tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52887306228295654942024-02-19T10:04:10.041+08:00JLmadeFrom Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.comBlogger81125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-59692276318944288382012-02-11T11:50:00.000+08:002012-02-11T11:51:26.980+08:00Exit...Stage Left<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve changed houses.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Instead of Suzhou, Jiangsu, China, I’m
on the Southern Outer Banks of North Carolina.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Instead of skyscrapers, cranes and car horns honking, it’s
little buildings, quaint shops and a Jimmy Buffet-like atmosphere…</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">“Welcome back Sanity…you were
a missed chum.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">My job is the same, only I’m
doing it from the coast of North Carolina.
This will allow me to make closer connections with many of our
purchasing partners and buyers.
The China office is still running, fully operation and very
capable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since I changed physical
surroundings, my blogging haunt also skipped over to <a href="http://bit.ly/ytRBXH" target="_blank">http://jacobyount.com </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I hope you will still enjoy
some of these previous posts.
There is a plethora of information in here that will help the 1<sup>st</sup>-time
importer in dealing with China factories or for the experienced, grizzled importer, they will find here “reminders in due season” (we all tend to forget and get sluggish..reminders are good).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Visit me over at the new
house and in fact, some of these previous posts will be modified and re-posted
on the new site.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I appreciate everyone’s
support and I look forward to networking with you in this Year of the
Dragon. Comment on the new blog so
I can know who is reading and also get to know you more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Jacob</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;">Related Posts: click on
below title for similar topics</span></b>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://bit.ly/y4s53a" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">A New Beginning</span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-11303068598960029492011-11-30T18:13:00.001+08:002011-11-30T19:47:06.612+08:00China Water-Cooler Chatter<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">After close to 10 years of working (and living) in
China, here are common, office chatter topics which I've either heard in passing or had the pleasure to partake in the conversation. </span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Fascination with Homes</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Rent or buy<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>The size of your home<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>The price of your home</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Apartments are a rage in China. I’d call it a cultural obsession. The way some folks ask me about my dwelling space,
size, price - I thought they were looking to move in with me! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Whereas where I’m from,
folks can go decades before they buy, there is a mad race here to own an
apartment. It almost seems like an
entitlement for the 20-something crowd to think they are due an apartment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Home discussion is always an
icebreaker in China and for the most part, perfectly normal conversation
topic. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Food and Food Intake Method (plus the occasional
“outtake”) <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Who cooks in your house?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>Can you take spicy
(food)? And it is "take", ie can you bear it? <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>I have diarrhea. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">There is a pickiness here
about food, that I cannot quite put my finger on. I’ll eat anywhere and pretty much eat anything. Most folk here seem picky about their
food and then it can even extend to another level of “whose cooking are you
brave enough to endure?” Granted,
there is a large mistrust here of restaurants; the food safety, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_522876003">2</a><sup><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_522876003">nd</a></sup><a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1152794/1/.html" target="_blank"> hand oil thing</a>, etc… It
seems in a normal home here, whoever controls the wok, has the power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Then, diarrhea, is not
something you keep to yourself. If
you got it, folks don’t mind telling it, hearing about it, how you got it, where from and then
there is a lot of chin music on who can brave “spicy” food and from what
region. I’d honestly had never
thought that much about it… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Getting Voted off the Island<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>I trust them, I don’t trust
them. <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Maybe it’s because of
history, maybe folks just like the Survivor model in their office, but for some
reason, I hear trust mentioned a lot?
Why, I’ve asked myself? Is
there something going on that I should know about? Is some of the team passing nuclear secrets to each
other? Is there a larger
conspiracy transpiring and manufacturing promotional items is just the cover
up? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I say that tongue-in-cheek,
but there is an extreme distrust of one another here; a fear that someone will rat out the other – although I’ve
never uncovered what that dirty secret is and I bet dollars to doughnuts they
also don’t know. In the West we
tend trust people until they’ve given us a reason to do otherwise, here it is
the opposite. Whether it’s the VP
or the lady that sweeps the office, there is <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/system-of-favor.html" target="_blank">a watchful system here</a> and just be
sure you don’t get voted off the island, a la Survivor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Price Fascination <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>How much you get paid<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>The amount of your bonus<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>The cost of “x”, how much
did you pay for “x”? <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><i>How much the boss pays for
their “x”.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Like nowhere else in the
world, there is a fascination here of what something costs. Whether you bought a new pair of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Ning_(company)#Product" target="_blank">Li Ning’s</a>
or a BMW…spill the beans. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">What did you pay? Typically after you tell someone what
you paid, the normal response is for everyone to make that tongue clicking sound
and shake his or her head and tell you, “too expensive”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also if the staff doesn’t
share with one another the amount of their bonus, compensation, etc.. they are
considered, “not a team player”.
There was one small girl, probably shorter than 5’3 who was bullying all
others to tell her their bonus. I
guess if they didn’t squeal she was going to vote them off at the next tribal
council? (back to the above “trust” concept). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Asking you how much money you make is not something folks
are shy about because most will willing offer the info on how much they are making. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Many people in companies
here have this “us vs. them” mentality when it comes to <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/inspiration-and-motivation-is-keymore.html" target="_blank">employee and management</a>
– obviously a sprig from the communist root. The worker has to band together against the evil oppressive
class. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">And if you are in a position
of authority, knowing what you pay for things is the juiciest, hot commodity
going today. I think it’s from a
developing country having lack of hobbies, thus leading to little random bits
of knowledge being something people want to scoop up. When I heard the team discussing how much my shoes cost, I
got my hopes up thinking they were going to kick in a buy me a birthday present
(ie knowing what quality level I expect, perhaps a better pair of shoes) but it turns out they were just
shootin’ the bull. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I realize a lot these
chatter points stem from history, welfare (cost of everything being an
obsession) and culture. It’s
been a blast working in China and being a foreigner in China, having Chinese
colleagues and managing a team has been a humungous life-growth mechanism. Moving out of your home country and working
with others changes your views on just about everything. Be sure to enjoy the ride whilst it’s
happening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">How does this office cooler
talk differ from where you live?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts:
click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/toilet-paper-on-office-desk.html" target="_blank">Toilet Paper on the Office Desk</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/workpt-ii.html" target="_blank">Work_Pt II</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/staffing-in-china.html" target="_blank">Staffing in China</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-74890599748021237172011-11-21T15:04:00.001+08:002011-11-21T15:35:16.443+08:00Back to the Basics: FOB<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The goal of this post isn’t to get into the
Incoterms or technicality of buying FOB from China. I’m highlighting some
of the moving pieces during the heat of battle…I mean…during the heat of the
order. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Friction: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">This
China-side freight forwarding office that your local shipper arranges is, 9
times out of 10, a pain in the butt to your China-side supplier.
