Innovative Trade

Change is rule of life and innovation is in every industry anymore. Due to enlarging needs of last users, companies allocate a lot of sources for adaptation to new trends. Exporter and importer companies have to join this movement too. International trade cannot be stable while all industries around are changing and developing. Innovation can be in two forms in trade operations:

·         Product innovation

·         Process innovation

·      Product innovation: People don’t buy products but needs and they are always changeable. Companies need to understand what exactly existing and potential customers look for and this can be attained only according to feedbacks from customers. Therefore, continuous communication is a very essential part of international trade. On this perspective, we have to change our perception of export and import, which is only consist of selling and buying. We should start innovation in our mind first.

Process innovation: Beside product adaptation, companies need to look over process they follow in international trade. Most important issue at this point is increasing efficiency of trade model you embrace. It can be possible that applied trade pattern cannot be suitable for other sides, even though it seems to be most proper one. You can need to change methods of transportation and communication and way to reach new clients continuously.   

Best source of innovation is first-hand information, which can be only obtained existing and potential customers in industry. For this purpose, you need create large networks to keep information flow alive. Networking is not only about to reach new customers but to get innovative ideas as well. You know Salesupp.NET always emphasizes on: International trade is result of networking. J

INTERNATIOANAL TRADE IS NOT ONE TIME TRANSACTION: Kaizen Approach

Due to requirements of our new start-up, Salesupp.NET and industry interests, I always talk with our existing and potential users. I aim to understand what they think about b2b online platforms and how they try to reach new customers and suppliers. What I realized is actually shows that most of exporter and importer companies are not on the right way. Because, they have mind that international trade is one time transaction. But it is not! It requires continuous effort. You cannot find new customers by writing introductory emails or looking for import demands, which are generally fake or expired, on b2b marketplaces. In that case, how can we get new customers continuously and get sustainable trade?

At that point, I strongly recommend Japanese Kaizen approach. Kaizen offers continuous improvement by getting first hand information and adaptation. Information comes from networking. This method is applied by Toyota very successfully. Company has set up very effective network system with its suppliers and with this advantage, they could change way of automotive industry.

In international trade, networking as Kaizen propose is the best way to get trade leads continuously thus, to get sustainable trade. By setting up large and effective supply, sales and logistic networks and staying in contact with companies in these networks, you can get long term and very profitable export/import connections. Networking is also base of Salesupp.NET. You can get in very easily, find new companies and add them to your sales and supply networks, which you will have automatically on Salesupp.NET. It is FREE J and only thing you need to do is to sign up in a few minutes. I also recommend to check one of our previous posts:

The lean trading, http://salesuppnet.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-lean-trading.html

Achieving sustainable trade with gritty networking!

As Salesupp.NET, we always insist on networking in order to get long term sustainable trade. So, what does sustainable trade mean? Sustainable trade is cooperating with existing buyers and suppliers efficiently while at the same time adding potential buyers and suppliers into network. Once you add a new company in your network, the most important thing should be done is staying in close contact. By this way, you can run existing business while generating new ones. This is how long term sustainable trade can be achieved by networking. But, this process requires continuous effort on the contrary of what almost all companies do on online marketplaces.  International trade is not something like that you will have new business while sending same long messages and emails automatically. On this perspective, online world works like offline, which relies on personal relationships.

Last week I have read the article of Cheryl Conner from Forbes and watched speech of Angela Lee Duckworth on TED, which emphasize on being gritty to be successful. “Being gritty”! This is the word I was looking for to define sustainable trade process. So, let’s look against what we should be gritty in trade networking. 

There can be industry, market or product specified obstacles on the way of networking for sustainable trade. But, I have determined 5 big sets you should jump overJ.

- Not having plan. Beginning is the hardest part. So, take time for forecasting, correcting deficiencies and planning for future steps. I know, your plan will not go smoothly but, it will give you considerable insights.

- Questions. Networking starts with meeting with new companies in your interest field and naturally questions come with it. But, you should reply these questions by one by, not in automatic mood. Listen and reply carefully. You should value other side’s ideas and thoughts, as we always underlineJ.

