在中国采购,可以很容易,也可以很挑战
Buying in China could be easy or very challenging!
我在中国的第一单生意是这样的,先经过一家美国贸易公司,再一家中国贸易公司,最后到我们要采购的那家中国陶瓷厂家。有时候想获得最低价格,不一定是最佳的做法。因为当时中国瓷砖的价格很低,即使经过多个中间商,到我们手中依然觉得非常便宜。我记得很清楚,2004年我们买60X60渗花砖的价格是每平方米5美元。
此外,第一次来中国采购,一切都不容易。对于首次到中国采购的买家,由于缺乏对中国公司的了解,例如诚信、品质、服务乃至语言沟通,都是未知数。因此,最好是与贸易公司合作,他们知道哪些是可靠的厂商。
和我们做第一单生意的那家贸易公司,在当时就算不是最大也是最大的公司之一了。我们采购他们的常规产品,一年365天,他们都在生产那款瓷砖。
那天接下来发生的所有事情都让当时的我大开眼界:他们开着一辆拉风的全新BMW700轿车来酒店接我,到达那大得离谱的展厅;然后在午宴上,我被牵着鼻子经历了所有我不熟悉的礼仪和程序,像我应该坐在哪个位子上,带我去鱼缸和动物笼那里挑选食物,干掉一杯杯的中国白酒;房间里人人都抽烟。对于这些,我都能应付得来,但我相信并不是每个外国人都可以,尤其是人人都在房间里抽烟,在西方国家,许多地方例如饭店、商场、办公室都是禁烟的。
我当时很震惊,尤其很难想象这里的展厅有那么大,相比我曾经去过的美国、意大利、墨西哥、西班牙或者巴西的最大的展厅,起码大5~8倍。
这里的展厅至少有6000到8000平方米大,楼上甚至还有供员工、经销商和客户住宿的地方。
他们领我参观了其中一家工厂。那时候,如果不确定你是真的买家,贸易公司的人不会轻易带你去工厂。
那家工厂的规模很大,至少有六条窑和很多压机。直到今天,我还没在其他地方见过一个厂房里有那么多压机。另一方面,我也见到了一些不太好的事情,例如设备很旧,很多人工工序,自动化程度很低,管理也比较紊乱,灯光很暗,噪音很大等等。但最终,产品质量很好,符合所有国际标准。
走完所有程序之后,我和他们签定了第一张10个柜的订单,未来可能每个月都有这个量,甚至更大。大家都很高兴。那晚我们也去吃饭,当然每个人都没少喝酒。酒足饭饱后,他们很满意我答应了他们去会所的邀请。
说实话,我当时并不知道他们要带我去哪儿,直到他们打开电视,开始唱歌,我才明白那是一家KTV。然后他们对我说,轮到我唱了。我跟他们说我一点中文也不懂,不会唱,他们说没问题,这里也有英文歌。我永远不会忘了那一晚,我像歌星一样在中国的舞台上开唱。
那天的一切对于我都是新奇、有趣、让人难忘的。谁想到这是我们公司中国业务壮大的开始呢,从第一张订单到许许多多订单,从10个货柜,发展到后来每个月500个货柜。
在下一篇文章中,我会说说如何完成交易,特别是比较一下向贸易公司下单采购,和直接向生产工厂采购的利与弊。这些年来,我们两种方式都用过,都操作得不错。我会跟大家分享更多的故事。
My first transaction in China involved a trading Company from USA, one from China and the manufacturer of the tile we were interested in buying. This is not your best option when you want to have the best price. But back then the pricing was so low that even allowed having multiple people in the middle. Besides when you come for the first time and want to buy on that first trip is not easy at all! We needed 60x60 soluble salts in 2004 and I remember very well that we paid $5.00 USD per m2.
The lack of knowledge of the companies, if they are good or bad, quality concerns, service issues and communication is completely unknown for the first time buyer. So, it is better to rely on the Trading Company that already has experience on working with reliable companies.
Our first transaction was with one of the biggest groups if not maybe the biggest. An easy product to make for them that was produce almost every day of every month.
Everything that happened on that day was extremely interesting for me, from the moment they picked me up in the hotel in a very fancy new BMW 700, to the arrival to the monstrous showroom. And then all the rituals and procedures that I was not familiar with at lunch time like where you are supposed to seat, the food selection from the fish tanks or live animals, the “Gambeis” with Chinese White wine and smoking by almost every single person in the room. I was able to deal with all that but I am very sure most other peoples not, especially all the smoking in the room. In the western countries smoking has been banned in most areas like restaurants, malls, offices, etc.
I was extremely impressed and was having a difficult time processing in my mind the size of their showrooms. It was at least 5-8 times bigger than the largest showroom I have been to in USA, Italy, Mexico, Spain or Brazil.
The showroom was at least 6,000 to 8,000 m2 and even had dormitories in the upper floors for employees, distributors or even customers.
Then we went to one of the factories. In those years it was not easy that the companies will allow you to tour their facilities unless you were a confirmed buyer or customer.
The size of the factory was huge, multiple kilns (at least 6) and many presses. I still up to today have not seen as many presses in one building like I did that time. On the other side I saw other things not as good like, old equipment, many things were done manually and not automated, the factory was somewhat disorganized, poor lightning, very noisy, etc., but at the end the product was good and met all the international quality standards.
After we went through all the procedures at the end of the day we signed a 10 container initial order with potential future orders as big or bigger every month. Everybody was happy and we went to dinner that night and of course everyone had multiple drinks. They were so happy that after dinner and a few gambeis I was invited to go along with them to a club.
Honestly I had no clue where we were going and later I found out it was a KTV. I did not quite understand what it was until they turned the TV system and they started singing in Chinese of course. Then they told me that I had to sign that it was my turn. I told them that I did not understand any Chinese and could not sign. They said no problem we have songs that you can sign in English. That night I will never forget. That was my introduction as singing artist in China.
Everything that happened that day was new, interesting, different and to be honest with you exciting. Who would have thought that that would be the first of many future transactions of our company and that from that 10 container initial order would grow to close to 500 every month!
In the next article I would try to focus on how transactions are done and specifically talk more about the advantages and disadvantages of using a trading company vs. buying direct from the manufacturer. Throughout the years we have done it both ways and have worked quite well for us. I will share some of these stories with you.
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