professor of Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade, "this actually reflects the mentality of the whole society."

Problem 2: Lack of talents "At present, most of the new enterprises engaged in international trade are production-oriented. Enterprises, they are different from professional foreign trade companies with many years of experience in international trade and talent pool, and they are also different from foreign-funded enterprises that originally have the background and experience of international operation. For these enterprises, how to enter the international market? The first step is to find international management talents, which is undoubtedly the top priority." Dr. Deng Xu of Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade said.

Talent is always the number one concern in running a business. For export enterprises, the number of talents with international quality determines the profitability and development ability of the enterprise. However, many export companies are reluctant to spend time training employees, and the struggle between poaching and anti-poaching has triggered a vicious circle of low employee loyalty. "I have done a lot of training over the years. It is very interesting that the basic training can never be completed, and there is almost no in-depth training. Because companies think that training people is too meaningless, and the loss is too large." Zhu Wei said.

Problem 3: Don't know yourself and the target market. Only after you have your own talent team will the company really face the problems and problems of international operation, that is, how to strengthen the competitiveness of your company.

From the practice of some export enterprises, the lack of understanding of themselves and the target market is the main reason that affects the competitiveness of export enterprises. What is the position of the company in the domestic market? Why export? Why export? Many export companies have not thought about such a problem. As a result, export companies do not know how to compete in the market, their product R&D capabilities are not strong, companies lose customers or acquire customers quickly, and it is difficult for brands to be recognized.

Question 4: How to build brands in mature markets without strategic brand management tools? How to maintain the continuous vitality of the brand? Such seemingly simple questions, export enterprises may not be able to answer.

Compared with China's rapidly developing market environment, most markets in Europe and the United States have entered a mature stage, and the overall growth is relatively slow. For new entrants to gain market share, they must offer differentiated value to consumers. This requires enterprises not only to be keenly aware of the potential needs of customers, but also to continuously invest in product development and innovation. This is undoubtedly a big challenge for Chinese companies that have long focused on the market rather than R&D.

Problem 5: Lack of Necessary Marketing Skills For Chinese manufacturers, the lack of overseas distribution channels and service networks, as well as the lack of promotion and advertising expertise, make it difficult for the company's products to gain a foothold in the Western market.

For Chinese export enterprises that are not technologically superior, the backwardness of marketing level will be fatal.

Question 6: Product advantage is not strong Many multinational companies in mature markets have excellent management experience, but in fact, products with patent or non-patent technology support are the strong backing for them to travel around the country. In contrast, many export companies in China at most have technical products that meet the requirements of the Chinese market, but do not have enough strength to do research and development in foreign local markets.

Six Inspirations for Solving Problems

How to solve the problems faced by export enterprises? From the experience of some successful exporters and the advice of experts, we can get some inspiration.

Revelation 1: Correct the mentality and do a good job in the preliminary investigation work. It is very important for the development of the enterprise to have a correct mentality for the top leaders of export enterprises. At present, due to the short period of time, there are not many very successful export enterprises in China. Although some companies' products have a relatively high market share in foreign countries, many are also affected by price factors. If you observe domestic multinational companies, you will find that the common point of successful multinational companies is to be steady and steady, relying on mature management skills to improve the market competitiveness of their products.

Procter & Gamble is one such company. At the beginning of entering the Chinese market, Procter & Gamble has conducted market research throughout China for two years, trying to establish a sufficient and clear concept of the target market and consumer groups.

In order to gain a deeper understanding of Chinese consumers, P&G has established a complete market research system in China, conducted consumer tracking and tried to establish a lasting communication relationship with consumers. Not only that, P&G's market research department in China has established a huge database, which timely analyzes and feeds consumer opinions to the production department, so as to produce products that are more suitable for Chinese consumers.

The modernized distribution, storage and transportation center, strategic distributor network, and personalized brand building methods have enabled P&G to successfully occupy the dominant position in China's daily chemical industry, and it has also become a classic case in many management textbooks.

Revelation 2: Self-cultivation of talents There is no loyalty to the enterprise in the struggle against poaching and anti-poaching, and salary becomes the only condition for negotiation. It can be seen from the cases of competitive export enterprises that insisting on cultivating talents independently and creating a good environment for talent development are an important magic weapon for the success of these enterprises.