- Solve problems. There can be many problems on your way. Solve them not skip. Don’t be in mood of “not that important”. This is really important to flatten your way and see the future clearly.

- Tiredness. Networking for sustainable trade is a long way. You should be patient. Gaining confidence of other companies is not easy and you should keep contacting with them.

- Down times. Sometimes your business can fluctuate. You should be resistant and not forget networking. Otherwise, when you back to your networks, you will have to show effort one more time.

Yes, networking requires being gritty. Find new companies, add them to your networks and stay in close contacts with them. These are not that easy as it is read. You should go on networking way with patient and by overcoming obstacles. After some time, things will be on their ways and you will have to spend less effort. Of course you will be achieved big gift, sustainable trade.

'True Grit': What It Takes To Succeed As An Entrepreneur: http://onforb.es/13s8fDw

The key to success? Grit: http://bit.ly/10B3REF

What do you expect from virtual trade fairs? (Comments are highly expected !!!)

Trade fairs are one of the most important parts of the international trade. Every year, a lot of trade shows are organized and millions of business people visit these fairs. These organizations generate many connections and businesses. But, on the other side they have some shortages or difficulties such as cost and time. Companies and visitors spend a lot of money and time to attend trade fairs. Ok, it is good to travelJ but, still so costly. And among all these issues, footprints of online world have shown themselves in this area as well and we have learned a new term: Virtual trade fairs. This new service can be defined as online simulation of real life trade fairs without travelling and spending high amount of money. But, can they replace real life trade fairs at least in some extent? 

We expect you to share your ideas about what you expect from virtual trade fairs.

To help you, I would like to emphasize on general benefits why companies attend and visit to real life trade fairs:

-  Companies display their new and existing products in these organizations.

- Exporter and importer companies meet with potential partners and can get new businesses.

- Companies can enlarge their networks by attending lounge room meetings and exchanging business cards.

- Companies can monitor new trends in their industries.

- Companies can monitor their rivals. 

- Taking place in trade fairs brings prestige with itself.

These are general advantages of trade fairs and we expect your comments and ideas by considering these issues. Of course, you can add more benefits you think you can get from trade fairs.  So, tell us what you would expect from a VIRTUAL trade fair in comparison with real life trade fair.

P.S. You know our motto: International trade is all about networking J and you also know the new address to create your sales and supply networks: Salesupp.NET. FREE sign up stage is open!!! Don’t be late to join the new trade world :)

Why is personalized trade better than generalized trade?

Online trade platforms are used by companies heavily due to considerable benefits they present. But, what has grabbed my attention is that when companies move to online portals, they change their classical personalized trade behaviors with generalized one. Firstly, I want to explain what personalized and generalized trades are. Let’s assume that your company needs a product, what do you do? You asked to your existing suppliers and this is what should be done. Thanks to personal contact, you know and trust them. Also, this way saves you money and time. This is what we called personalized trade, which leans to personal close contacts. But, what companies do on online trade portal is that they just throw their demands or leads out and wait for reply. Who will reply? Someone unknown. Then, we hear a lot of conflicts and complaints. Of course, most of your demands and leads will not be recognized and replied. So, this is what we called as generalized trade. I have talked many companies and realized that even though they are aware of inefficiency of generalized approach, they are not tend to change their way of doing business. Because, it is easy and quick to do. So, in this post, I will explain why personalized trade is better than generalized approach. 

-Trust issue. Having confidence against other part is essential in international trade. Having business with some companies you don’t know well, bring a lot of problems with itself. So, with personal contacts in large and effective networks, you can have healthier trade operations. You will not have to deal with fake demands, leads and companies, which existing generalized trade platforms have plenty of.

- Reply. On generalized portals, when you create a trade lead, you publish it and cannot be sure if you will be replied. Even though you are replied, you will not know the company,which is interested in your lead. So, this is another risk. But, in personalized trade, you will develop large and effective networks and be already in contact with many companies, which you can cooperate with. So, when you create a new trade lead, you will send it to companies you know and can be sure that you will be replied.

