20 1 1 what is the foreign trade situation of the security industry and where is the market?

The market is getting better every year. The market has to find it by itself, find it by itself ~

How do domestic small and medium-sized security enterprises develop overseas market strategy?

On February 22, 2006, at the export seminar held by A&S, many small and medium-sized security companies indicated that they had or were ready to break through overseas markets. However, it was not easy to find customers in foreign countries. For many security companies that want to operate the export market, what preparations need to be made to operate the export market; Where is the target market/customer; How to find customers or make customers notice themselves; In the initial stage of cultivating overseas markets, what methods are needed to promote the market ..... In view of these concerns, please invite this topic. ...

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When the domestic security market is in full swing, some domestic security companies have crossed the distant Siberian prairie, the vast Pacific Ocean, and even Arab oil fields and the ancient Mediterranean. In a wider area outside China, they were pleasantly surprised to find richer and broader securities market opportunities.

For example, since the 9 1 1 incident in the United States, the government has increased its budget every year to improve the infrastructure construction of safety products, and the demand for large companies, entertainment venues, business offices, hotel stores and home markets has also increased; The Middle East is a famous oil production base, with strong quality of life and per capita purchasing power. There is a great demand for high-end (high-quality D 1) monitoring equipment in this region. The demand for security products in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and South America in Oceania is also growing rapidly. ......

Ding Fei, regional director of the International Trade Department of Zhejiang Dali Technology Co., Ltd. said, "Due to the serial bombings in the London subway and the hosting of the 20 12 Olympic Games, London, England will gradually become the largest security product center in Europe, especially the demand for monitoring products will gradually expand with the preparations for the Olympic Games." Faced with considerable overseas security market capacity, small and medium-sized enterprises seem to see a skylight, eager to ease the heavy competitive pressure in the domestic market through export and find a more favorable living habitat.

Market research: the first step of export

Indeed, there are vast business opportunities in overseas markets, but how to choose the target market suitable for product sales in the vast overseas markets? For domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, if they want to export directly, they need to have a deep understanding of the actual situation of the target market, such as understanding the objective factors and demand characteristics of the local market, local rules and regulations, qualification certification system, trade hidden rules and so on.

Market objective factors

There are many ways to be familiar with the objective factors of the market, and the best and most direct way is to see with your own eyes and hear with your own ears. The objective factors of the market, such as local market consumption preference, consumption cost, market conditions, consumption concepts, residential characteristics, etc., all belong to this range.

Tong Wei, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade Technology Development Co., Ltd. particularly emphasized that it is a key link to understand the local market demand and consumer characteristics (such as race) before designing and selling products. "We used to sell fingerprint products sold in Asia to Brazil, but customers reported that the fingerprint recognition rate was very low. This makes us wonder why the performance gap between the two places is so big for the same product. In order to explain this abnormal phenomenon, we asked the local agent to send some fingerprint images, and it was found that the yellow light used in the backlight of our acquisition head was close to the skin color of South Americans, which reduced the gray value of the induced images. Later, we switched to a green light source to solve this problem. "

Therefore, according to the characteristics of these overseas markets, it is very important for different enterprises to choose which regions or application fields to promote their products according to their own characteristics. Zhang Xiaoping, manager of the export department of Shenzhen Hongtianzhi Electronics Co., Ltd. also revealed that "the demand for products varies from place to place. As far as cameras are concerned, South America likes small cameras, Eastern Europe likes low illumination, and North America likes day and night cameras. These are all worthy of the attention of security companies. " Many China securities companies that have succeeded in the export market attach great importance to market research. For example, Xu Xianmei, manager of the export department of Xiamen Wei Zhen Safety Technology Development Co., Ltd., talked about a survey they made for the Australian market. The contents of the survey include the country's macro-political and economic situation, the percentage of national investment in the security field to the total GDP, the proportion of building intercom products in the whole security field, the general structure of local residential areas, the development trend of real estate and the advantages of Australian building intercom industry and competitors.

Overseas market regulations

As the old saying goes, "State-owned laws, family rules." The same is true of the security industry, especially different overseas markets may have different rules. Some insiders pointed out that, for example, in Southeast Asia, Europe and America, products generally need TCP/IP protocol; Domestic hemispheres are generally sold without power supply, and other countries may need it. If the security company doesn't understand the local laws and regulations, it will hit a wall in the process of export.