Especially if it’s a first-time order with a supplier then undoubtedly that
shipping company is going to be a source of annoyance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">You’d would think since the ultimate goal is to
send the goods overseas the China shipping office and the supplier or factory
would be partnering up for the greater good. That’s far from the
case. These shipping offices are hard to work with, they purposefully
don’t answer and are hard to track down. Then for each job inside of the
company, they have a different contact person. Your supplier has to jump
through all of these hurdles just to get your goods exported.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiw0xkrHjLGtvk3jGmhCFKzbjjH0-IlhusIpGUbi5m1MnUgZ5nWygHJhHji_CMXeFrnr-tyxxBwbO_-ZbrrA8iJUNpz6XUNTn_NGQ_99zmjRpUSxQNqbq4z6nj6iYXXVhMcYEmgVlpYA/s1600/IMG_0286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiw0xkrHjLGtvk3jGmhCFKzbjjH0-IlhusIpGUbi5m1MnUgZ5nWygHJhHji_CMXeFrnr-tyxxBwbO_-ZbrrA8iJUNpz6XUNTn_NGQ_99zmjRpUSxQNqbq4z6nj6iYXXVhMcYEmgVlpYA/s320/IMG_0286.JPG" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">Why so much strife? Since the shipping
company thinks they are working on behalf of the overseas shipping office, they
want to do as little as possible in helping the supplier line up the shipment
and get all moving pieces going forward. It’s the Chinese mindset of “I
don’t know them, why should I help?” </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This seems counterproductive, right? </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Chinese-side shipper is making extremely low
margins (they work on volume, not individual cases). If the supplier and
freight forwarding office don’t have a history together, both parties are
probably not working up-to-speed for the other; ie finding the right
sync. Instead of either side taking responsibility, important points and
confirmations are left by the wayside thus leading to possible delays and
customs inspections.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Promotional Products FOB Perspective: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">As
always at the JLmade blog, the focus is on promotional products and branded
merchandise. A large portion of our manufacturing is for promo campaigns,
launches and events. Quick delivery time is always required; therefore
consider the following when doing FOB.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">* When ordering from many factories and
suppliers your shipper is reestablishing this relationship with a new company
every time. See above “getting to know you problems”. </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">* A good supplier helps to overcome these
issues and will fully-partner up with your shipper in spite of the trouble the
shipper is giving. </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">* Your shipper doesn’t give you the whole
story. Many delays are because of the shipper being hardheaded and
non-transparent with the factory on when goods need to be in the warehouse,
closing dates, etc… If your delivery time is urgent, control the shipping
via your local office; <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html" target="_blank">be "in the know"</a></span>. Leaving
it all up to the supplier does not equal you putting in the proper amount of
legwork.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">* When planning on delivery times with your
Chinese supplier leave out the unnecessary information. The supplier
doesn’t need to know when you need it in what city for what brand, for what
campaign, for what event. They need to know when the goods need to leave
their factory and when it needs to leave China. Don’t focus on in-hand
date, focus on China departure date. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-your-work.html" target="_blank">If you are booking this from abroad, you and your shipper focus on all dates once it leaves China</a>. Believe me;
I’ve seen great confusion in buyer and supplier talks, where the buyer is
talking about an “in-hand” date and the supplier is talking about a
out-of-factory or at most, China-departure date. </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">* <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-basics-sea-shipping.html" target="_blank">A 1-day delay can lead to a 1-week delay</a>. The China-side shipper doesn’t do a great job coordinating the
closure and sailing options with the factory (which shipping lines leaves, what
day, for what delivery?). The China shipper should be spoon-feeding the
factory this info, but instead the factory has to scratch and claw just to get
fuzzy facts. Again, lack of margin leads the shipper to do as little as
possible. </span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Keep in mind when dealing with factories; their
vision is not extending too far past the factory walls. Delivery to them
means the day the goods leave the factory. And rightfully so..they are a
production facility, not a logistics company.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">These are headaches a supplier shouldn’t have to
put up with…but they do on their buyer’s behalf. On the overseas side, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/due-diligence-developing-product.html" target="_blank">be sure to do your due-diligence</a> in making sure all moving pieces and parties line
up. Don’t leave it all in the hands of the factory. Allow them
ample energy to focus on production.</span><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below for similar
topics</span></b><span style="font-family: Times;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-basics-sampling-process.html" target="_blank">Back to the Basics: Sampling Process</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-basics-air-shipping.html" target="_blank">Back to the Basics: Air Shipping</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-basics-sea-shipping.html" target="_blank">Back to the Basics: Sea Shipping</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-42105172947460001752011-10-26T22:18:00.001+08:002011-10-26T22:19:15.512+08:00"Well, I Told 'Em To..."<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24px;">The comment, "Well, I told them to…" never ceases to amaze me. Usually someone says this, when some problem or issue arises. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">What planet do you live on where <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/assumptions.html">just because you told someone to do something</a> it will automatically happen? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This may work for Napoleon and Alexander the Great, and others in positions of great authority, but in a company, part of letting your words out, is making sure people pick up your words and "run with it". What are doing to make sure your initiatives and requests are being fulfilled? A farmer plants a seed and checks on growth...what are you doing to follow up with your own spoken seed-edict? Telling someone something once and expecting it to happen, without the proper foundation laid, is “<a href="http://www.thefreedictionary.com/high+horse">high-horse mentality</a>”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Part of management is making sure people receive your requests or order, and then not only do they receive it, they acknowledge it, understand it, have some level of agreement on the importance of it and will follow through it with it. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This doesn’t only apply to management; it works in dealing with clients. If you warned or advised a client not to do “x” and they still did it, was it the client’s fault or your message? Yes, you may have told them and you may even have email proof to show them that you indeed let them know the situation…but either way, they now have a bad taste in their mouth and thoughts are being entertained if you did all that was necessary to fully inform the situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">From living in China, I’ve had the full spectrum of learning this skill. If you approach China life with the attitude of “Well, I told this person to _, so I cannot understand why _ happened”, then you’re in a world of hurt. I see this when buyers are dealing with factories, I see it in dealing with my own team, when we <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/factory-communication-101-read-analyze.html">deal with factories</a>, when I go to the barber, when I go to the bank, it’s never ending. There's a <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/inspiration-and-motivation-is-keymore.html">mountain of motivating and inspiring involved</a> here to get folks on the same page. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">China requires constant teaching, instructing, motivating, following up, double-checking and then reconfirming it was all done. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s not only China, this happens in <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/nobody-is-willing-to-quote.html">dealing with overseas customers</a>. Folks don’t read emails, they have selective retention, and they don’t want to see the plan facts in front of their face, for whatever reason. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The flip side of leadership is being a servant; having the attitude of a servant. A good leader lowers him or herself from off their elevated position to come down and show. A good leader doesn’t get cranky or testy because they had to repeat a few things. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If someone asks for an explanation, don’t say the same thing again – obviously it didn’t work the first time around, figure out how to say it better and clearer to match the audience.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Also we tend to automatically think someone is “not getting it” because they ask for clarity. Start a new habit; start assuming your message is off. Start having a goal that you want to assure people “get it” and by all means you’ll make sure your message is one folks will willingly jump on and help bring to fruition. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The more you start purposeful instructing and pointed leadership, the likelihood sky rockets upward that folks listen, retain and act upon <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/meaning-what-you-say.html">what you say</a>. You’ll find your team to start “getting it” before you even finish your sentence. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But it starts with you and doesn’t happen the first-time around. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/assumptions.html">Assumptions</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/weve-been-doing-this-for-x-number-of.html">We’ve Been Doing This for “X Number” of Years</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/meaning-what-you-say.html">Meaning What You Say</a></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-54486299911059131172011-10-15T17:59:00.001+08:002011-10-15T17:59:53.612+08:00Price is Too High<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">What are you saying when you lob at your supplier the simple sentence, “Price is too high.”