A trader, Xiao Gang, doubts: why is it so difficult to do foreign trade now?

贸友小刚深深的疑虑：现在的外贸咋这么难做？

We have a factory and a foreign trade department. Some products are outsourced and our products are related to sports.

我们本身是工厂，也有外贸部，有些产品是外购的，做的是体育用品。

I have been talking well with a guest before,who has inquired a lot of products, and I have quoted them one by one. But these products are outsourced, not our own.

之前跟一个客人聊的挺好的，有问有答的。询价了很多产品，我也都一一报价给他了。但是这些产品都是外购的，不是我们自己生产。

Yesterday, the guest suddenly came to ask me, these products are not made by yourselves? He asked me if I am purchasing foreign trade? I said yes.

昨天客人突然来问我，这些产品不是你们自己做的吧？问我是不是外贸采购的？我说是的，外购的。

He always thought that we have a factory, and the products on the samples were all produced by ourselves.

他之前一直以为我是工厂，样本上的产品都是自己生产的。

After this incident, I found that the guest was much colder. I feel like I was cheating on him before. Because I said, at the beginning, that I had a factory and sent an electronic catalog of my factory to him. He chose the product inside to call me a quote. (both are purchased products)

经过这事以后，发现客人冷淡了许多。我又感觉我之前在骗他一样。因为我一开始就说自己是工厂，并发了自己工厂的电子目录给他，他选了里面的产品叫我报价。（都是外购的产品）

What should I do next? It is difficult to do business.

接下来我该怎么办好呢？发现生意好难做。

It is also possible that the price of the outsourced factory I was looking for was too high, causing the customer to have doubts about my price.

也有可能我找的外购工厂报的价格太高了，导致客人对我的价格产生了怀疑。

Alas!

哎~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Most traders think that the order was lost because Xiao Gang is too honest: you are so honest that you tell the truth. First lie to the customer to say that it is their own production, if the customer comes to the factory, then find a cooperative factory to deal with.

多数贸友认为这个单子没做成是因为小刚太老实了：你太老实了，不能说真话。先骗客户说是自己生产的，如果客户来看厂，再找一家合作工厂应付一下。

I don’t have much to say about the problem of “why is foreign trade so difficult now?” The standard answer is nothing more than “when is foreign trade easy?”

对于“现在的外贸咋这么难做？”这个问题我倒没有太多想说的，标准答案无非就是“外贸什么时候好做了？”

For the opinion that "you are too honest to make a deal", I am interested in talking about my opinion:

对于”你太老实而把单子做黄了“，我反而有兴趣聊聊我的看法：

Isn't that I admit, what products that customers are looking for are outsourced?

不就是我承认了，那些客户看上的产品都是外购的？

Isn't it that I put the purchased products and our own products on a quotation form?

不就是我把外购的产品和我们自己生产的产品放在一个报价表了么？

Isn't the price of a purchased product a bit high?

不就是外购的产品价格高了一丢丢吗？

Why the customer took it so serious and ignored me? Alas, foreign trade is really hard to do.

客户至于这么较真，不理我么？哎，外贸真难做。

We all know that foreign trade is very difficult. But do you know why the customer leave you?

外贸是挺难的，我们都知道。但你知道到底是什么原因，让客户离你而去？

Just because our products are outsourced? Just because we are not the production factory for these products?

仅仅只是因为我们的产品是外购的么？仅仅是因为我们不是这些产品的生产工厂？

If you really think so, you still can't understand the customer.

如果你真的如此想，说明你还看不懂客户。

I have also encountered such a situation. There is a Pakistani customer. When asking for an inquiry, he ask: Is your product 10% off? I say yes. But I didn't tell him: it's just a partial discount, not all products were discounted. Then he selected several products very quickly and let me do PI, seeming that the intention of cooperation was quite high. I did a PI and sent it to him, "Why is the price so high? Is there a discount? I won't accept this price!" So I explained, "The products you chose are not discounted... the discounts are these..."

