Author: Miao Qi
Although it was a weekend, Ding Yandong, general manager of Ningbo Remax Doors and Windows Accessories Co., Ltd., who had just returned to China and was quarantined in a hotel, was still busy arranging work.
As one of the members of the country's first business round-trip charter flight to expand the market, Ding Yandong, a foreign trader, told Yicai that the overall market situation this year is not very good, and overseas factories have basically recovered. ' sense of urgency.
For this reason, he went out this time to carry samples weighing nearly 60 pounds to meet new and old customers. "It must be good to meet on the spot, and the depth of communication and sincerity are different."
During the 12-day trip to Europe, Ding Yandong went to 7 places, met 7 customers, and won orders totaling about 2 million euros (about 13.8 million yuan). It's settled", which is close to one-third of the company's annual order volume, and also stabilized the second half of the original decline. "This year is expected to be slightly lower than last year. If it is good, it will be flat, which has exceeded expectations." .
Companion Wei Guowen's itinerary in Europe is even more compact than Ding Yandong.
As the general manager of Ningbo Baolinda Import and Export Co., Ltd. and one of the 36 foreign trade people who took the country's first business round-trip charter flight, Wei Guowen took the company's original dolls to meet 10 customers, including 7 old customers, 3 new customer.
"The growth of our orders was stable in the first two years, but in the first half of this year, we found that the strength of orders has declined." Wei Guowen told Yicai.com that after a trip, the customers he visited have no problems with orders. This year Some customers will also have new orders, with a total of about 10 million euros worth of intentional orders, which also account for about one-third of the company's annual sales.
From July 10th to July 22nd, this chartered flight to the sea to "grab orders" successfully set a precedent, providing a reference for Ningbo and even the whole country.
Just one day before the first plane landed back to China, the second batch of 14 foreign trade people started a direct flight from Ningbo to Europe to "expand the market".
As the "Sixth City of China's Foreign Trade", is Ningbo's charter flight worth it?
Can it be reproduced?
In the face of a shrinking global market, what else can foreign trade people do?
grab an order
Less than two days after returning to China, Yuan Lin, who was a visitor every year before the epidemic, has quickly recovered from the jet lag.
As the general manager of Ningbo Haishu Peining International Trade Co., Ltd., Yuan Lin is in the clothing foreign trade industry that challenges the most this year.
"Orders in the first half of the year were good, but the second half of the year was particularly difficult, down 70-80% from last year." Yuan Lin told Yicai that orders in 2021 will increase, but because the original European customers were acquired during the epidemic, this year's orders began to decline severely.
The business charter provided them with the opportunity to communicate with new buyers face to face, and also stabilized the old customers.
Affected by the return of orders last year, orders in the apparel industry generally rose.
But this year, the situation has reversed - as production resumes in Southeast Asia represented by Vietnam and India, it has become difficult to "grab orders" with these regions with lower labor costs.
Yuan Lin said that because the clothing produced by the company is not a simple model of running volume, but has a relatively complex and personalized design, the situation of order transfer to Southeast Asia is not serious, but it still faces challenges such as the overall downturn and the pressure on customer inventory.
While the market cake is shrinking, due to the domestic epidemic situation and international logistics and other factors, the order delivery time is generally extended by 2 to 3 months, which also makes Yuan Lin and the others seem passive.
"Many problems existed last year. But before, customers also had epidemic restrictions, so they could accept and understand them, but now that they have returned to normal, they will also ask us to normalize operations. If we can't keep up with the progress, it will be more difficult to handle. "In her view, the risk of order transfer may increase due to poor communication and failure to meet and implement details in time.
Before the epidemic, they would meet and communicate with customers six or seven times a year on average, including customers coming to China to confirm orders, approve samples, and inspect goods.
Like Yuan Lin and the others, Ding Yandong's company also encountered the acquisition of overseas customers, which made him feel urgent to go abroad to "grab orders" in person.
"This Polish company has cooperated with us for many years and has an annual order of 1 million US dollars, but after the company was acquired this year, the other party's attitude has become very subtle, and the order has been delayed." Ding Yandong said frankly that in recent years, the factory's land and labor The cost advantage is gradually lost, coupled with zero tariffs for similar products exported from Turkey to Europe, some overseas customers began to look for alternatives.
Since March this year, the superimposed epidemic has caused many difficulties in logistics and offline communication. He, a Chinese supplier who "has never met", faces the risk of being replaced.
As soon as the plane landed in Europe, Ding Yandong started the reserved visitor tour by himself, and quickly met the "old customers" in Poland.
In addition to grasping the previous Polish customers' demand for new products, he also specially prepared solutions for customers' pain points, showing the strength and sincerity of the company, and increasing the bargaining chips for himself.
As it turns out, their efforts and methods worked.