?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">“Jacob what I’m saying is, is that the price is too high”.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Too high for what? Too high in comparison to what? What does that mean…? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you think deeper into that comment the ambiguousness of it will start to emerge.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">During your importing trials and tribulations, throwing out that statement to a supplier or factory, especially in dealing with China, tends to do more harm than good. It doesn’t add anything meaningful to the project and keeps all parties at a standstill, at square number one. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Too high for your budget or too high for you to afford? </span> If that’s the case, then it’s not necessarily the price’s fault and it seems the price is taken undue blame. To round off that sentence, you could say, “The price is out of my budget”. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Too high for what you’ve got in mind?</span> Perhaps you’re talking a low to medium quality item but your supplier is quoting a higher-end piece. So is the price too high or is there a gap in <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/educate-your-supplier-on-product.html">comparison of apples to apples</a>? In this case, express sets of samples to your supplier, further detail them on budget ranges, points of quality to eliminate or add-ons that you could do without. This is a persistent problem in promotional item manufacturing; <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/factory-communication-101-read-analyze.html">buyer and supplier not on the same page</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Too high for you to make the margin you were hoping?</span> In this case, Mr. Price is taking another unnecessary hit and what you mean to say, is “I need to make more margin”. We need to all look at Mr. Margin. Perhaps Mr. Margin needs to have a meeting with the above point on how to make sure buyer and supplier are properly comparing apples to apples. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArnavOnRYP0kuEJid_9kmJi2BOvZVtUbQXXjrIUG045YHoJMqGLw35NU0fF3RYyc7cvj87ERm1oPTvaEkuxWQ8qCLLculRSjB3n14DFJYlu6HTPl4NqLy3v9ZejlwYvsL1F00tf5329k/s1600/pen-8.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArnavOnRYP0kuEJid_9kmJi2BOvZVtUbQXXjrIUG045YHoJMqGLw35NU0fF3RYyc7cvj87ERm1oPTvaEkuxWQ8qCLLculRSjB3n14DFJYlu6HTPl4NqLy3v9ZejlwYvsL1F00tf5329k/s320/pen-8.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Too high in comparison to all the other similar suppliers and items on the market?</span> In comparison to market value, this item is overpriced. Ok, fair enough, but let’s talk some strong numbers. Give your quoting supplier an indication of what’s found out in the field. But all too often, when a buyer lobs the “too high bomb” at you, they seldom mean this example and haven’t done further market research or they would add that on to the commenting mix or simply move on to a reasonably-priced supplier. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Too high for me to present these numbers to my brands / end-users/ / buyer</span>. This is can be a case of changes in the market; price of materials went up or the factories raised their prices. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-cold-on-offshore-projects.html">Buyers go cold on offshore projects</a> and don’t keep their customers properly updated on the changing markets. If there is an item you frequently order, even when not ordering, get quotes every so often and stay on top of your items, so when changes do take place, it’s not like a bucket of cold water. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">… You get my drift. The reason I’m laboring this point is because when you <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/does-your-buyer-know-how-you-source.html">throw out that empty statement</a> without support and solution-oriented steps behind it, it’s doing nothing for the project.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You feel frustrated as if you’re being charged too much.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The supplier is in the dark, because you’ve made them think they are overcharging but they may very well be offering a reasonable market value price. The supplier starts considering you to be a bit “batty” and <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/nobody-is-willing-to-quote.html">you are labeled as a “problematic client” to the factory</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s possible you don’t know the product well enough that you were hoping to import and haven’t stayed on top of market values or changing price and material trends. You say that as a way to smooth over the fact you haven’t done due diligence.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The supplier (in your mind and possibly by word-of-mouth) gets labeled as a high-priced supplier and this is unfair. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/due-diligence-developing-product.html">If you haven’t done due diligence</a> to assure the price is truly too high, then that statement and thinking can only unjustly hurt another business.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When importing and discussing price, make sure comments are precise and effective (which more often than not are nowadays via <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/emailing-factory-supplier-in-china.html">electronic communication</a>). Make your words something the supplier can use and also that will empower you as a buyer. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Make an effort to reduce empty phrases and go for pointed, direct hits that bring your project to fruition or either allow you to amiably and professionally part ways.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below for similar topics</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-you-want-quality-it-comes-with-cost.html">Proceed with Caution in Asking for Lower Price</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/educate-your-supplier-on-product.html">Educate your Supplier on the Product</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/does-your-buyer-know-how-you-source.html">Does Your Buyer Know You Quote That Way?</a></span></div></span>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-5706762483250946742011-10-06T19:05:00.001+08:002011-10-06T19:06:10.045+08:00Listening Skills<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">How are your listening skills?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Are you a good listener?</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I can remember being in elementary school and the teacher reminding everyone in a sing-songy style voice to “practice your listening skills”. Are you still practicing them?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><b>Loading Your Guns:</b></span> Are you really listening to what the other person is saying or are you simply, “loading your guns” behind your back? Like the old cowboy pictures, as soon as the other person stops talking you’re ready to whip out your pistols and start firing away. You only catch half of what they said, because after a certain point, you started forming your counter point or next statement in your mind…ie loading your guns. This would be bad listening. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><b>Let a Point Marinate</b></span><b>:</b> So instead of loading and getting ready to blast away, you let what the other person just said sink in a bit. Sometimes, silence in a conversation is gold. It shows the other person you’re pondering and thinking on what they just said. Be sure to use this time to not only show the person you’re considering their words, but ACTUALLY consider their words. The art of conversation doesn’t mean you have to be so quick to spout off. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Continue The Open Subject:</span></b> To take it a step farther, you can actually repeat back a bit of what they just said and continue on their thought. Part of being a good listener is letting your agenda take a back seat and continuing with the other person’s topic. Don’t be so quick to reach for the microphone, give the other person their moment. There is a humility aspect to being a good listener. A good listener doesn’t try to top what was just said. If someone tells you good news or bad news, don’t try to top it with a piece of even better or even worse news. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><b>Remembering What Was Said:</b></span> Sharpen your memory. Doing the above; not being quick to speak, allowing the topic to simmer and continuing the topic will help you retain what was said. Have you ever heard people that say “I’m horrible at remembering names”?. No, the truth is, they are not a great listener. People will remember what they care about. Start injecting a dose of TLC in your listening and conversation and you’ll see the memory meter jump up.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Being Teachable:</span></b> A good listener, even if he or she knows what you’re talking about and is somewhat an expert on the subject, will still take a moment to hear your thoughts. Don’t be impatient if you’re hearing something you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i> you already know. Perhaps you may learn something new, refresh your own knowledge or learn what others think of the situation. Remember the goal is to listen, not to show the other person what you already know. Nothing worse then talking to a person who interrupts and starts going, "I know, I know, I know", as they are missing the rest of your comment, that they probably didn't know.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(Having said that, everyone should avoid being Mr. or Mrs. Obvious. If you are speaking to someone, have some insight in to what the person you’re speaking to may or may not know. If you’re going to say something that is obvious or basic, you can add on a sentence that show’s you realize this:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“You probably already know this, but…”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“I’m sure this is obvious, but it bears repeating…”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Not to be obvious but….”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“What I’m about to say we both know, but just to reassure we’re on the same page…”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">..and many others)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Probably a basic blog and something you probably already knew….but it bears repeating. I’ve noticed listening skills, in 2011, mixed with the iPhone, twitter and fast-paced societies seem to have taken a dive…we can all sharpen up. Anyone have other listening points to add? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/meaning-what-you-say.html">Meaning What You Say</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/assumptions.html">Assumptions</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/communication-conundrum.html">The Communication Conundrum</a></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-39623717498841830082011-10-03T18:41:00.001+08:002011-10-03T18:42:17.343+08:00JLsocial: Expat Life Coach<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve lived abroad for close to 10 years.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Expat life is not always glamorous. There are many occasions you can feel like nobody who has ever walked the face of the Earth has ever had similar experiences and that you are just an island unto yourself.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">Then you can read this guy’s blog and realize, you’re “abroad but not alone” and perhaps it’s time to even stop feeling sorry for yourself. Reaching out to guys like this will allow you to see a smoother way to live the expat life. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Who:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Mr. John Falchetto<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Where:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <a href="http://bitly.com/pPcfj3">Expat Life Coach</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">His Twitter Handle:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <a href="http://bitly.com/rb4lFZ">@johnfalchetto</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">What:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">John is an expat and been one for years. He helps expats and he knows how to help you transition in to and improve the expat lifestyle. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One thing I’ve learned from John, among many, is that expat life isn’t so much a fact or label but a mindset. <a href="http://expatlifecoach.com/expat-career/are-you-a-tourist-or-an-expat/">It’s a mindset</a> that includes overcoming obstacles, adapting and staying fluid, the entrepreneurial spirit, networking and never resting on your laurels. And that can all be done in an exotic country or your own backyard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Why:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"> </span> Challenge. I’m challenged when I read his work. I either get angry at John or angry at myself…I say that half-way serious because John’s work pushes you to take it one step further, to do better and it helps you realize, that wherever you are, you can take it up another notch. If you’re used to making excuses on why <a href="http://expatlifecoach.com/expat-30/simply-have-no-talent/">YOU CAN’T</a>, you won’t feel comfortable reading his blog. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">He’s currently got a <a href="http://expatlifecoach.com/expat-30/expat-30-challenge/">“30-Day Challenge”</a> going on …and it’s not for the faint of heart.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve been a reader of John’s blog and friend with his family going on 1 year. I’ve seen his blog grow and his comment stream explode. But one thing (among many) that I appreciate about his blog, is he’s always stuck to his main topic…and that’s expat life. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Check ‘em out today. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://expatlifecoach.com/expat-30/expat-30-challenge/">Expat 30 Challenge Day 1: Start now!</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://expatlifecoach.com/expat-career/are-you-a-tourist-or-an-expat/">Are you a tourist or an expat?</a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 25px;"><a href="http://expatlifecoach.com/expat-30/simply-have-no-talent/">Face it: you don’t have the talent for it</a></span></div></span>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-39140556929799917112011-09-30T10:33:00.001+08:002011-09-30T10:33:32.145+08:00South China<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">From March 2004 to November of 2007, Leeds and I lived in South China’s Guangdong province; specifically Dongguan City.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">For those of you who have spent time in Jiangsu and Guangdong province, you may agree with me when I say there is “night and day” difference.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When I first moved to China, it was in Jiangsu province from Dec 2001 to Mar 2004. Once I moved down to Guangdong it was a bit of shock in the differences. I had been to Guangzhou various times so I was already slightly aware of the differences. Only after living here a short time did Leeds and I realize that it’s COMPLETLEY different. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSiDKWNb0BNF4FEUl_xBZt-0blZf9DYouiSeralkD8wx4bQ6yx-HgrGa6SCvUjvBCT11dWe1dofHEFCChAjiVHu6GndWa5EL1SYDxlHH5LU5wEQHdyAK6Z1neDX7_K4zQoU2qUXNVUYq0/s1600/Dongguan++3628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSiDKWNb0BNF4FEUl_xBZt-0blZf9DYouiSeralkD8wx4bQ6yx-HgrGa6SCvUjvBCT11dWe1dofHEFCChAjiVHu6GndWa5EL1SYDxlHH5LU5wEQHdyAK6Z1neDX7_K4zQoU2qUXNVUYq0/s320/Dongguan++3628.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(photo credit: GR Sipe)</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Safety:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> This was my biggest beef with Guangdong and things may have improved by 2011. South China is the only part of China I’ve been to where I felt I had to “watch my back”. I haven’t been to every place in this vast land but South China feels sketchy and you see a larger portion of shady characters lining the streets and alleyways. Dongguan is infamous for purse snatches by motorcycle marauders. The locals in the area blame it on the migrants. But does not Shanghai have a huge percentage of migrant workers too? Where is their petty crime? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Atmosphere:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Folks simply ain’t as friendly down in this neck of the woods. There is more of a “big city feel” and folks are less connected to each other. Although Suzhou is a big city, there everyone is up in each others’ business, asking, talking, advising in a caring fashion…in Guangdong’s big cities, they just don’t care. There’s also lack of a bit of backbone. Connected to the above portion on safety – the Shanghainese wouldn’t allow that petty crime in their city. The folks of Guangdong are complacent, as long as it doesn’t bother them. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Communication:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">The folks in Guangodng seem adverse go to <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/communication-conundrum.html">good ol’ fashion communication</a>. You can ask someone a question or say something to somebody and they will respond by just giving you a blank stare or will walk away. You think, “did they hear me, did they not understand me, did they get it, will they do it, etc..”. And this isn’t just because I’m a foreigner, my wife, who is red-blooded Chinese, could communicate with them about as easy as communicating with a signpost. A good percentage of this is because their Mandarin is not great. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Business:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Definitely more of an entrepreneurial feel in South China. There’s good and bad to that. The good is that there is a wider range of selection in shopping from everything to groceries to house ware. This may have to do with the Hong Kong influence. Also I would say the service in restaurants is better in Guangdong. The downside is South China comes off as super materialistic. There are ads everywhere and wholesale markets on every block. For a hayseed like me from North Carolina (USA), all the wholesaling doesn’t make for a very livable and relaxing atmosphere. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Service:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m of the opinion that most service in China is nothing to write home about. Dan over at the <a href="http://bitly.com/qfoTH9">China Law Blog</a> has <a href="http://bitly.com/pnFTmA">a good discussion up on this</a>. But to compare; Guangdong’s service beats Jiangsu’s. It’s more of a service-oriented society. Leeds (who is from Jiangsu btw) concludes, and this makes good sense, that folks in Jiangsu feel they are above service. In the Jiangsu / North Chinese mind, service is humiliating therefore up there most places’ service….stinks…there I said it. In Jiangsu, most of the folks in the service industry come from surrounding poorer provinces. <o:p></o:p></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOC4ozjRHm_DOI__TChbWMg0U9I8eBkLq_2kM3-DLnEiQfWqDerLyxYjXjIZaj_v3-3gFvEkoWeLOowY-QDypldp7B8C3SKIKwwu91UAJOnzlsST6bRTkoEinGFNPSrWs6u9fGkPisnw/s1600/Dongguan++3601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtOC4ozjRHm_DOI__TChbWMg0U9I8eBkLq_2kM3-DLnEiQfWqDerLyxYjXjIZaj_v3-3gFvEkoWeLOowY-QDypldp7B8C3SKIKwwu91UAJOnzlsST6bRTkoEinGFNPSrWs6u9fGkPisnw/s320/Dongguan++3601.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(photo credit: GR Sipe)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Face:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Connected to the fact that they have stinky service in Jiangsu, is the fact that the atmosphere and concept of face is bigger there. In Guangdong it seems that face isn’t that big, folks don’t care what others think and are more focused on making bucks (thus the entrepreneurial spirit). Folks in Jiangsu seem more wrapped up with what other people may think about them. But the lack of "face" in Guangdong is connected to the shiftiness, petty crime and darker atmosphere that seems to reign down there. A good thing about "face" is it proves to be a restraint on bad actions. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We just got back this week from a two-day trip to Guangzhou and every time I go there, it solidifies what made me move away from it in 2007. The place is hustle and bustle, there are funny smells on every street, it’s humid and there are shifty little people everywhere looking like they may snatch your wallet. This may be expat-burnout coming from me, but I would like to hear opinions of any expats or travelers who’ve spent sufficient time in both provinces. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Also, remind or convince me any good points on Guangdong life…I’m sure they’re out there, I’m just grizzled. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below for similar topics</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/communication-conundrum.html">The Communication Conundrum</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/9-year-anniversary-in-chinapt-ii.html">9-year anniversary in China_Pt II</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/bustling.html">Bustling</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-91870276725241335772011-09-20T14:10:00.002+08:002011-09-20T14:11:49.290+08:00It's Not About the Money<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Production problems, sourcing issues or timing delays are not always directly related to dollars and cents.