-Strategy developing. On almost every trade portal, you deal with companies you don’t know and it is not possible to contact with them continuously on these portals. A lot of companies around, you don’t who they are or whether you can trust them and you cannot stay in contact with them. Totally chaos! In this case, getting feedbacks for your products, service or promotional efforts is not that possible. We know how feedbacks are important to develop future strategy. But, in personalized approach you can get feedbacks fluently thanks to networking system and direct your efforts to more effective ways.

-Short term vs. long term. On many trade portals, you see many companies and trade leads. Most of them are not available unfortunately. Even though, you catch real import demands, probably you will have a short term trade because of potential problem due to lack of pre-communication and trust. But, in personalized trade system, you will develop close relations with other companies in large and effective networks and build trust, which will put you on long term trade direction.

Almost all existing trade portals embrace generalized approach and therefore, companies change their trade behaviors. But, Salesupp.NET is online anymoreJ. You can create your networks, set up continuous relationships with companies and get long term sustainable trade.Salesupp.NET provides you personalized trade, which is you are already used to. You shouldn’t change your classical personalized trade but you can make it more and more effective with Salesupp.NET.

How to go viral in international trade

Viral marketing is popular topic in marketing world. A well conducted viral marketing strategy can contribute a lot to awareness of your company and product. Simply, viral marketing is that reputation of a good service or product pass from person to person and thus, sphere of influence is getting larger and larger. This way of marketing fits perfectly our networking approach in international trade. In this post, I will explain how to go viral in export/import world in the scope of networking.

To run an effective viral marketing, the first thing has to be done is to create a large and effective networks (as we always insist onJ). This should be done strategically according to chosen target market and section. Once you start to develop network, you should get involved into personal close relationships. Formal and only business focused messages, emails or conversations don’t work. You better to create more friendly atmospheres. Make people trusting you! These two steps can be seen as very essential preparations. But, you should be patient. Because, they will take time. After these stages, you can follow four efficient ways to spread your company or brand:

-         -  Ask people in your networks to recommend your product or company to other people. Once they have confidence against you and your friendship, they will do it. People like to help others.

-          -  Ask people in your networks to share your link on their social media pages or in related groups. Internet is a huge world and you should take advantage of it. You will be noticed by many people by this way. If they share your link with a good comment, that will be excellent for your reputation.

-          -  Solve problems. When people have problem with your service or product, solve it in the shortest time. You should do it really sincerely like you have the same problem. Even though they have really small problems, solve them with patient and without judgment. Make them pleased with your service or product.

-          -  Don’t be ordinary. Share funny and informative videos, articles and posts. You can add interesting specifications to your products. Just do something remarkable! Business life doesn’t have to be boring always J

I know, conducting viral marketing is a time-taker process. But if you run with patient, it will bring you much benefit. Believe the power of butterfly effectJ. You know where you will start from, Salesupp.NET of course.

For more information, I strongly recommend you to watch the video and read the article below:

http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_sliced_bread.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/04/25/jonah-berger-how-to-make-your-marketing-campaigns-go-viral/

An international trade term you have to know: HS Code

Since, Salesupp.NET has became online, I contact with many company representatives, which are directly involved into international trade. On Salesupp.NET, sign up page, we ask companies to choose their products’ chapter numbers in order to classify them according to a known term on international trade (Well, at least we have thought that they should know if they export or importJ). But, it made me surprise that I have taken many questions about chapter numbers, even though it is really important to know and is required in many cases, such as online market research, transportation documents, tariffs etc. So, I have decided to explain what HS code and chapter number are in this post.

Harmonized system or HS has been developed by World Customs Organization (WOC) as 6 digits to classify commodities, which are object to international trade. It has 21 sections and 97 chapter numbers, which represent 5000 commodity classes. Chapter number is the first two digits of HS code. Chapter number 77 has been remained empty for future needs. Chapter numbers 98 and 99 are for use of Custom Administrations. So, HS code starts with chapter number. After chapter number, HS code continues with heading, which means the first four digits. The last step of HS code is sub-heading which contains all six digits of HS code. Every step is designed to specify commodities with more detail. To illustrate the issue, we better go with an example.

