Contacting Overseas Manufacturers and Suppliers

When sending business correspondence to overseas manufacturers and suppliers requesting information about the products they have available for export, you must make your best efforts if you expect to receive prompt and professional attention to your inquiry.

The importance of writing good business letters cannot be understated. Because you will never deal with the foreign manufacturers and suppliers you represent on a face to face basis the only way they can judge how professional you are is from the letters you write and send to them.

If you experience any trouble explaining to the manufacturer just what it is that you want from him chances are a reply to your inquiry will not be forthcoming. Therefore, it is crucial that in all of the business correspondence you send you know how to adequately state your position and your reasons for contacting him or her in the first place. Nothing is more frustrating to a manufacturer than to receive a letter that has incomplete details, poor grammar and a lack of clarity.

Be sure that all of your letters are well written and properly composed. If you have to re-write a letter four of five times before you send it off it is recommended that you do so. By taking the extra time to ensure that your letters are professionally and grammatically correct you will get the kind of attention that will pay off handsomely in the end.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS REALLY DO COUNT

Believe it or not foreign manufacturers and suppliers desperately WANT to do business with you, but if you don't know how to make your requests clear to them in an easily understandable manner the overseas firm will simply disregard your inquiry. Foreign exporters receive many hundreds of inquiries and letters in the mail on a weekly basis. If your letter is not written on business stationery, has misspelled words, sloppy grammar, typos and an overall unprofessional appearance you have immediately lost the suppliers interest. Never send any business correspondence that is handwritten on plain paper. If you know the name of the person you are trying to contact be sure to check the spelling so you will get his or her name right before you send it out.

DON'T FORGET THE EMAIL

If you are doing any of your product sourcing over the Internet it is perfectly acceptable to send your business letters and other correspondence by email. But what is unacceptable is to disregard the rules of good letter writing. Email may be quick and instantaneous but this is no excuse for being unprofessional in your execution and composition.

Even though email has become the number one method of choice by most businesses and executives, in the world of international trade the airmail letter is still the king. One of the disadvantages of using email in your business contacts is that the foreign manufacturer or exporter cannot get an idea of how professional your company may be. If you have sales or marketing material, such as a brochure or other type of literature you may not be able to send this as an attachment with your email.

World trade stationery is often printed in four and six color ink in a variety of graphics and styles. Manufacturers that are used to evaluating a potential trading partner based upon the merits of its business letterhead are at a complete loss when they receive a trade inquiry in an email format. It is impossible to convey the creativity and innovation your company may have in an email message. Email is good for text messages but if you want to impress a supplier with the flair and innovation you have designed in your stationery you will have to use an airmail letter instead.

Therefore, you should be especially careful that the email you send out is just as carefully crafted as your regular business letters.

ELEMENTS OF GOOD LETTER WRITING

There are some basic principles that must go into each and every business letter or correspondence you send. And they are listed as follows:

1. The Introduction or Opening Paragraph - State your name, the name of your company and the purpose of contact. If it is to request information about a particular product or line of products you should say so in the first paragraph. If you have the products code number or item number mention this as a way of helping the manufacturer identify which product you are interested in. Some manufacturer product lines can consist of as many as 500 items. By referencing the product code number in your correspondence this will save the manufacturer some time and speeds up the reply he sends back to you. You should also state in the Opening Paragraph how you got the manufacturers name and address. If it was from a trade lead or through a referral name the source. If the manufacturer or supplier has an Internet web site that you stumbled across while surfing the Internet you should mention this in your letter.

2. Be brief but thorough - Your entire letter or correspondence should not be any longer than four or five paragraphs in length. The shorter the better. When you contact these overseas manufacturers and exporters you should realize that their time is very valuable. They don't have the time to read every letter or document from a "would-be" world trader that comes across their desk. If your letter or correspondence doesn't look like it came from a well-established professional firm it will probably get tossed in the trash. Business executives and CEO's prefer shorter letters because they can get read in the least amount of time. If you can't state your business in at least five paragraphs then you need to spend some time editing your content.