For example, Wang Tingbin, general manager of Tianjin Zheng Tong Electronics Co., Ltd. said, "Security companies need to know not only the different policies in different places, but also the details of voltage, plugs and video systems abroad, because these conditions are fundamentally different from those in China. If we copy the domestic practices, the developed products will not meet the needs of the local market and will suffer losses. "

However, understanding the rules and regulations of overseas markets cannot be achieved overnight, and experience needs to be accumulated. Many people with rich export experience said that direct contact with customers, in-depth understanding of the local security market, and even learning from competitors are all methods that can be tried.

Trade rules

Foreign trade rules are not mandatory, but if you know the foreign trade rules of some target countries, it will usually help enterprises to save costs and product research and development.

For example, South American countries overprotect their products and impose high tariffs on products from Asia, especially China, making it difficult to enter this market. He Zeng, manager of the export department of Zhuhai Sitong Electronics Co., Ltd. mentioned, "When entering the Brazilian market, the import tariff of some finished products is about 30% higher than that of semi-finished products; Moreover, the import tariff ratio of EU 20-inch LCD is about 19 inch high 14%; Entering the European and American markets should consider purchasing product liability insurance. " Therefore, he suggested that security companies should pay attention to these rules and take appropriate measures when developing products. For example, for high overseas tariffs, enterprises can consider cooperating with partners in the form of SDK (semi knock down) or CDK (all bulk parts).

qualification authentication

For domestic security enterprises, especially small and medium-sized security enterprises to enter overseas markets, passing the qualification certification in overseas markets is also a very challenging step to break through trade barriers.

Generally, the European market must pass RoHS and CE certification at present; CE, FCC and UL are required in the United States (it is reported that the latter two certifications started from June 65438+ 10/in 2007 and became necessary in the United States); At present, Turkey, a popular market between Eurasia, must also have CE certification.

In the above certification system, CE is a symbol of safety certification and is regarded as a passport for manufacturers to open and enter the European market. In addition, as a mandatory requirement of EU laws for products, it is also a part of efforts to eliminate trade barriers. At present, it has gradually become a global mandatory standard. UL is the largest private product safety testing and certification institution in the United States and the largest safety testing institution in the world. UL's safety verification has been recognized by more than 40,000 administrative districts of the federal, state, city and county governments in the United States, and many policies, regulations and inspection authorities are based on UL logo. For example, US Customs has the right to refuse entry of goods without UL mark. In addition to UL, FCC has also become compulsory certification. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is an independent agency of the U.S. government and directly reports to Congress. Many radio applications, communication products and digital products need FCC approval to enter the US market.

At present, RoHS directive has become a threshold for security enterprises and even the whole China electronics industry to enter the European market. With the European market becoming a hot potato, many small and medium-sized domestic security companies are looking around. However, because RoHS certification is mandatory throughout Europe, some security vendors cannot successfully enter the region for sale.

He, manager of Zhuhai Stone Export Department, also made a further analysis of small and medium-sized security enterprises. "For our small and medium-sized enterprises, market research is necessary, but we can't follow the old rules and blindly copy the market development model of big companies. What we are concerned about is the core problem of enterprise development, that is, how to use limited resources to obtain orders necessary to support the company's survival and development. At present, we have locked the target market into European and American professional and home security, combined with the company's supply capacity and market demand. "

Small and medium-sized security enterprises that intend to operate overseas markets for a long time should be familiar with some industry regulations, standard qualifications and foreign trade rules in the local market, in addition to the objective factors such as consumption preferences, consumption cost and market conditions in overseas markets. Usually, they are the first tickets to enter overseas markets.

Marketing: the key to finding overseas customers

For most domestic security enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, it has not yet developed into a three-dimensional marketing realm with mature solutions for a certain region, but there are still many enterprises that have done a good job in exporting. Why? Perhaps the right marketing method is the key factor.

Common methods: Internet/print media

During the exploration and preparation of export, many small and medium-sized enterprises usually do it through the Internet, print media, exhibitions, exhibitions, inviting customers to visit and visiting customers. Or a combination thereof. Network/print media publicity has almost become the only way for most enterprises to export. These media platforms help enterprises find customers or be found by customers, and also become the direct carrier of product promotion.