Let’s assume our commodity is cherry tomato (I know very specific exampleJ). Chapter number of our commodity is 07, “Edible vegetables and certain roots and tubers” (chapter number is the number you will choose on sign up page of Salesupp.NET). We go more specific and our heading number is 0702, “tomatoes, fresh or chilled”. And finally we end up with sub-heading, which is 0702.10, “Cherry”. 

HS code is a must-known term in international trade and you especially need chapter number for Salesupp.NET J Don’t forget, knowing specific terms are compulsory in networking process, which we always insist on as you remember from our previous posts. After all, international trade is profit of networking. You remember our motto, don’t you? J

For whole list of HS codes, you can check this page: 

http://www.foreign-trade.com/reference/hscode.htm

Effective communication in international trade

As Salesupp.NET (www.salesupp.net), we work hard to promote our website. Therefore, I am in contact with many businessmen/women. In this process, what I noticed is that we suffer from lack of communication. I don’t mean that we are not talking, messaging or emailing. We do much time. But still there is something missing. We don’t listen really what the other side is talking about or we don’t read the messages and emails, we receive, carefully. We are over focused on planned conversations and most of time we want to tell about our business. But, this doesn’t work. We are in international trade world and as I always insist on, the most important aspect of international trade is forming confidence between sides. This can be done only with close personal relations.

For more effective communication, there is something can be done. But, we should approach the issue in our two roles: sender and receiver. As sender we should be careful about the points below:

·       -  Don’t talk much and don’t write long. People are busy and cannot share time for long talks and messages. Try to explain yourself and your business with short words and let the other side to ask you.

·    

          -  Don’t be automatic. Being personal always works in human relations, which trade is about. Ask personal questions while talking or writing. It is not a good idea to send always same messages and emails.

·         -Find related person. This is very important issue. When you talk about your business, be sure that other side is the right person. If you deal with a person, who cannot be buyer of your products or is not in your interest field, you will just waste your time. I know this sounds weird. But, this is issue and I witnessed many time.

·         -Ask. I get many messages and emails, which are quite long and informative, but at the end of the email, there is no word about what is expected from me. Ask people what you would like them to do. If you introduce a product, ask them if they want to see and try product. Don’t say that “if you are interested in, let me know”. People are open to questions.

 As receiver, we have something to do as well:

·         -Listen and read. For better understanding, pay attention to real listening and reading. I know sometimes it can be difficult to read long messages, but at least try to catch main points. Maybe you can miss the many important issues due to this reason.

·         -Reply. Try to reply all calls and emails. This represents how much respect you show to other side. Even though, your reply is negative, tell it to people kindly. This will improve your reputation and can provide you new connections.

·        - Confirm. In your reply, confirm sender about you understand what they want to tell you. Don’t send them automatic reply (This is always problem in international trade unfortunately). When you confirm them, people will listen or read your words.

Effective communication is the most essential part of international trade. By developing close and personal relations, you can get sustainable trade. Enlarge your networks and try to stay in touch with companies as much as you can. After all, international trade is the profit of networking and close relations, as we always repeatJ

LET'S CREATE OUR TRADE WORLD ALL TOGETHER !

In my previous posts, I have always emphasized on how important having large and effective network is. You know our mottoJ: “Trade is all about human relations”. Yes, these are easy-to-say words. In international trade there are a lot of issues and details, which can be problematic. Such as physical distance. All we know that face-to-face meetings are cornerstones of builing mutual trust, which is crucial for trade. But, physical distance is matter. We have a passion: To create an online trade world. For this purpose, we have created the first form of our platform, Salesupp.NET. This is just the beginnig. We will create our trade world all together.

I want to inform you about this new platform. Firstly, you will be able to create your sales and supply networks, which is really important in order to set up continuous relations. International trade is not one day work or not a few transactions. It is a progressing  process. To get expected return you should be close to your buyer/supplier companies. Continuous relation is the key and the only way to do that is networking. You will find the best way of it on Salesupp.NET.