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Many importers, quality managers, and grizzled “foreign” exporters such as myself may not share the same sentiment; according to them the Chinese manufacturer is always working to slight their customers, have ulterior motives and are purposefully deceitful. I’m not saying there are not "ethics" issues; <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/coming-up-on-9-year-anniversary-in.html">believe me this is not my first rodeo</a> and I’ve seen more wild and whacky China scenarios than most will ever see in their home countries or abroad. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But I’m of the opinion that the majority of Chinese manufacturing errors come from cultural misunderstandings, barriers and reactions to what they consider to be a "problematic" customer. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s not always a money thing. In manufacturing promotional products, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/smaller-runs.html">we do a lot of smaller-volume runs</a>, thus, my company may at times, be a very small buyer to the factory. But aside from the normal problems, many times we get preferred treatment. We get preferred scheduling on production lines, leading to preferred delivery times. Factories will go out of their way to placate us to help fix quality errors, without extra cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>How and why? <o:p></o:p></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A large portion of our favor, is that we’re over 90% Chinese-staffed and <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/communication-decreases-quality-issues.html">Chinese to Chinese dealings</a> many of the times will obviously eliminate the quality, production and timing problems that are results of weird cultural interactions. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What do I mean about weird cultural interactions? <o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Direct Questions & Requests:</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In China a direct request is considered over eager, too demanding, the requestor concerns about being perceived as ignorant (thus why in a meeting nobody dares ask a question) and the list of bad things it is considered goes on and on. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Imagine how this can <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/handling-issues-in-chinapart-ii-spills.html">play out in to your manufacturing</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve seen a factory, instead of telling us “we lost your artwork, please resend it”, they attempted to recreate the entire electronic file from a printed piece of paper they had. Needless to say, it was disastrous. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">They prefer to exert a mountain of effort instead of making a simple request. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And consider when your balance payment is due. In the promotional product industry, delivery time is as golden as quality and many times the balance payment is the key for the vendor to release the goods. But more times than not, your vendor will be too shy or bashful to say something as direct as….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>“To ship your goods on time, we need your balance payment by such and such date”. </b><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">They won’t say this. They will allude to when the order is finishing, they may hint towards payment, but it’s very difficult for them, in plain direct talk, to let you know what needs to be done. They’ll compromise the delivery time over this point. How many orders were delivered late and sat at the factory pick-point, completed and packed, simply because of late payment?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(a side note, be on top of your own payment. The vendor will tell you at the last minute and even after you make it, it could take 2 or 3 days to arrive to their China bank account. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">You know you got an urgent order ready to ship</a>, no excuse in not being prompt with your payment). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Both sides not understanding each other over email, perhaps leading to offense: <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">They are worried about offending you! Think about how many delays and production issues could’ve been avoided but instead of someone proactively attacking a detail, the office sits around scratching their heads hoping the buyer will forget about the problem or the problem, the <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/handling-issues-in-china.html">big mysterious vapor of a force</a>, will go back from whence it came. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRxPEsKOuUq64cSB3wocI-Ttdoysm1ETxPzFbs4gnrwdBKZ_YXT_WwQcFu79nf9cr41ckK8-S6J-yu5k8EpU5oEyQgyZ0Sta3_OaGY1wjZMalBa0cWJ7y2j3TN-dI2CkPC9eE68hhPmY/s1600/IMG_0066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRxPEsKOuUq64cSB3wocI-Ttdoysm1ETxPzFbs4gnrwdBKZ_YXT_WwQcFu79nf9cr41ckK8-S6J-yu5k8EpU5oEyQgyZ0Sta3_OaGY1wjZMalBa0cWJ7y2j3TN-dI2CkPC9eE68hhPmY/s320/IMG_0066.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">After my close-to-a-decade of living, “taking the ol’ bull by the horns” is not a cultural trait of the land of China. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Not communicating enough and communicating too much:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Are you a messy buyer? Do you send multiple emails for a few days and <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-cold-on-offshore-projects.html">then days go by without any news at all</a>? Are your emails clear and pointed or <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/emailing-factory-supplier-in-china.html">do you send blobby paragraphs</a> on some messages and then another message will have one cryptic sentence that looks more like a tweet than a professional email? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Vendors, who are already dealing cross-language and cross-culturally will naturally gravitate away from this type of buyer. Even if your project is lucrative, if you are messy, hard to organize and to figure out what in the world you are talking about requires a ton of deciphering, the vendor will prioritize as low importance. Once you have open orders on the table and you still function in this erratic, email-flinging, inconsistent behavior, this will affect your quality because issues will be overlooked and key-points misunderstood. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Boldification of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Emperor_Syndrome">Lil Emperor</a>:</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A buyer expresses a need with a sales person; usually a 20-something “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Emperor_Syndrome">Little Emperor</a>”. That sales person needs to get their production line’s butt in gear but to do so, he’s got to go through a <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-like-big-machine.html">hierarchy of production line</a> master (engineer) and perhaps a few other managers. Said sales person is young, doesn’t want to rock the boat and appear too eager (see above), thus causing a loss of face for all parties. He prefers to let your known quality issue to slip through the cracks than to make a stink over it with many people. Not malicious in intent and to him, he’s got a strong cultural reason in doing what he does. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/communication-decreases-quality-issues.html">Communication Decreases Quality Issues</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-cold-on-offshore-projects.html">Going Cold on Offshore Projects</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/handling-issues-in-china.html">Handling Issues in China_Part I</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/handling-issues-in-chinapart-ii-spills.html">Handling Issues in China_Part II (Spills into Production)</a></span>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-10547323656536673652011-09-01T08:23:00.001+08:002011-09-01T08:23:55.546+08:00It's A Lot Like Banking<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Manufacturing in China is a lot like a trip to the local bank.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">All the waits, crowds, the responses and the communication level that you find in dealing with your vendor, you’ll also find in a basic window transaction.</span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Tons of people waiting in line:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> I always say, “Going to the bank in China? Be sure to take a book”. There is no such thing as “in and out” in this country. Running in to the bank for a quickie transaction is a myth. When you go in, you take a number and you wait, wait, and wait. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Manufacturing is the same way here. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-is-your-inquiry-rfq-important-to.html">The production lines are full</a>. Seldom is a factory sitting around, playing mahjong. Once you are ready to go in to production, doesn’t mean the factory is ready; <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/urgent-delivery-time-checklist.html">they’ve got to schedule you</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Folks overseas tend to have the attitude “why isn’t this done faster?” A basic banking transaction, with any kind of fluidity to it, is impossible. Why would a much less organized and structured facility like a low-cost manufacturer be any quicker? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Inefficiency: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Each process has many rubberstamps, slips of paper, and a ton of signatures. With the amount of paperwork for the most basic transaction while the teller wields that rubberstamp; you’d forget it’s the year 2011. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpa6jRkLi_lEfxzNV0a5vv10PkBO_kh7WQPfXdFiybrKimPPlLV9EOBMPSbaqr09UJmIp4euxKgfeDuB2kWsuCiO2WgYj-1N9ONmsQDBnR23s2HjyKtwEqPKUh75rOtsKMgJpR8-_NbA/s1600/Banking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbpa6jRkLi_lEfxzNV0a5vv10PkBO_kh7WQPfXdFiybrKimPPlLV9EOBMPSbaqr09UJmIp4euxKgfeDuB2kWsuCiO2WgYj-1N9ONmsQDBnR23s2HjyKtwEqPKUh75rOtsKMgJpR8-_NbA/s320/Banking.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s same with many vendors; multiple emails, multiple ways of explaining things and a few trips “back to the drawing board”. When you are product sourcing from abroad, you may wait a whole 24-hour period for the vendor to tell you “I don’t think we received your email, please send again and maybe we’ll receive tomorrow”. You wait 48 hours for wrong answers. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And just rushing the teller at the window, if you rush your vendor for a quote, a sample, or to kick the schedule in to high gear, you can bet your bottom dollar, you’ll get results that are chocked full of mistakes. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Multitude of staffing and workers: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">A key ingredient to the efficiency level is the multitude of workers. The teller doesn’t have any real sway and her range of responsibility is limited. She can seldom close the transaction without the older, office manager walking by with the card around her neck and making the final “swipe” or checking paperwork and using the bigger, more official rubber stamp.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When sourcing promotional products from China, you typically deal with a <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/workpt-ii.html">“new China”</a> salesperson; kids in their mid-20’s and they’ve got about as much authority as that teller at the bank. They will tell you “no” on things they could check about and approve but are too timid to rock the boat. On the flip side, they will fling you a “yes” when they have no ability to confirm and implement their positive answer. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">At the bank you generally have to deal with the one teller for your business. If you have Chinese-speaking ability in your company, endeavor to have more than one contact in the supplying company. It’s great when that other contact is someone who is higher up and in a different departmental role (manager or engineer on the production line). <a href="http://bit.ly/fsjWze">This increases the range of communication</a> which can in turn increase your ability to "stick and move" and get things done. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Talking through a big hunk a' glass: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Finally the communication is blurred. It’s muffled and doesn’t have a real crisp sound to it. That’s because at the banks in China, you’re talking through a big hunk of glass. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Because of cultural, language and thinking differences, sourcing from abroad can have a cloudy and muffled feel to it. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-is-your-inquiry-rfq-important-to.html">Most communication is electronic</a> and probably in a language that is the supplier's 2<sup>nd</sup> and could very well likely be your 2<sup>nd</sup>, depending where you’re from. You can tell they understand on a surface level, but there’s just something that shows all points aren’t “clicking”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The things you say to your vendor, you think are clear enough, but cross-culturally, how to define “something trendy” or “his/her sets”. Those points will get skipped over all together when your vendor is taking in to account your quote or the material to purchase. Avoid any kind of phrase, expression or cutesy saying. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Otherwise, in your frustration, just like at the bank, you’ll need to lean up to those air slits and start talking louder..but hurry up, there’s a lot of people waiting in line. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Happy Banking….. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/lot-like-dining-out.html">A Lot Like Dining Out</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-like-big-machine.html">It’s Like a Big Machine</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-is-your-inquiry-rfq-important-to.html">Why is Your Inquiry (RFQ) Important to a Chinese Factory?</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-71978196094021440722011-08-24T19:19:00.000+08:002012-03-17T01:09:38.758+08:00Back to the Basics: Sampling Process<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">A smooth sampling process </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">is critical to successful offshore manufacturing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">. M</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">ore times than not, in the promotional product industry, super-fast delivery times are usually lurking around the corner, so time is not on your side.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">(Hey; thanks for stopping by. After you read this post, visit me over at the new house, <a href="http://jacobyount.com/">http://jacobyount.com</a> - You have a thousand things you can do in your day from work, family and things that are a million times more important than my blogs - but I am very appreciative of the community and any time you spend. Please remember to leave a comment so we can continue to connection, thanks ~ Jacob Yount Fri Mar 16, '12)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">This post is a continuation from <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/sampling-strife.html">Sampling Strife</a> that spotlighted vendors’ mindset on sampling and the cooperation (or lack thereof) the importer tends to receive when the nasty “s word” is brought up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">(This post is mainly referring to pre-production samples.) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Before you, as the importer (many times a distributor in the promo biz) approach a factory on sampling, make sure you’ve done your own <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/due-diligence-developing-product.html">due diligence</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Define Expectations but Make Sure they are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Possible</i> Expectations:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Do you have sampling expectations that are only possible for production? For example many buyers expect fully customized, locked-and-loaded-samples, with all the options. But is it feasible or practical for the factory to dye a large chunk of material for a few pieces of samples?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the fast-paced promo biz, know what’s possible and important for the sample. If your brand (end-user) requests a perfected sample before ordering, then you need to start the process way in advance and be prepared to pay. But even time and money sometimes don’t assure the feasibility of some processes that are only possible for bulk quantity. These include but are not limited to dyeing material, molding, processes that may include a lot of waste and I could probably name some more if I put my mind to it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Learn cans and cannots: instead of just telling your customer you’ll “serve them the moon” inform them what to expect in sampling. Reassure them, once production starts you’ll keep them liberally supplied with images and actual first-run pieces that fit delivery expectations. These pieces need to come over <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">before the point-of-no-return</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Be Prepared for Some Back-and-Forth:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">This is especially true if it’s a customized item. Even though the vendor may do bags have they ever done <i>this</i> bag? Why do you expect them to get absolutely correct the first time? Especially if you <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/communication-decreases-quality-issues.html">didn’t give them the key-points and info they needed</a> on what to watch and assure, then some back-and-forth is inevitable. Remember, their mind reading powers are not that strong </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Wingdings;">:) </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">and then the vendor is <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/emailing-factory-supplier-in-china.html">working cross culturally and cross languages</a>. Avoid guesswork and slang and corporate speak language in your specs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Provide the Vendor What they Need: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioa7SKRqi_pWN68XhyZKkwfRUKqwQ2VZ6_phtM2AmPosb2XkpD7aE7jQqXGs5J-HbqCy_NnTXdzScrhpJJCql5-2O3p3P3ADgti6_BkUDyR-32TIyEFMZEfyB6ekohUMfygt6N-F0BHv4/s1600/Inflatable+Cooler+Ice+Bins_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioa7SKRqi_pWN68XhyZKkwfRUKqwQ2VZ6_phtM2AmPosb2XkpD7aE7jQqXGs5J-HbqCy_NnTXdzScrhpJJCql5-2O3p3P3ADgti6_BkUDyR-32TIyEFMZEfyB6ekohUMfygt6N-F0BHv4/s320/Inflatable+Cooler+Ice+Bins_1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Got a sample to copy or to use as a reference? Then send it to the vendor. I’ve seen cases where a factory will make a sample, the buyer will then say it’s not right, let me send you the sample to match. Don’t wait until there is a first-run and then send the sample – give everyone a break and send that from the beginning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Remember: if you send a sample for quality reference only, but the branding is to be different from that piece and same as the artwork file you sent, you really have to stress that point. If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it 1000 times. To a factory, a physical piece will <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">ALWAYS</b> trump an instruction, an image or a direction. If you send a sample and tell them to duplicate but instruct them to use the digital artwork file provided, the likelihood is very high they will duplicate and copy the artwork that is on the physical sample! I repeat, to a factory a physical piece trumps anything digital (similar to the law of <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/lasting-first-impressions.html">“Lasting First Impressions”</a>). Proceed with caution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Be Serious, Accessible and Professional During Sampling Processes:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Be available for the factory to reach you via email, skype, whatever…and be quick with your response. If you don’t show interest in the process, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-cold-on-offshore-projects.html">guess who else won’t</a>? Treat the sampling process just like and order. Ask for photos, updates and clear communication from your vendor during the process.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Spotlight important points to the vendor instead of throwing out empty phrases like “we have to get this right” or “if this isn’t right, we can’t order”. Neither phrase adds anything meaningful to the process. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s true, without the proper sample and understanding behind the process, you could blow the order; but make sure you’ve done everything from your side to make it a success and motivate the vendor to consider you a solid partner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click title below for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/sampling-strife.html">Sampling Strife</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/skip-stock-sample-jazz.html">Skip the Stock Sample Jazz</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/due-diligence-developing-product.html">Due-Diligence: Developing a Product Offshore (Info, Material, Price)</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-14639613973495329902011-08-22T13:29:00.003+08:002011-08-25T09:49:05.570+08:00Sampling Strife<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In the Western mind;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">you pay for a product, you expect it to be right.