我也遇到过这样的情况，有一个巴基斯坦的客户，询价的时候问：是不是你们的产品打9折？我说是的。但是我并没有告诉他：只是部分打折，而不是全部产品都打折。然后他三下五除二，速度极快地选中了几款产品，让我做PI，看起来合作的意向相当高。我做好了PI发送过去，“为什么价格这么高？不是有打折吗？这个价格我不接受！”于是我解释说“您选择的这几款产品是没有打折的…打折的是这些款…”

“You are wasting my time! Don't contact me again!"

浪费时间，别再联系我了！

What a disgusting, frustrating sentence.

多么恶狠狠，让人沮丧的一句话。

Therefore, sometimes the order is not completed, not because you said the truth, but because of the asymmetry of supply and demand.

所以，有时候订单没成，并不是因为你说了实话，而是因为供需不对称。

What the customer needs is 10 dollars, and you can only offer a minimum of 12 dollars. Let you lose another 2 yuan, lose money, you can't do it, let him raise 2 yuan more, the budget is not enough, he did not agree.

客户需要的是10块钱的东西，而你只能提供最低12块钱的东西。让你再低2块钱，亏本了，你做不了，让他再高2块钱，预算不足，他打死不同意。

This is the imbalance of supply and demand. It is just a waste of time to talk about it.

这就是供需不对称，再谈下去也只是浪费时间。

So what is Xiao Gang doing wrong? Maybe nothing is wrong, just because there is no way to meet the needs of customers.

所以小刚到底是做错了什么？也许什么都没错，只是因为没办法对上客户的需求罢了。

The customer's goal is very clear, that is, he wants to find a factory of these products to cooperate while you are not.

客户的目标很明确，就是想找这些产品的工厂合作，而你们居然不是。

Therefore, the customer does not go back, perhaps not because you told the truth, nor because your product is outsourced, but more likely because he is angry that you "cheated" him, wasting his time.

因此客户头也不回地走了，也许并不是因为你说了实话，也不是因为你的产品是外购的，更多可能是因为他生气你“骗”了他，浪费了他的时间。

Most traders think that the order was lost because Xiao Gang is too honest: you are so honest that you tell the truth. First lie to the customer to say that it is their own production, if the customer comes to the factory, then find a cooperative factory to deal with.

多数贸友认为这个单子没做成是因为小刚太老实了：你太老实了，不能说真话。先骗客户说是自己生产的，如果客户来看厂，再找一家合作工厂应付一下。

It is easy for us to attribute this problem to the problem of differences between trading companies and factories, because the low price that factory prices can achieve is something that trading companies can never do.

我们很容易就把这个问题归结到贸易公司和工厂差异的问题上来，因为工厂价格可以做到的低价格，是贸易公司永远没办法做到的。

The trader first lied to the customer that the products were produced by themselves, and then they will find a cooperative factory to deal with.

贸友说先骗客户说是自己生产的，后面再找合作工厂来应付。

At first glance, it seems like a good idea.

乍一听，好像是个好办法。

However, we have to think about whether such a factory is willing to cooperate with your operation and to achieve your price, and it is worthy of your trust.

但是，我们要想想有没有这样一个工厂愿意配合你的操作和做到你的价格，并且值得你信任。

If there was one, then such a turnaround may be feasible. If not, then the order will be lost sooner or later, and it will be worth a lot of energy and time.

如果有，那么这样的转圜之计或许可行。如果没有，那么这个单子迟早会黄，还会搭进去很多精力和时间，实为不值。

If you want to lie, depending on whether you have the ability to lie, if you don't have this strength, don't waste your time.

要不要撒谎，得看你有没有能力兜住谎言，若没有这个实力，还是不要白费功夫了。

"Winne, you are experienced. Can you teach me how to fool this customer?"

“维尼，你经验丰富，可以教教我怎么骗过这个客户吗 ？”

I once had a friend who turned to me and said that his client came to see the factory, but he had to have a certain certificate. Otherwise, he would not cooperate. He asked me if I had any skills to fool the customer or let the customer ignore the certificate.