Nanhai Zhixing Aluminum Alloy Products Co., Ltd. was founded by Gao Zhiwei and his partners in 1993. The company began to develop overseas markets in 1995, and the annual output value has reached 20 million US dollars last year. The number of employees has grown from more than 50 in those years to more than 1,200 now. Talking about the company's progress in the past few years, Gao Zhiwei believes that the stability of talents is very important. "When customers want to obtain the information they want in the shortest possible time, foreign trade personnel with professional knowledge can meet their requirements." Gao Zhiwei said, "These customers will not only send inquiries to one supplier. If If they can't satisfy them, even if there is a large and lucrative order in front of them, the company will not be able to follow."

In Nanhai Zhixing, many people from business department managers to grass-roots employees are veteran employees who have worked for several years. . According to Gao Zhiwei, a business manager joined the company in 1998 and was poached by seven or eight companies, but chose to stay here. "He told me that the salaries offered by other companies are indeed very attractive, but he feels that he is very happy here and should have a better development in Nanhai Zhixing. He said that although other companies pay high money, But maybe after a year or two, that company will be gone, or if you use me, you won't want me anymore. I'm very relieved to hear that."

Although it is a small export company, Namhae Jisung There is still a lot of emphasis on internal communication. Gao Zhiwei often shares his thoughts on company management, his experience abroad, and his analysis of the market situation to management cadres. "In the company, I am friends with everyone. It is important to treat each other with sincerity," said Gao Zhiwei.

For export enterprises, cultivating talents largely means cultivating the skills to operate and manage effectively in a cross-cultural environment. Peter Handal is the global CEO of the internationally renowned leadership development and training organization "Carnegie Training". In his view, mastering a foreign language is only the first step, and more importantly, understanding the culture of other countries. For example, Chinese people pay attention to euphemism when dealing with others, while Americans are different and more rigid. If Chinese business leaders had a little understanding that that's the American way of doing things, they wouldn't be offended. For another example, in the culture of South America, the concept of time is not strong, which is very different from that of New Yorkers. "If you make an appointment with a South American to start a business at 2.45pm, I'm not surprised that they'll call you at 3.30pm," he said.

How do I develop cross-cultural skills? Handal made several suggestions. The first is experience. "The more you deal with foreigners, the more you know about them and how to deal with them." He suggested that Chinese companies should boldly send managers abroad to manage the company's international business or branches. "This is definitely a good way to cultivate. Managers live in that culture directly, and their experience and understanding of it are very detailed and in place." The second is to learn about foreign cultures through TV programs. "For example, the CNN cable network program, can explain American culture very well, because you can see the real way of American behavior on the screen." In addition, reading books and newspapers and the Internet are also better ways to understand the culture of other countries.

Inspiration 3: Find a shortcut to building a brand It is said that there is no shortcut to building a brand. Building a successful brand requires at least two generations of unremitting efforts. However, under the circumstance that the overall management level of domestic enterprises is not high, there are still some skills or shortcuts to gain the first foothold for building a brand in overseas markets.

McKinsey China consultants have offered two models for Chinese companies that want to build their brands in overseas markets: The first model is to use a step-by-step approach to bring Chinese exports overseas through independent distributors for discount channels market.

In the United States, for example, mass-market retailers control more than half of the consumer electronics market. At the same time, the number of merchants that manufacturers sell to and compete with is shrinking, manufacturers have less control over pricing, and retailers are looking for different brands and products. If these products can provide better profits and give consumers a reasonable price, retailers will easily accept them.

With the gradual advancement of this approach, Chinese companies will gain awareness of customer behavior and build brand awareness.

The second model is to buy a brand that has already been established in a foreign country but is in decline, and then relocate the brand's production operations to China, benefiting from lower labor costs.

In addition, Dr. Chris Styles, professor of marketing at the University of Sydney, Australia, also provided two ways for brand internationalization.

The first is to occupy the market segment first, and then extend the brand to other markets. When Haier first entered the U.S. market, it did not fight against its competitors directly, but saw the market demand for refrigerated appliances in American university dormitories, and successfully occupied this market area first. In the process, Haier has mastered the behavior habits and ways of some consumers, acquired some sales channels, and improved its product capabilities accordingly. Now the company is using the resources it has mastered to start to participate in the competition of mainstream products .

Another export, practiced by many Taiwanese companies, is to obtain licenses for successful brands. Once the manufacturer can meet the quality and marketing standards of the brand, it can negotiate with the brand for the right to use the brand.