However, Zhang Xiaoping, manager of Hongtianzhi's export department, pointed out that "the advantage of using the network is universal and fast; Using professional media is professional. " Liu Jieyu, manager of overseas sales department of Shenzhen Victoria Video Technology Co., Ltd., believes that "SMEs can choose some charging platforms, but these need to spend a lot of advertising expenses, which is also a huge sum for SMEs."

Therefore, the key to choosing a media platform is to combine the conditions of the enterprise itself. For example, Wang Tingbin, general manager of Tianjin Zheng Tong Electronics, said, "With the conditions of Zheng Tong Electronics, we have gone through a two-step business model. First of all, choosing different online media, frequent communication and long-term promotion can achieve better results; Secondly, we will promote domestic exhibitions in the short to medium term and then promote overseas exhibitions when the time is ripe. "

Feasible ways: participation and exhibition.

Whether it is better to "see the exhibition" or participate in the exhibition, different security companies may have their own priorities according to their own strength and resource advantages. Tong Weishen, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade, said with experience, "The quickest, most direct and most economical way for small and medium-sized enterprises is to see exhibitions. Compared with participating in the exhibition, the exhibition does not need to bear high booth fees and design advertising fees (advertising plays an important role at the exhibition site), which is a good way for small and medium-sized security companies to actively find overseas customers. "

The insiders recommended some exhibitions worth attending, which are here for your reference. Every spring and autumn, the ISC exhibition is held in Las Vegas in the western United States and New York (or Washington) in the eastern part of the United States, and spreads throughout the American continent. Many agents and dealers in South America will gather at that exhibition. Responding to ISC, IFSEC exhibition is held in Birmingham, England in May every year, covering the whole EMEA region, mainly targeting visitors to the EMEA market. Dubai in the Middle East, known as "Little Hong Kong", is also a logistics distribution center. Its hinterland extends to the whole Middle East, Northeast Africa and India, and radiates to the whole of Africa and some European countries (such as Turkey and Portugal). There are a large number of distribution/trade agents similar to the early Taiwanese businessmen and Hong Kong businessmen, which are not to be missed by many small and medium-sized enterprises interested in the Middle East and African markets. In addition, some professional exhibitions in South Africa, the Philippines and Brazil, as well as exhibitions in China, Taiwan Province Province and Hongkong are also worth seeing. And different types of enterprises can also choose exhibitions according to their own products and technologies.

With the prominent position of Asian market in the world, China is unique in Asia. Every year, many overseas buyers go straight to China to purchase security equipment, so the exhibition held in China at the end of 10 will also attract a large number of overseas customers to visit.

Tong Wei, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade, suggested, "Security companies with different product types should attend some exhibitions with a purpose. For example, biometric enterprises can choose to participate in some hardware and lock exhibitions (hardware exhibition in Cologne, Germany), and exhibitors may need some technology to improve their product lines, such as some fingerprint safes, fingerprint locks, fingerprint USB flash drives and so on. At the exhibition, you can go door to door with your sample materials according to your budget. In order to avoid the embarrassment of meeting for the first time, you can also prepare some small gifts. You can bring some wind oil to your customers when you go to Africa, and some silk when you go to the United States, which is also convenient for communication. But in any case, don't forget the purpose of your visit. "

For domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, they may prefer to exhibit their products at the Canton Fair, rather than just watching the exhibition. To this end, Tong Wei, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade, reminded that "products must be placed in the right position. At present, the booth fee is relatively expensive, so the way of "joint venture/sharing" is generally adopted. Therefore, it is very important to choose a suitable sharing partner. "

Other auxiliary promotion methods

Some insiders suggest that small and medium-sized enterprises can also choose some auxiliary means to promote themselves and let buyers know that you exist and are interested in you. For example, the simplest thing is to do a good job in your English website, so that overseas buyers can know their products and company strength through the website.

In addition, there is another debatable way, that is, ranking. Through ranking, the company's own website can be clicked by more people. In this way, small and medium-sized enterprises should be careful of traps. Because, driven by interests, some improper ranking companies may hire someone to click, which leads to high click fees for enterprises. In view of this, SMEs must also choose a suitable search engine. Many people will choose Google and Yahoo when searching in English, and Baidu and Sina when searching in Chinese.

