Introduction

If you are a newbie to importing from China, this is an article for you. For many beginners, sourcing can be such a headache since dealing with people in a different country can be so complicated, but the entire process can be much easier if you can find one good supplier. However, some good suppliers, though experienced, are also very savvy and picky. They know what questions to ask to know if you’re a customer worth maintaining. It is difficult for beginners to answer tough questions tactfully if you don’t want to show weakness. In this article, I will tell you how to attract good Chinese suppliers’ interest and give you some tips for not showing your weakness to your Chinese suppliers.

How to Attract Good Suppliers’ Interest By Answering Questions Wisely?

A good supplier can make your whole import process very smooth, but as a beginner, how to make a good supplier willing to cooperate with you? Following are some common questions suppliers may ask to judge your strengths in the early stage of communications.

What’s Your Business?

They may ask you what’s your business or do you have a website? Why do they ask this question? They are trying to find out if you have an established company and have to budget to buy. If you are a beginner, you might be a little overwhelmed. If you have no business or only have an e-mail address, then how to answer so that the supplier won’t overlook you?

Wrong Example

I have no business and I am just starting out. If you answer this way, your supplier may think that you are not an ideal customer, they may waste a lot of time on you and may not get the order, thus they may react negatively to your question. Even if you do want to buy from this supplier, you may get a higher quote later on because they think your order will be small.

Right Example

Here is an example, you may answer our family business is in the traditional retail business. We used to get a lot of products from our local suppliers, howere, now a lot of online purchasing platfroms are taking away of our many customers, thus we also want to have an attempt to wholesale products from your country at a lower price by selling online like Amzaon. It can reflect that you are a legally established company and have your own sales channels by referring your family business.

Tip

In short, if your supplier asks you about your business, company, or products, remember not to tell them the truth. If they know you are just a novice, have just started and do not have stable sales channels, a lot of experienced suppliers give up cooperating with you, because generally such suppliers do not lack orders. This is the key to raising the credibility and interest of your quote request.

How Long Have You Been Importing from China?

If you don’t have a lot of sourcing experience, the supplier can tell you especially those good but picky suppliers. In this situation, how do you take control so they don’t underestimate you.

Wrong Example

Oh, I have a lot of sourcing experience and I am familiar with this aspect.

Right Example

Instead of pretending that you have a lot of sourcing experience,you can tell them the truth. For example, you can say I was recently transferred or promoted from marketing to the purchasing function. I’m still quite new to this department, but there are a lot of good instructions in our company and they are all experienced and I’m so excited to work with you. This is to place yourself within the company.This is a hint to your supplier that you are in an established company and have the resources and money to buy the products though you don’t have much sourcing experience.

Tip

In this case, you should never pretend to have a lot of sourcing experience, because it is easy for an experienced supplier to find out that you are lying and doubt your sincerity. Instead, if you tell them that you don’t have a lot of purchasing experience, but you have experienced colleagues in your company who will support you, it will show the supplier that you are sincere, and it can also indicate to them that you are an established company.

What’s Your Budget?

Actually, they just want to find out how much money you want to spend on them.What should you do if you don’t want to be rejected by a good supplier for your small order?

Wrong Example

Deliberately exaggerating your order volume.

Right Example

You can say, honestly, I don’t know. I have to get more input from our Marketing Department and our boss on top of the previous product. Our company has a very strict policy about getting trial orders first, because the company wants to check product quality and to get more market feedback before we place a larger order. This will also let your supplier know that you are not alone in making decisions, and it will also indicate to them that you need to place a small order for trail first.

Tip

It’s okay to overstate your order volume, but don’t go so far as to undermine long-term cooperation with suppliers. You can set your own budget by multiplying your monthly maximum sales by 12. You also need to let your suppliers know that your budget is huge but your first commitment is small because of your company’s policy. This will prevent suppliers from refusing to work with you because your first order is too small, and it will also avoid the danger of stockpiling.

Final Words

As a beginner, finding a good supplier is crucial for your importing from China. Keep the mentioned tips in mind to attract good suppliers to help you. If you want to know more about how to find a good Chinese supplier, you can ask us for help.