Ok you have high number of companies in both of your sales and supply networks. What to do then?  Salesupp.NET presents you very effective tools for communication. You can create promotional or informative “posts” or trade lead “posts” and send them to companies in your networks. Also, you can send your posts to whole your sales or supply networks by just one click.

 Let’s assume that you need a product. You already have companies in your supply networks, which you are close with thank to networking. The only thing you should do is to create a “demand” for product you need  and send them to suppliers you will choose. Again, if you wish you can send this demand to whole your supply network with one click. Is demand tool on Salesupp.NET guarantee buyer companies exact return in the shortest time and suppliers to have trustable demands? That is for sure J

Besides, these three function, you can search for companies in any country, in any chapter number or by firm name. You can monitor their pages and assess if they are appropriate business partners for you. You can message with firms in your networks at any time and keep contacting. 

You will be able to use all these functions on a very user-friendly and stylish platform. No banners, no information overolad, no many links and nothing will make you confused. As I have mentioned at the beginning of my words, this is just the initial form of our trade world. There are many other tools, which will help you, are on the way. All we need is your feedbacks. Because, we want to create a trade world with you. If you want to see anything on the platform, just tell us.

We are waiting to see as many users as possible on our website. We want to have a effective and easily affordable trade platform for all of us. So, we want to see you as signed up member. Is it enough ? No J We kindly ask you to invite your friends to our platform as well. Because, international trade is all about networking and more valuable with more companies around. 

Let’s start to create our trade world all together !!!

 

Salesupp.NET – where sustainable trade is

www.salesupp.net

info@salesupp.net

THE LEAN TRADING

Probably most of you heard that there is a popular book in entrepreneurship field, which is written by Eric Ries and called as “The Lean Startup”. It is a really great book and I strongly recommend you to read to enlarge your business mind. In this book, one of the most important points the author emphsizes on is the learning in as the shortest time as possible and developing startups according to this learning process. This will help you enourmously to reduce the time and cost while starting a new business. While I was reading, I was thinking that starting export/import operations or entering a new market also can be seen as a startup. This is exactly what Ries asserts by saying that “Entrepreneurs are everywhere”. Also, a few days ago I have read an article of Meghan M. Biro and I really like one definition in it, which is “Learning and Development (L&D)”. Both of the book and the article explain how learning and getting first-hand information are important. This is exactly the secret of success in international trade and the base of our startup,Salesupp.NET.

I always emphasizes on the importance of having large and effective networks for success in export/import. Because, international trade has highly changeable dynamics and requires continuous efforts. Therefore, setting up close relations with potential partner firms is crucial in order to follow the market you are in or interested in and to incrase profit as well. Networking is a gradual process of learning. But, at this point we can use the appraoch, which is explained in the book, “The Lean Startup”. We can test validation of market for our porducts or services by launching our minimum viable product (MVP), as it is named in the book. Our MVP is creating a limited network in target market. We can get connection with small number of suppliers and/or buyers from target country and set up intesive continuous relationships with them. By doing so, we can learn from them and decide whether to enlarge the network or to move to another country. This is not difficult to do and can save time and cost for us. 

International trade is all about networking”. This is what I always say. When you have a large and effective network, you can learn from updated information, create a trust atmosphere between you and potential/existing trade partners and increase your level of adaptation. By launching Salesupp.NET, we aim exactly to present these benefits. I am finishing my words with a new statementJ:

“International trade is profit of networking”.

ROAD MAP OF EXPORT/IMPORT FOR SMEs

A considerable part of total import and export volume arise from operations of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). These type of firms are limited in terms accumulated trade specific information, finacial sources and time, perhaps the most important one. Besides, there are some other small but time taker problems as well. So, under the light of these issues, what kind of way can SMEs follow in order to get the most effective trade ? Let’s begin with the theories (first boring parts J).

There are two mostly known trade theories for firms: The U-model (The Uppsala Theory) and the network approach. The U-model says that companies firstly operate in domestic market and then, when they reach to sufficient capacity, they can go for international operations. On the other side, network approach explains the pattern of export/import by claiming that companies can run international operations at the same time with local operations or even in some cases before local ones. I accept the second option. So, I will explain road map of export/import by considering the network approach. 