In addition, Liu Ye, the overseas sales department of Victoria Video Technology, suggested, "You can find the customers you want through common search engines, national yellow pages, local trade promotion associations or industry associations, and periodicals. Even when your products are very advantageous in that country, you can rent a server in that country and make your own website. This practice costs very little every year, like the United States only needs about 100 US dollars, which effectively avoids the situation that local servers can only search local materials. "

Tong Wei, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade, also suggested that "Chinese are widely distributed in southeast markets (such as Thailand and Indonesia), and small and medium-sized enterprises can try to find sales channels to buy products through intermediaries, preferably Chinese who have lived in the local area for a long time. In the Middle East and Africa markets, we usually choose some retired government consultants or permanent trade representatives to open the market. However, it is very important to choose people. He must be someone who has close ties with the local government. "

"Integrate a variety of marketing communication methods and formulate a three-dimensional global promotion strategy. For example, set up a private exhibition hall in the media to let buyers see new products in time; Set up outdoor billboards in customer concentrated areas; Support local dealers to publish TV advertisements, hold press conferences and invite the media to report in time. Through these all-round communication channels and methods, we will ensure the efficient penetration and coverage of USP (product selling point) in exports and push products from' deep lanes' to' prosperous markets'. " Xu Xianmei, manager of Xiamen Wei Zhen Export Department, believes that it is also important for security companies to choose comprehensive promotion methods.

Pay attention to circulation and payment.

For export enterprises, developing marketable products and winning orders should not be "everything is fine". Because this is only the first step on the exit road, there are still many details that need to be dealt with one by one and implemented at different levels. Circulation, payment and customer service are also noteworthy links for security companies.

Wang Tingbin, general manager of Tianjin Zheng Tong Electronics, believes that "when an enterprise receives an order, it should check every small detail in the order, including the confirmation of the delivery place and the mode of product transportation, and at the same time consider the uncertainty of long-term transactions and take corresponding measures to minimize risks; At the time of delivery, ensure that every order has a valid title certificate (especially if the order is lost, it needs to be publicly announced in time). At present, for small and medium-sized security enterprises with limited circulation of goods and funds, it is more convenient to adopt FOB delivery method, and the risks in all aspects are low. "

In terms of payment method, Xu Xianmei, manager of the export department of Xiamen Wei Zhen, suggested that "enterprises can further understand the comprehensive strength and credit qualification of buyers after purchasing the state-supported' China export credit insurance'. Based on this, we can appropriately adopt multi-channel payment methods, strive for group purchase, and facilitate company financing. " At present, there are many ways to use T/T telegraphic transfer, so it is very important to master the payment and delivery time. In the international market, although customers have a good reputation and fast repayment speed, they save the trouble and risk of urging arrears. She added, "customers in some areas also need to be especially careful, and they must organize stocking on the basis of ensuring payment." Here, newly exported SMEs usually need to pay attention to the accumulation of integrity, which is also convenient to find a reliable third party (bank or tax department) as a guarantee at a critical time.

Do a good job in customer service

In addition, customer service is an eternal theme in both domestic and foreign markets, especially in mature European and American markets, which are indispensable before, during and after sales.

Xu Xianmei, manager of the export department of Xiamen Wei Zhen, pointed out, "Before selling, we need to know what customers need, fully communicate with customers from their own strategies, marketing strategies and product images, and gain their recognition and trust; In the sales process, it is necessary to clarify every detail requirement of customers, help customers understand the local market, competitors' entry channels and sales prices, and the promotion plan of the company's specific products and services; After-sales must be followed up in time, such as whether the product distribution has arrived; Let customers know the possible problems and countermeasures in the installation process; Does the customer have any faults during the use of the product and need support? "

And the sample is also the part that needs to be paid attention to before the sale. Wang Tingbin, general manager of Tianjin Zheng Tong Electronics, stressed that "every business is from small to large, starting from the initial inquiry and sample ordering, so samples are particularly important. It is generally believed that the quality of samples is slightly better than that of bulk goods. If the samples are not well made, how can customers trust your potential orders? If defective samples are provided for various reasons, potential orders will inevitably be lost. " For small and medium-sized enterprises, it is quite difficult to solve the after-sales problem of products overseas, and enterprises have their own methods to deal with after-sales problems. He Wei, manager of Zhuhai Stone Export Department, believes that "the enterprise has defined the affordable after-sales service conditions at the initial stage of business negotiation." Tong Wei, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade, provided some experiences and practices in this regard. "Security products are bulky, inconvenient to transport and expensive in freight, but in order to prevent unqualified and damaged products from appearing in customers' hands, our practice is to indicate' the damage rate of the first batch of products, and we will provide products with the same value in the second batch of products' when signing the contract, including some special provisions on accessories and maintenance. "