Ding Yandong, who received an order of 1 million euros from this customer as he wished, said, "The other party saw our sincerity and recognized our strength."
confidence
For foreign trade people, one meeting is worth more than 1,000 emails.
Going overseas to stabilize orders and finalize new orders one by one has also brought foreign trade people more confidence than gold.
Wei Guowen, who took the original doll "Xiaoyi" abroad for the first time, was one of the foreign trade people who had the most harvest and the most prepared.
She said that this trip abroad is not temporary, but has been prepared for a long time. "During the epidemic, I have booked air tickets and visas many times, but unfortunately there is no return air ticket, so I have to cancel it again. The chartered flight was a very targeted solution to our problems.”
Wei Guowen, who has not been abroad since February 2020, said that they have not seen customers for 882 days with export as their main market.
As an innovative company focusing on the research and development and production of educational toys for children, before the epidemic, their own brands had gained a certain reputation in Europe. At present, 60% of the export share is in Europe and more than 70 countries and regions around the world. Established a distribution system.
Since it is a creative product, she said that many ideas can only be collided in face-to-face communication, and meeting is particularly important.
To this end, according to the long-term visitor plan, she met all the new and old customers who had made an appointment during the 12-day European journey. Under a three-year agency agreement, and also brought back samples that are popular in overseas markets or customers like.
In her view, the Ningbo municipal government's move to organize business charter flights for enterprises has shown the determination and strength of the Chinese people to overseas businessmen, which also includes the strength of the government as a backing.
From the perspective of the company itself, the Wei Guowen team, which has brought innovative materials and latest designs developed by itself, also allows customers to see the uniqueness and irreplaceability.
Both Ding Yandong and Wei Guowen said that they will continue to go overseas to develop markets or participate in exhibitions.
Liu Jie, deputy general manager of Zhuoli Electric Group Co., Ltd., also said that the feeling of meeting and chatting with old customers during this trip to Europe is really long gone.
In addition to enhancing their relationship face-to-face, they are also observing the market to prepare for the European exhibition in September.
Data from Ningbo Customs shows that in the first half of 2022, Ningbo's total import and export volume reached 632.25 billion yuan, an increase of 11.9% over the same period last year.
Among them, exports were 408.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.1%; imports were 223.75 billion yuan, an increase of 8.1% year-on-year.
In the first half of the year, the import and export of private enterprises in Ningbo was 448.17 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.9%, accounting for 70.9% of the city's total import and export during the same period, a year-on-year increase of 0.7 percentage points.
According to Jin Ge, Deputy Director of the Development Research Center of Ningbo Municipal Government, affected by the epidemic, overseas business negotiations and exhibitions are basically impossible, and foreign trade customers are easily lost. , If there is a problem with foreign trade, it will affect the development of Ningbo's economy, which is the government's urgency.
Coupled with the complex situation at home and abroad, the three major urgency of the situation, the urgency of the enterprise and the urgency of the government are formed.
And "such an initiative" is the initiative of the enterprise and the responsibility of the government.
challenge
Han Jie, director of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce, said that the chartered group has completed the mission to and from Europe, which not only expands business and orders for the company's own development, but also creates a new way for outbound business exchanges in Zhejiang Province and even the whole country.
As the head of the business delegation, Fei Jianming, director of the Trade Promotion Office of Ningbo Municipal Bureau of Commerce, was worried until the plane landed at Xiaoshan Airport.
In addition to meeting regular customers, Yuan Lin did not go to local shopping malls or markets as before the epidemic to check market conditions and fashion trends.
She admitted that she was still worried that she would not be able to return in time if she was infected, and there were still orders to be arranged in China.
At the end of June, Haining, a county-level city in Zhejiang Province, which took the lead in shouting the slogan "Go overseas to grab orders and bring you back" and corresponding measures, has yet to actually go overseas to form a group.
The relevant person in charge of the Haining Municipal Bureau of Commerce told Yicai that some companies still have concerns, "worrying about infection after going out", which also reduces their willingness and enthusiasm to participate in charter flights.
As a county-level city with a high degree of economic export, Haining has nearly 2,000 companies doing export business at its peak, and its export markets are all over the world.
After communication and investigation with the company, they found that the main challenge for the company is the overall weak global market demand, not only the problem of order transfer to Southeast Asia.
Although there is no chartered flight to form a group, the person in charge said that more and more companies are still breaking through many obstacles and actively going to sea to contact the market.
In addition to helping companies go overseas to get orders, local governments have successively introduced bailout policies, encouraged companies to transform into cross-border e-commerce, and more common practices such as the "exhibition on behalf of" model.
How to choose the way to get the bill and how to balance the risks under the epidemic is obviously a realistic choice made by each enterprise based on its own needs and return on investment.