The product has been demonstrated and tried out. What if the customer says it's unnecessary?

Did you and your product help him solve the problem? You need to help him solve the problem first.

Not sales, but consultants.

When evaluating the characteristics of global sources, both buyers and suppliers will invariably mention an adjective: "professional". This simple comment is rich in meaning.

The first is the affirmation of business philosophy-global sources has worked hard in the field of B2B international trade for 35 years and has never shifted its strategic direction with the tide; It is also the recognition of products-an all-round and multi-channel comprehensive export marketing solution, which no competitor can match so far; It is also an appreciation of the front-line team-global sources has a sales team called "consultant" by customers, which is the dribs and drabs of their daily work and gives customers the most direct "professional" feeling.

Compared with some competitors, the international trade marketing platform provided by global sources is at the high end of the industry, and the customers it serves are more professional and high quality. "These characteristics determine that an excellent account director should not only be a sales director, but should become an export consultant." Spenser Au, president of Asia Pacific business responsible for sales, said.

Mark Saunderson, another senior manager in global sources and president of the electronic business department, also vividly said: "Account directors should find the same language as customers and be able to give them suggestions. "

The sales structure vertically divided by industry market ensures the realization of these ideas organizationally. At present, global sources * * * has nine categories of professional trade magazines and website platforms, and each category has an independent professional sales team. Global sources has trained an excellent consultant sales team through service, employment and management measures.

Service: expert and personalized

1978, Ou Naiguang joined the sales team of Hong Kong's Asian Resources (predecessor of global sources) e-magazine. At that time, he was only 23 years old and was the youngest account director. The first thing he learned after he entered the company was to work with the mentality of serving customers, instead of thinking about how to sell advertisements.

In the1970s, most Hong Kong suppliers still depended on foreign trade import and export companies for their export business, so it was unacceptable to promote trade magazines provided by global sources. Therefore, explaining the help of international trade to enterprises and encouraging enterprises to take the first step of self-export has become the first thing for account directors to do.

"Customer directors should provide suppliers with a set of export marketing programs like consultants, so we need to know the current situation of the international market, the types of popular products, the development of market trends, etc. And you must become an expert first, otherwise it is difficult to give good advice and it is difficult to impress customers. "

District Naiguang recalled that at that time, in addition to the earliest comprehensive magazine Yayuan, three industry magazines of electronics, hardware and clothing had been divided by industry. If the customer does not focus on a certain industry market, but dabbles in multiple industries at the same time, it will inevitably lead to a wide range of knowledge but not expertise, and "a little knowledge" cannot become an expert who convinces customers.

An interesting example of an "expert" is: two years later, Qu Naiguang was transferred to the newly established Timekeeper magazine as the business manager. There, he spent several months concentrating on research, not only getting the watch, but also immediately telling which country it is suitable for sale in Europe, what color specifications can be sold at what price, and even becoming an expert in repairing watches in the company.

From 1974, the first trade magazine "Electronic" to "Nine Kinds" published in 2005, global sources has experienced constant changes and development in the industry market division. Some trade magazines closed down soon after they were founded, some merged one after another, and some have continued to this day, constantly deriving new market segments. For example, electronics, electronic components, computer products and telecommunications products under the Ministry of Electronics all originated from the earliest electronics.

"Different industry markets are completely divided according to the development of buyers' needs. The purpose is to hope that buyers can easily know where to find their buyers. For example, buyers who need to purchase mobile phones and buyers who need to purchase electronic components have completely different directions. "Ma Sili believes that a clear industry market division is an important symbol of the professionalism of an industry media. He couldn't imagine what it would be like for global sources to become a "messy grocery stall".

At the same time, the marketing plan provided by the account director for each supplier is more personalized. After 2003, global sources increased the business of purchasing fairs in addition to magazines and websites, which can provide suppliers with a comprehensive solution of multi-channel contact with overseas buyers. "Personalized solutions need to understand the customer's product positioning and market development." Ma Sili pointed out that before recommending various services to customers, the account director should first understand the customer's main export markets, the main selling points of products and competitors, so as to cooperate from different aspects.