It can be said that the whole process of ordering, production and delivery is a process of continuous communication and consultation between a salesman and customers and manufacturers. In this process, the salesman, as the representative of the enterprise, on the one hand sells products and services, on the other hand represents customers, looks at the problem from the customer's point of view, understands the customer's needs, and strives for the best quality and delivery time for customers. When the delivery can't meet the customer's demand, the salesman will strive for the best delivery on behalf of the customer, which will inevitably conflict with the production department of the enterprise, but if the salesman compromises blindly, he is actually ignoring the interests of the customer. Wang Tingbin, general manager of Tianjin Zheng Tong Electronics, said, "An excellent salesperson in an enterprise should be good at coordinating his dual identity and maximizing the interests of both parties in order to maintain a good cooperative relationship between manufacturers and customers."

Manage customer resources

It is understood that there is a common phenomenon in the process of security enterprises operating overseas markets: enterprises lack follow-up and management actions for overseas customers, leading to the disappearance of original customers. So, how to track and manage customers effectively?

Tong Wei, general manager of Beijing Aidiwade, said, "Foreign trade must be managed by a special person. For small and medium-sized enterprises, it is very nervous to hire a comprehensive overseas team, but it must be managed by a special person. Therefore, our practice is to generally hire some part-time staff. This method can be called' borrowing'. For example, in Africa, we hired a person who is very familiar with the local area to take charge of the market, including attending exhibitions with us and meeting African customers. "

With the increasing number of overseas customers, enterprises need to systematically classify and sort out customer resources. "If conditions permit, it is recommended to buy professional customer management software to ensure orderly and timely management. For the customers who have reached the cooperation intention, the enterprise must summarize the sales data once a month or once a quarter, generate forms and distribute them, and often have in-depth communication with them to study the next action countermeasures, "said Xu Xianmei, manager of Xoceco Wei Zhen Export Department.

She added, "It is also necessary for us to give our customers a friendly greeting and explore the possibility of future cooperation. In practical work, customers often make inquiries and ask some technical questions, but they seem to have no intention of ordering. Such customers may have stable supply and good cooperation. However, once some customers' needs cannot be met in time, or stable suppliers have quality problems, such customers can easily shift their goals and cooperation opportunities will arise. "

Manufacturer * * * Ming

Most manufacturers said that compared with international brands, China security products have great advantages in price and mature technology, and are very attractive to overseas markets. However, many foreign customers still don't trust China enterprises, mainly because some unscrupulous sellers' lack of honesty and irresponsible sales behavior have affected the whole sales environment.

In addition to many China security companies' shortcomings in after-sales service quality, information feedback speed and ability to solve practical problems, their international order-taking ability has been greatly affected, and corporate integrity has also become a hidden rule in international trade. Because international trade is mostly conducted through the Internet, the two sides have never met, so credibility is particularly important. "For domestic small and medium-sized security enterprises, the promised things must be done, and the unreasonable explanations should be given in advance to gain the understanding of customers. He said, manager of Zhuhai stone export department.

In addition, the overseas market is different from the domestic market. Southeast Asian market pays attention to price first, followed by quality and brand, while European and American customers pay more attention to corporate reputation and product quality. Therefore, if China's small and medium-sized enterprises want to enter a more standardized and mature European and American market, they must standardize their own market competition behavior, especially pay attention to improving the gold content of products, rather than winning the market by price advantage alone.

Generally speaking, at present, domestic SMEs' understanding of overseas markets has not reached the stage of market segmentation, and overseas markets are still in the early stage of development, so it is inevitable that more investment will lead to less return or even unprofitable; For some enterprises that have gone abroad, if they are comfortable with the number of temporary orders and do not invest in marketing and customer follow-up, the overseas market that enterprises have worked hard to open may become the bag of overseas competitors.