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Selling in international market is never simple where
language, geographical distance, cultural difference and lack of
market knowledge can pose formidable challenge to any manufacturer/exporter.
This is more so when buyer and seller interact through as anonymous
a medium as Internet.
A good understanding of what works and what does not
in e-commerce is a key success-factor today. Though business through
Internet is a comparatively new phenomenon, it is growing at extremely
fast pace and is set to become the dominant mode of conducting business
in near future. Ignore it today at the cost of your own peril tomorrow.
In this series, we shall look at factors that can effectively
help in winning overseas business as also moves that can chase away
potential customers.
The First Step - Building Trust
At the heart of any commercial transaction, there is
a belief or understanding that the purchased product/service will
help in
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Reducing overheads/cost of existing product/process
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Ensure more business/profit
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Bring greater convenience
We buy a product or service after satisfying ourselves
about one or more of above primary conditions. The next step in
buying process is to identify a supplier who can deliver the required
product.
However, mere ability to supply a product is not enough
to win a buyer. The seller must be able to convince buyer about
quality, reliability, price and many other factors. To put it in
one sentence - the seller must win buyer's trust.
Building trust is a complex and often long process,
specially when buyer seller do not interact face to face. Your communication,
style of working, behaviour of staff and many such factors may assume
much greater role in building trust than they are in conventional
business.
How to Build Trust
Unfortunately, there is no simple, sure-fire solution.
If your product is saleable, you are trustworthy and follow established
business principles there is no reason why you can not win buyer's
trust. Important thing here is that buyer must perceive you as trustworthy
not what you think of yourself or your actual standing in domestic
market. So, it is extremely important that you project a positive
image about yourself through your communications. Do not take for
granted buyer's perception - he/she may not know about your reputation
in domestic market. The buyer is more likely to form an opinion
about you based on inputs received from you. That is why communication
is so very important in e-commerce.
In this age of virtual reality and business
through cyberspace, it is not enough to be reliable and trustworthy
but perceived to be so by your customer. In next few articles, we
shall discuss how to project positive image about your company.
Related Links:
Source: FAIDA
- Newsletter on Business Opportunties from India and Abroad
Vol 3, Issue 24
October 3' 2002
Author :
Dr. Amit K. Chatterjee
(Amit worked in blue-chip Indian and MNCs for 15 years in various
capacities like Research and Information Analysis, Market Development,
MIS, R&D Information Systems etc. before starting his e-commerce
venture in 1997. The views expressed in this columns are of
his own. He may be reached at amit@infobanc.com
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