"If an account manager has a clear understanding of the problems and challenges faced by customers in the industry, he can find a common language with customers." During the period when Ma Sili worked in global sources on 15, he deeply understood that this is what customers appreciate most, and they like to communicate with people at the level of account director. "If you only talk about how good your company's service is, it will definitely not be welcomed by customers."

On the other hand, the competition among suppliers is becoming more and more fierce, and the situation of oversupply has brought them great pressure.

"As export marketing becomes more and more difficult, we should provide better services to our customers and make them stand out in the promotion." Mr. Ou Naiguang emphasized that global sources's starting point is that "we will succeed only if our customers succeed".

Today, "consultative selling" also means that the account director should not be too far away from the customer, but should regard himself as the customer's marketing department or export department, become a part of it, and keep in touch for a long time. Because today, the marketing plan is already impossible. If the customer is going to switch from the American market to the European market, the account director should be able to provide advice at the first time, including how to adjust the product structure, marketing strategy and marketing plan. All of these, without exception, require the account director to invest a lot of energy in his own industry market.

Employing people: emphasizing potential and training.

Global sources's account directors are a group of very diligent people. Many account directors from the grassroots level have achieved today's executives, and they still remember the hard work of that year.

"I visit five or six customers every day. I will definitely leave the company at 9 am on 15. Rain or shine, I take the bus every day. " When Qu Naiguang was young, he served more than 50 customers at the peak of his business.

Today, global sources's more than 500 account directors in China still work as hard as their predecessors. "We respect the value of the sales team very much. Their contribution to the company is absolutely critical, and they directly represent the image of the company in front of customers. " Ma Sili said that global sources's corporate culture attaches great importance to the sales team, and the company's income to the customer director is the highest in the industry, and its development prospects are also very good. At the same time, in order to ensure the "consultative selling" level, it has been trying to recruit the best talents to enter the company.

Although it is emphasized that the account director should become an expert in the industry, academic qualifications and professional background are not what global sources values most when recruiting the account director.

"If you apply for the account director of communication products, a degree in communication industry will certainly help. But in my opinion, the importance only accounts for 30%. " Ma Sili believes that as an account director, communication skills, body language, eye contact, perseverance to bear setbacks, whether you can understand the implication of others' words, and even whether you like to smile are often more important.

Of course, the most important thing is learning ability and growth potential. District Naiguang prefers those college graduates: "They are young, enthusiastic and willing to learn. Even if they don't have a professional background, it is faster to start training from a blank piece of paper and teach them global sources's working methods and sales ideas. "

In global sources, the first basic skill of a new account director is to understand customer needs and provide personalized solutions. They have many channels to get training and improve their professional level.

First of all, there is intensive training after joining the job. In addition to the marketing services provided by global sources itself, the largest part is the training of the specific industry to which the account director belongs, from market development trends to specific products. For example, the account director of the electronics industry will learn the basic principles of LCD TV, MP3, digital camera and other products, the list of major suppliers in the market, the technical trend of the market in the next two years and so on. This kind of training is also compiled into various manuals according to the products, which are updated regularly for the reference of the customer director.

Secondly, regional managers have regular training every two months. In the nine major industry markets, each industry has a special position called regional manager. Most of them have worked in the company for more than 10 years and are very experienced experts in the industry. Usually, they provide relevant training for account directors in different regions of the industry every two months. "For example, John Ng of an electronics company has more than 65,438+08 years of industry experience, and he can know which supplier is producing what products and what functions the most popular mobile phones and MP3 players have." District Naiguang said that the regional manager is the most solid backing of the account director in terms of industry knowledge. "Every regional manager can use the knowledge of the past and the present to train the account director."

Third, provide an online training platform for logging in anytime and anywhere. As an expert in B2B trade websites, global sources naturally used the Internet in the training of account directors. On the company's training website, many related training materials are stored in each industry market. The regional manager will upload some latest information to the training website every month, so that the account director can log in and inquire at any time, whether in the office or at home. In addition, the company's market research department will occasionally sort out and upload some sales materials of many overseas industry conferences and exhibitions.

Fourth, the company's various magazines and websites are also training opportunities. Global sources itself is a content provider, and all contents of various trade magazines, professional magazines, management magazines, industry procurement research reports and various websites are teaching materials that account directors can make full use of. In addition to the business of e-commerce, Ma Sili himself is also responsible for professional magazines such as Electronic Engineering Album and International E-commerce Information.