International operations seem more complicated than domestic ones and indeed, they are. First moves SMEs should do is getting required permissions and registering to institutional offices. Then, market research gets started. Determining right market to enter is very important in order to save time and cost. After maket selection, finding suppliers/buyers, the most difficult part, comes and in this post, I will explain how you can do it effectively. There various ways for this purpose such as contacting with chambers of commerce in target markets, emailing, phone calls, commercial visits and so on. However, I am a big fan of B2B portals and strongly recommend them. Because, on these portals you will find companies, which have same aims as you. So, you will not have to convince them for export/import and it will save you a lot of time. Although B2B platforms are beneficial, still there are some considerable problems such as expired or fake leads, fake companies, swindlers and low efficiency. Let’s see how to solve them.

To overcome these obstacles, what I recommend you is getting as many connections as you can via B2B portals and by the time, eleminating weak ones. By doing so, you will create your networks and then, you can divide your networks into sub-networks to make them more effective (I have explained why and how to do it in my first blog with details, “How to start to export/import” - http://bit.ly/15m2JFI ). By embracing such as approach, you can solve problems mentioned above but, of course by staying in contact with firms in your network. In this way, you will have many trustable companies in your networks and correspondingly, you will be able to reach real and updated trade leads. Even, with continuous relationships with firms in your network, you can generate new ones.

Yes I know, still there are some problems with existing B2B portals. Non of them allows you to create your supply and sales networks online. Besides they can be time taker and can be expensive. But don’t worry. Solution of these problems are on the way J  Salesupp.NET will be online on the 20^th of March. With Salesupp.NET, you will be able to create your sales and supply networks and to get sustainable trade by having continuous relationships with firms in your networks. And the best news is it will be really cheaperJ So, follow us and catch the trend: www.salesupp.net

Twitter: twitter.com/SalesuppNET

LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/13vYMQh

Facebook: http://on.fb.me/15pfjUw

To be informed more, please leave your emails to our sign up page: http://salesuppnet.kickoffpages.com/

 

How to Start to Export / Import?

The most difficult part of starting something new is the beginning. There are many questions and uncertainties about where to start, how to start, what next is and so on. This stage requires a lot of efforts and even can make you unable to sleep. So what is the solution? What can rescue you? Answer to these questions is NETWORK. Yes, I can hear your murmurs. Probably, you have expected something new, unheard or maybe magical. This is what most of us do. Instead of looking for creating something doesn’t exist, we better learn how to use what we have but perhaps in different formats.

                

So, answer for how to start export/import is the same: NETWORK. Creating network brings many benefits in international trade. You can meet many new potential customers or suppliers, can reach to real and current demands or leads and moreover, information you collect via networks will be updated and generally reliable. Besides, contacting with different people continuously can enlarge your visions about how to seize opportunities and how to run your business in more efficient ways. Ok, but question is how to create network? For answer let’s look at the video below:

Derek Sivers refers this video as a leadership lesson. But, I would like to enhance his circle and to apply similar approach in creating networks as well. In the video, first followers are defined the most important stage of starting a new movement. Similarly, first people you will have in your networks will have same effect. They will open you new point of views and attract more people to your sphere of influence. By the time you will enlarge your network with serious effort. But, the most important point in your international trade network is staying in continuous touch. This is the KEY issue. Once you have someone in your networks, you should keep contacting with them. By doing so, you can get sustainable trade and can have increasing awareness. Another point is going through specialization in your networks. You can divide your network into sub-networks in order to get highest return in exchange for your promotional campaigns. This approach will also help you to keep companies in your networks informed about what exactly they want to see.

You saw at the end of the video that the crazy dancing guy (looking crazy is always case if you start something new and unseen) had a lot of followers, as Sivers define them. I would like to portray them as companies in networks. So, you see how many they can be J Here is the road map to have such as large networks: Create your networks, look for the first companies, divide your networks into sub-networks in order to give companies what they want and set up continuous relationships with firms in your networks by keeping them informed. At the end the result will be sustainable trade for you. Sounds good? J