曾有贸友求助于我，说他的客户来看厂，但要求必须要有某某证书，否则不合作，问我有什么技巧可以骗过客户或许让客户忽略掉证书这个事。

I said, "I don't have this skill. Negotiation skills can help us negotiate and increase the possibility of a deal, but definitely don't have the function of being fake."

我说：“我没有这个本事，谈判技巧可以辅助我们谈判，提高成交的可能性，但绝对不具有以假乱真的功能。”

What customers need is a real product certificate. Without a certificate, customers have no way to import or sell in the market. Why do I get a certificate with "skills"? Or let me use the "skills" hypnosis client to become a fool?

客户需要的是实实在在的产品证书，没有证书客户没有办法进口也没有办法在市场上销售。这奈何我如果用”技巧“变出一个证书？还是让我用”技巧“催眠客户变傻瓜？

If something exists, there is.If it doesn’t exist, there is nothing. "not exist" can  become "exist", which really exists.

有些东西，有就是有，没有就是没有，”没有“可以想办法变成”有“，是真真切切的”有“。

For the certificate that the customer needs, you can find a way to do a real certificate, instead of relying on "negotiation skills" to help you solve all things, not to mention the negotiating skills are not a panacea.

 对于客户需要的证书，你可以想办法去做一个实实在在的证书，而不是想倚靠“谈判技巧”帮你解决所有事情，更何况谈判技巧并不是万能的灵丹妙药。

The network is so developed that lies are easy to break.

网络发达，撒谎易破。

Why did Xiao Gang’s customers suddenly question? Whether the price of the outsourced factory I was looking for was too high, causing customers to doubt my price. Yesterday, the guest suddenly came to ask me, these products are not made by yourselves? Ask me if I am purchasing foreign trade? I said yes, outsourced.

小刚的客户为何会突然质疑：可能我找的外购工厂报的价格太高了，导致客人对我的价格产生了怀疑。昨天客人突然来问我，这些产品不是你们自己做的吧？问我是不是外贸采购的？我说是的，外购的。

Now that the network is so developed, it is easy to find price differences. What's more, clients can directly find out if you are a factory. So even if Xiao Gang said that he has a factory, customers may not believe it.

现在网络如此发达，发现价格差异简直轻而易举，更有甚者，可以直接查到你们是不是工厂。所以哪怕小刚硬生生地说自己是工厂，客户也未必相信。

The network is a powerful way of contacts, and we are all in this network. Although the music is winding around, in the end, we can always see the real side.

网络网络，就是一张强大的联系网，而我们都在这个网中，尽管曲曲绕绕，而最终也总是能看到真实的一面。

If you have no strength to conceal, absolutely not conceal.

没有实力隐瞒的，绝对不隐瞒。

Integrity is the main factor, supplemented by skills.

诚信为主，技巧为辅。

Xiao Gang said that after the customers knew that their products were outsourced, he was very cold to him. What should he do now?

小刚说客户知道他们产品是外购的之后，对他很冷淡，现在该怎么办？

My suggestion is: Communicate with customers sincerely. Explain that the misunderstanding is not intentional, and hope that there are opportunities for cooperation.

我的建议是：真诚地与客户沟通，说明其中的误会不是有意的，希望还有合作的机会。

Mo-tse once said: He that will not believe what he says will not do it. The meaning is: people who are not honest, not sincere, do not have any results, and even bring trouble.

 墨子曾说：言不信者，行不果。意思就是说：不诚信，不真诚的人，做的事情也不会有任何成果，甚至会招来麻烦。

Foreign trade should be based on honesty, and foreign trade skills are the auxiliary role of promoting transactions on the basis of faith.

外贸当以诚信为本，而外贸技巧是在诚信的基础上做到促进成交的辅助作用。

Integrity-based and skills-assisted are vital.

诚信为主，技巧为辅，方能强大和长久。