3. Arouse your reader's curiosity - If the foreign firm you contact feels that you are a good prospect for distributing their products they will be more than happy to supply you with whatever information you need. How do you accomplish this feat? By being enthusiastic about the manufacturer's products and it's potential for success in your market. Make your letters interesting to read. You should concentrate on selling yourself and how the manufacturer would benefit from having you as one of its Importers or distributors. The first inquiry or contact letter you send should make the foreign exporter or manufacturer feel that you may eventually place an order once you have all of the product information that you need.

4. Spell check all of your letters - Be sure to use a dictionary if you are uncertain about the spelling of a particular word. Misspelled words in your business correspondence will make you look amateurish and unprofessional. Let a colleague or friend proofread all of your letters if you are uncertain about the spelling of certain words or phrases.

5. Short sentences and paragraphs are the best - Each business letter or correspondence that you send should be no longer than one page. By the use of short sentences and paragraphs you will be ensuring that you stay within these parameters. Each sentence should contain no more than three lines and each paragraph should consist of no more than four to five sentences.

6. Use business stationery when sending your letters and correspondence by airmail delivery - Not all countries and nations have embraced the Internet and the World Wide Web. Communications problems and faulty telephone transmissions still necessitate the use of airmail for the delivery of letters, contracts, purchase orders, negotiable shipping documents and other important business papers. Despite the fact that email marketing is gaining in popularity there will still come a time when you must make your contacts by regular airmail letter. Especially if the firm or supplier you are forced to do business with is located in a country where the preferred method of communication does not rely on an Internet connection. Make all of your contacts as professional as possible. Your company name, address, telephone, fax, email and/or web site URL address should be located at the top of the page. If you have a logo be sure to use it. If you have business cards printed include one with every letter that you send out.

WORLD TRADE SAMPLE LETTER

The following is an example of a world trade letter that you can send to an exporter or manufacturer requesting information about a particular product or product line and whether or not the manufacturer is looking for representation for his product. We do not or cannot guarantee that this sample will be effective for your use, but we have used this particular letter in the past and it has always been effective in all of our overseas business contacts. You may change or adapt each paragraph or the overall content to suit your own individual needs:

Company Name
Company address
Telephone #
Fax #
Telex #
URL Address

Date

Manufacturer or Exporters Address

Dear Manufacturer:

We have obtained your company name and address from your Internet web site. It has come to our attention that your company is seeking agents to market your products in the USA and other countries.

Our company presently represents several overseas manufacturers on a commission basis and would be very pleased to add your product lines to that which we currently market worldwide.

Our Internet website, The Golf Shop, is fully operational and it receives many thousands of hits daily. Your products would be added to our online catalog and you may click on the following link to visit our home page, Http://www.thegolfshop. com.

If our representation offer is of interest to you, we would appreciate receiving more details on your product lines, to include brochures, catalogs, price-lists, etc. Please include agency terms and draft contract for our consideration and prompt reply.

We look forward to your earliest reply and thank your for your interest in our services.

Sincerely yours,
Joe Importer
Title
Company name

JI/ac

In this sample letter a URL link was included for an Internet web site. It is your choice to include this link or not. Remember that there are still many countries of the world that do not have Internet access so including a URL link may or may not work for you. And there are some manufacturers that don't fully understand how to market products over the Internet.

If you feel that it is important for any potential supplier or manufacturer to know that yours is a "hot" web site then it would be a good idea to ask the manufacturer to take a look at your web site. If you have other hot selling items featured at your web site and the manufacturer can visualize his products being sold along side of the others this may impress him enough to sign a distribution agreement with you.

Either way the most important thing is to find as many manufacturers of quality products that you can that might be interested in your services. All it takes is just one manufacturer or supplier to get the ball rolling.