| Doing Business with Chinese Manufacturer | |
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| Apr 18, 2011 00:23 |   |
 | This is my first posting to this site, please forgive me if this is not an appropriate question for this site or if I have placed it in the wrong area. I am a partner in a small business that is working with a door manufacturer in China for the first time. We are having some trouble clearly defining all our required measurements. Door measurements here are very standardized and if we cannot get the measurements right, we will not be able to sell our product. Going back and forth in emails, we get the feeling the Chinese manufacturer is getting impatient and just wants us to put in our order. We do not want to offend or seem to be hard to work with, but at the same time we need exact measurements or the endeavor will not be profitable. Knowing there are cultural differences, does anyone have any tips on how to stress the critical importance that we are absolutely clear on measurements without coming across as hard to work with or overbearing? Is just a simple, "Please bear with us but we cannot rush past this detail," sufficient? Thank everyone in advance for any advice. |
| Apr 18, 2011 06:29 | #1 |
| What you don’t state is if you have ever had a face to face meeting with this company or if their English is up to a standard to be able to talk about details such measurement tolerance. What you also do not state is if they are making a product already that suits your requirements, or if you are asking for a SMU that they would have to tool up for. Dodger. |
| Apr 18, 2011 09:40 | #2 |
| We have never had a face to face meeting with the company. We were first "introduced" to the company through another businessman who has had a working relationship with the company for awhile. He established the contact with the sales rep and has been involved with the communication process to some extent. The sales rep we have been in contact with has very decent English, there have only been a times we did not understand a portion of an email. The measurements themselves do not seem to be the problem. On the other hand, they have never been able to communicate back to us, "We understand you need requirements a, b and c. We can do all of that." This is the kind of confirmation of mutual understanding we would like to get before making a big order. Over here, that would be a fairly standard type of agreement, can I expect such communication from China as well? Please forgive me if that sounds like an ignorant question. To our knowledge they are not currently manufacturing a door that meets our requirements. We know the height we are asking for will require specialization. We are under the assumption there would be retooling, but their manufacturing process has not been fully explained so we are not absolutely sure. Because we believe retooling may be necessary, that is one of the reasons we want to be absolutely sure there is a mutual understanding of our requirement needs before they start the process of making the doors. We do understand that from their perspective, they are not making money until an order has been made, but we do not want to be stuck with product we can't sell. We do not believe that would be profitable for either of us. That is why we are asking for the most culturally diplomatic way of saying, "We are sorry but we cannot rush past this and deal with it later. Please be patient with us, but we will not finalize an order until we are sure both parties know what is required." Thanks for the response. |
| Apr 19, 2011 07:22 | #3 |
| CJE, As I suspected, you have never met this Company, so you have no real relationship yet .So, as far as they are concerned, just another email inquiry, who may be asking for things that either they cannot do or things that they do not really understand. But you will never really know until you meet them, eat with them and drink with them. Forget the Sales Rep; east and west they come and go, added to that you have no idea of what he is passing on to those above him, and factor in that perhaps the only reason he has the job is because his English is passable. If your product does need re-tooling, nobody does that on spec, unless you can talk the talk? If this is a new project for you; and I have no idea if it is, then you may need to put a projected sales presentation together; put a team on the ground; inspect their factory, and then, if you think they are really up to it, close them. Rule 101; no one does business with strangers. Rule 101A; no one does business in China with people that they do not like. So in conclusion, if you have no track record of doing business in China, you will need put at least two pairs of feet on the ground here, looking and talking as if you know exactly what you are talking about. In other words, know your shit. Good luck, Dodger. |
| Apr 19, 2011 16:15 | #4 |
| Dodger, Thanks for the response. We had figured as much. We had planned the possibility of a trip to the factory, we had just hoped it would be to inspect our doors coming off the line. Oh well, certainly can't fault a company for wanting to be sure they are not wasting time and money. Thanks again for the information. |
| May 4, 2011 03:23 | #5 |
| Hi CJE Heard you are in the process of negotiate with a chinese manufacture. I'd like to introduce us to you hereby. we are a third party business service provider, aiming to smooth the business between foreign companies and their chinese partner. We can act as your agent in China, auditing the factory, fully inspecting the company, also we can provide the quality inspecting service( pre-production, in-production, final random sampling, pre-shipment), and loading supervision etc. that can save you and reduce your business risks. Welcome visit us at www.bizinchina.cc .can also mail me to yahoo.com|stin002 for more info. Regards Irene |
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