"Unlike the four magazines of the Ministry of Electronic Commerce that introduce China's electronic products overseas, these are two magazines that introduce the latest foreign electronic technology to China." He said, "So, through our own magazine, the account director can know everything about the electronics industry from design, procurement, production to export."

In addition, the company also encourages customer directors in different industry markets to communicate regularly. "Now, for the account director of the electronics industry, the biggest challenge is that the technology of electronic products is developing very rapidly. A few years ago, mobile phones were just mobile phones, but now MP3, digital cameras, tape recorders and so on can be attached. Therefore, with the development of science and technology, the learning of account directors cannot be limited to a certain product, and many related products must be learned. " For example, Ma Sili said, "Even the account director of electronic products should learn some knowledge about fashion, because mobile phones are becoming a fashion signal."

"The best account director should also be someone who knows how to listen and absorb." In addition to the company's various trainings and materials, District Naiguang often tells the account director that daily customer visits are the fastest, widest and most ways for them to acquire industry knowledge. "Set a goal for yourself and learn something new every time you visit customers." Qu Naiguang recalled that he saw the original of the first letter of credit and learned the working principle of semiconductor chips for the first time from customers.

Usually, customers are often confined to their own fields and their horizons are not broad enough. The account director usually visits a lot of customers and has the opportunity to contact various types of goods, with wider contact and faster speed.

"If you have the ability to share some of your knowledge with customers first, customers will easily agree with you. Not as a salesman, but as a colleague, he will be very willing to communicate with you and share more valuable things with you. " District Naiguang pointed out that it takes a long time to cultivate the ability to learn from different customers. A year or two later, a hundred schools of thought contend with industry experts.

Management: matrix, dual support

Global sources's sales team members in China, vertically divided by industry, are usually scattered in 44 offices across the country. On the one hand, they should report directly to the regional manager of their industry, and at the same time, they need to report horizontally to the local line manager, that is, the local regional leader. This matrix management structure, in the view of district Naiguang, is just right at present.

Different from the industry knowledge training provided by regional managers for account directors, the support provided by line managers for sales teams mainly focuses on the understanding of global sources's own products and basic sales skills, such as how to handle objections and how to accompany customers, which are common contents of account directors in all industry markets.

If you look at the image, suppose an account director visits a new customer, and the regional manager is responsible for the "content" of his marketing plan based on the customer's products, production scale and target market; When presenting these contents to customers, the "shell" of his communication method is the responsibility of the line manager.

Usually, the line manager is responsible for the daily work of the whole region, making monthly work flow and performance targets for the account directors, and understanding and guiding their visits. The regional manager should evaluate the proportion of each region in the industry market he is responsible for, the deviation between the promotion progress of the account director and the market potential, and so on.

"Because line managers have to take care of all industries, it is impossible to be so focused." District Naiguang said, "The regional manager can give him specific suggestions for reference, such as what kind of training a customer director needs to continue to strengthen, which customer groups have development potential, and what development strategies should be adopted next."

Even Ma Sili, who leads the four regional managers, probably spends more than half of his time in Chinese mainland, Hongkong and Taiwan Province Province every year, working with the regional managers, which is much longer than the time he spends alone in the Manila office. "Greater China is the core business area of global sources." Ma Sili has been paying attention to the performance of the sales team of the electronic business department here.

District Naiguang said that the matrix sales management structure of vertical and horizontal cooperation ensures that global sources's "consultative selling" has both a "big vision" to control the development of the whole industry and a "small figure" that fits the characteristics of the local market: "From the perspective of the entire China market, the supplier market of electronic products is mainly South China; East China and Central China pay more attention to civil light industrial products such as gifts, household items and hardware. We will continue to study how this trend will develop. "

In the third quarter of 2005, global sources's performance in China market increased by 265,438+0% compared with the same period of last year, which was quite gratifying. On the other hand, the pressure from competitors also makes people dare not slack off. "The front-line sales team will always represent the company's brand." Finally, Mr. Ou Naiguang said that if global sources wants to maintain its leading professional position in the industry in the future, it needs each account director to hone his industry knowledge and sales skills to match his position as an international export consultant.

/Html/article/method article 1/200 10 1 12 19 1 157360 . Html