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">But how do you define the term “right”?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">You expect it to be “right” as far as your mind, background and surroundings define the term.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Good quality, achieve expectations, accurately represent the brand….all these help define “right” in your mind.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Is this how the factory determines, “right”? How do you know your “right” and their “right” are the same? I can tell you from experience, that <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/china-business-article-1-various.html">it’s two different “right’s”</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let’s take a sampling process. You’re a distributor in the promotional product industry and you decide to go offshore. You give the factory your artwork, specs and ask them to start the sample. 9 times out of 10, especially if it’s a first-time factory or a new item (and normally in the promotional production industry, it usually is a new item), the factory will send you an invoice for setup charges. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><b>Western mind:</b></span> The factory requested a payment, this payment represents what the factory needs in order to get the job done right. They have analyzed the project, they feel they can fulfill the request and it’s a project they hope to take all the way to order status and make successful. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Factory mind:</span></b> We need a payment just to look in to the job and do a sample run. Once the sample is complete, we’ll discuss ways to “get it right in production” or via other sampling runs…of course there will be additional charge for these sample runs. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Western buyer <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/assumptions.html">assumes</a> before requesting the sample payment, the factory analyzed the job, has an understanding of the sample and how to manufacture the piece according to the specs.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9mdJz-3kSzU6PA9Hg4_zE83Hlua_N77kkltmD3M1kjabehap4Iwzl8v-y4JFgaZ5XFYeVMnTIHmJ1oS9J3jrs51M3IF63r548tnktb4Gq5SQXT8dmjh2NEFOc8Otn7PHl9mqvAENVTA/s1600/Baseball+Cap_05.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW9mdJz-3kSzU6PA9Hg4_zE83Hlua_N77kkltmD3M1kjabehap4Iwzl8v-y4JFgaZ5XFYeVMnTIHmJ1oS9J3jrs51M3IF63r548tnktb4Gq5SQXT8dmjh2NEFOc8Otn7PHl9mqvAENVTA/s320/Baseball+Cap_05.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’d go as far to say this assumption, is rarely the case. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Think about payment simply as a key you pay the factory to unlock a door. That door has a sign on it, which says, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Now</i> We’re Starting to Care”. Not “We’re going to do this and do it right”, “We want this to be a winning project”…no. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/inspiration-and-motivation-is-keymore.html">The payment, gets the project on their radar</a> and leads to minimal effort to put out a sample. To the Chinese vendor, the payment is a goodwill sign that shows you are sincere and that there are legs to this project. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Their environment doesn’t lead to the attitude of going above and beyond the call of duty and really making this a superior project. Their attitude and environment produces the spirit of minimal work, minimal effort and hoping it goes over the line. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The scenario typically plays out that you’ll get the sample and it will be wrong (usually you paid the freight to receive the sample). It may not be completely wrong, but it’s not quite right, it’s not what you need to present to the brand and if you do present it to the brand, it may be hard to secure an order based on this piece. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The sticky thing about controlling orders in China is that you can give the factory a list of 9,999 things to do and not to do, but they will still find something that’s NOT ON THE LIST! <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You’ll see factories make decisions that, in a million years, you would not have considered they would make. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/artwork-hijinks-with-factory.html">Something random</a>, such as change the color when no color change was ever discussed, mentioned or needed. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Their response: “Well if you didn’t want it that way, then you should have told us. You should have given us 10,000 points of control instead of 9,999!” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With sampling processes, it’s a big game of “chicken and egg”. Factories hate doing samples, even if you pay them. They only want orders. But how can you order without the sample? How can they expect to sell quantity without first providing a sample? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Stay tuned and we’ll take this <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-basics-sampling-process.html">Back to the Basics on the next post</a> and discuss ways to smooth the sampling process. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title for similar topics</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-is-your-inquiry-rfq-important-to.html">Why is Your Inquiry (RFQ) Important to a Chinese Factory?</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/nobody-is-willing-to-quote.html">Nobody is Willing to Quote?</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/china-business-article-1-various.html">Different Take on "Doing Things Right the 1st Time"</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/back-to-basics-sampling-process.html">Back to the Basics: Sampling Process</a></span><br />
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</div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-45767718779573353352011-08-17T13:53:00.004+08:002011-08-17T14:07:44.394+08:00Average Joe or VIP?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Amazing how people get excited about a leader or public figure of another nation, doing something so radical as….carrying their own bag and ordering their own coffee?!?!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Yes, check the story on US Ambassador to China, Gary Locke, <a href="http://yhoo.it/nBWW7J">here</a> and <a href="http://on.msnbc.com/p8jHGg">here</a> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Leadership in China is most of the time 2<sup>nd</sup> cousin to “pomp and circumstance” and good friend of “dog and pony”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Within a company structure, during instruction sessions or training, there is the underlying, prevailing attitude…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1mp-fuZTUP1R_Y1iW4tYpELZtoptan0zYFNWMgl6AY8la8sSPh0xBX0K27uad0PUSpJnOM2e_WECS0C9nB3UqxRWSnCEmlBX4-J5kkVCsNFc-AChpUtsiqK03HOeERWie25aUQ0NRbM/s1600/Shanghai+5.08++10767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1mp-fuZTUP1R_Y1iW4tYpELZtoptan0zYFNWMgl6AY8la8sSPh0xBX0K27uad0PUSpJnOM2e_WECS0C9nB3UqxRWSnCEmlBX4-J5kkVCsNFc-AChpUtsiqK03HOeERWie25aUQ0NRbM/s320/Shanghai+5.08++10767.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><i>(credit GR Sipe)</i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Well that’s easy for you to say, you’re THE BOSS.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Of course you can do it, you’re THE BOSS.”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s not considered that many people in positions of leadership started out in positions just like them and through hard work and effort, moved up the ranks. This concept is…well…foreign. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you’re a bus boy, well, that’s your lot in life. If you’re a leader, you’re simply one of the lucky. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here, leadership is fruit of a divine mandate you were born with. It’s not only your position and title, but also it’s who you are and that also means, all you say and do are perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">That’s why when they see an average-Joe, like Locke who worked hard to earn his position, now a public figure and ambassador to the Mother Land – when they see him with a backpack and ordering a cup of freshly brewed coffee, it makes them do a quadruple take. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Coming to China as a foreigner or dealing with Chinese internationally, you’ll find that you’ve <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/work_26.html">probably done more service-style, hands-dirty, blue-collar labor</a> than the majority of folks you’ll come across. If you are importing from China, this will be true for types of suppliers you deal with on a daily basis in your China manufacturing (the English speaking kids in the sales offices, handling your inquiries). <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As an outsider you may be tempted to manage in a style you’ve grown up with, seen from home and <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/weve-been-doing-this-for-x-number-of.html">known your whole life</a>. My advice…don’t do it! Use your advantages and skills to conform to their thinking and perceptions, while over time, sprinkling in who you are and step by step, bringing your values and expectations to the surface. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When you’re working directly with China a few leadership points to remember:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Most managing or direct working with the staff is considered micro-managing</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">:</span> The leader seldom directly addresses <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/workpt-ii.html">individuals</a> in training or correcting format. Straddle the fine line in <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/inspiration-and-motivation-is-keymore.html">coaching, motivating</a> and commanding. They are accustomed to orders barked and their job is to fulfill. Normally how goals are reached is not a question, only that goals are reached. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Mistakes & possible loss, lead to eventual growth:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Since micromanaging (and they view everything as micromanaging) causes the teammate to freeze up and digress, then just let them handle it. You can teach and instruct all day long, but <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/bustling.html">they are so inundated with noise</a>, messages and ancient pontification that whatever it you are saying is just thrown on to the pile if noise. Let the team roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. They'll probably get it wrong a few (possibly costly) times, but they'll learn by doing, not instructing. If you believe in "<a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/china-business-article-1-various.html">getting things right the first time</a>", you're a long way from Kansas. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Direct is not always a good thing:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> always being direct can lead to immediate mess. Don’t always directly relay your messages. It will cause some folks to short-circuit, go in to “Do-Whatever-You-Say-Mode” and check their brain at the door. Build a hierarchy of staff and train others to train others. Once folks start growing in their position, being to include them in the inner-circle of training and guidance. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/unity.html">But don’t only rely on one manager</a>; train a key cabinet, then have them train. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Too much direct training can cause your message to be considered too lofty with unobtainable goals. But the same message, relayed through others is one in which they can grasp. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Laugh at yourself and be down-to-earth at key times, but not all the time</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: Rigid leadership is expected here. Whatever your emotional level was before you dealt with China, lower it about 50% (good or <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/temper-achilles-heel-in-china.html">bad emotions</a>). They like their leaders stern and serious. Find the key times to let your human side show. Unlike the West, pats on the back and “thank you’s” are not always appreciated here. Too many foreigners come here and are considered the big foreign teddy bear, but then difficult for them to implement real policy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Like Locke, carry your own backpack, but I imagine, once Locke arrives to the Mother Land, he’s no longer ordering his own coffee…or tea. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://yhoo.it/nBWW7J">Photo of bag-carrying ambassador charms China</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://on.msnbc.com/p8jHGg">The ABC’s of Being Ambassador to China</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/work_26.html">Work_Pt I</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/workpt-ii.html">Work_Pt II</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/staffing-in-china.html">Staffing in China</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-48766203517242729542011-08-15T19:25:00.011+08:002011-08-15T19:38:38.828+08:00Smaller Order Pitfalls<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">“We don’t need a large quantity and the brand needed the goods yesterday”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Manufacturing for the ad specialty and promotional production industries, this is an often played tune.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Smaller quantity runs from China, although <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/reasons-against-doing-small-quantities.html">not advisable</a> are many times in this industry, the nature of the beast. At times, brands and end-users require small quantities and distributers pass these down the supply chain. Along with the big projects and in hopes of securing larger jobs, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/smaller-volumes-must-few-key-pts.html">a distributor has to deftly handle the smaller orders that their client needs</a>. It’s a domino effect; everyone likes to handle larger quantity orders, but since the distributor needs to please the brand, then a supplier, many times in China, needs to please the distributor. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/reasons-against-doing-small-quantities.html">Small runs create big headaches</a>. The factories, although they take the project, they don’t care about the projects. For a smaller run, you can implement the most fail-safe QC methods, but there is still a large room for messing it up. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">We recently battled a project, set to ship by air (urgent, urgent, urgent), that, after production was 60% correct, 40% bad. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">So ship the 60% and redo the 40%, right? Not so simple. The item was a set. Not to go into too much detail, but it was a set that included the special box and inside the box were 12 pencils with different prints. Inside of each set, some were good, some were bad. So the bad and the good were sorely, nightmarishly intertwined. Wasn’t so black and white as sending good and fixing the bad.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqGVQfJr5tynWsrVW9yZHg05Gv5VZQtLRwfYRwcPYM-6hhMCMwVgprodUgQuceLpfVxSJ6tW9bJwY2H30h-EoKdOD5nh_6SkkKVInn5OkVDoqurwqIyzw8TRrKKDN_dABTaEcj7l85lY/s1600/Pencil+QC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqGVQfJr5tynWsrVW9yZHg05Gv5VZQtLRwfYRwcPYM-6hhMCMwVgprodUgQuceLpfVxSJ6tW9bJwY2H30h-EoKdOD5nh_6SkkKVInn5OkVDoqurwqIyzw8TRrKKDN_dABTaEcj7l85lY/s320/Pencil+QC.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When you are sitting in an office overseas, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/finding-factory.html">buying directly from a factory</a>, how does this play out? How do you get them to fix the order? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/breakdown-on-trade-companies-good.html">A standup supplier</a> is still required to deliver, so how does the scenario play out? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><b>Sifting:</b></span> You have to go into each set and extract the good and discard the bad. And since the good and bad were so heavily mixed, it was a tedious process of using many individual precious time, cost, and space of getting the job done.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you think the factory did the sifting, combing and repacking, think again. As far as they were concerned, it wasn’t worth their effort to go through the order and they didn’t make enough money off the job to warrant the additional input.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We used our facility, our people, our time to assure 60% were ready to ship intact. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We delivered 60% in time and told the customer to hold tight for the additional 40%. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Customers happy, we’ve still got a mountain of work ahead of us to deliver the 40%. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Did the factory offer anything?</span></b> They offered to reproduce the 40% bad….at our cost. You may think they are obligated to pay for the 40%. But the actual victory is that they were even willing to reproduce the 40%! Just paying for the replacement goods, isn’t a <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/inspiration-and-motivation-is-keymore.html">motivator</a> to the factory and they are not wild about having to book more material and spend more time on a small job they didn’t care about in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18.0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Ez46EMfRV0UqQYT6i68J2WsrGZu0JDftX6GruqA4BB8fzPJ4iRWt5a7vNKOzJvpXHE5dXIKU7z6mr3v0JNp-rVgIdR60ebOa3dZw4v2JpmyFgekFDfUbjrNcLOZ-hwgC90cClSunQ_c/s1600/Pencil+Salvage_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Ez46EMfRV0UqQYT6i68J2WsrGZu0JDftX6GruqA4BB8fzPJ4iRWt5a7vNKOzJvpXHE5dXIKU7z6mr3v0JNp-rVgIdR60ebOa3dZw4v2JpmyFgekFDfUbjrNcLOZ-hwgC90cClSunQ_c/s320/Pencil+Salvage_1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;"><b>But it’s not that simple;</b></span> before re-production starts, we had to go to their area and help resource 1 of 3 vendors involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">An item as small as a pencil is made up of 3 vendors; the facility that does the laminate print wrap and assembly, the facility that does the actual pencil and the erasers – all come from a different source.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">After the 1<sup>st</sup> order, one of the 3<sup>rd</sup> party vendors (print and assembly) decided they wanted no more part of the project, they cut their losses and jumped out of the mix. We had to send a representative to that area and walk the material markets to find a vendor who would be willing to do such a low quantity, low cost run…and get it consistent with the first order!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We eventually completed the 40% and had them shipped, in time to make the campaign.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Ordering this directly from a factory; you would have the whole shipment, with the 40% bad intermingled to-the-death of the project inside of the goods. On top of that, you cover full transportation costs for a colossal headache of an order. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The factory would have their payment and approaching the factory asking what they plan on doing about the problem would be pointless. At that point, it’s your problem, not theirs. You’re not going to be able to scare them by saying you aren’t going to bring back more great orders like these. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The moral of the story in manufacturing and importing for the ad specialty industry; you think you want to find a factory, consider what it could cost you. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/breakdown-on-trade-companies-good.html">A solid partner</a>, in this industry, one who watches your back and cares just as much about your orders as you do, is a safer bet. <o:p></o:p></span></div></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click title below for similar topics</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/08/finding-factory.html">Finding a Factory</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-like-big-machine.html">It’s Like a Big Machine</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/reasons-against-doing-small-quantities.html">Reasons Against Doing Small Quantities Offshore</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/smaller-volumes-must-few-key-pts.html">Smaller Volumes a Must? A Few Key Pts….</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-83591214729567964442011-08-09T13:56:00.002+08:002011-08-09T14:03:28.944+08:001st Time<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 24px;">“Contact us to discuss your inquiry and we’ll analyze the case to make sure you’re a customer worth handling”.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">…Obviously nobody is going to put that line in their website or marketing material…</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCdc6On8e0QtKAwfyqiMYyXqQ2Purv1n_PBrnprzxuB60tBU3Vo03WCNCxwVnY4OI0Wj6yLjCwU8xmQPADZE3sW73nylOARU5gjIgv2EGc0ltRfec01vfjZZmw1tdgRtHD4TPbWPHzn4/s1600/QC+Madical+sheets+printing+photos_16.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNCdc6On8e0QtKAwfyqiMYyXqQ2Purv1n_PBrnprzxuB60tBU3Vo03WCNCxwVnY4OI0Wj6yLjCwU8xmQPADZE3sW73nylOARU5gjIgv2EGc0ltRfec01vfjZZmw1tdgRtHD4TPbWPHzn4/s320/QC+Madical+sheets+printing+photos_16.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Do first-time customers realize that’s an underlying aspect of any first-time encounter or does the company that’s reaching out assume, fresh out the gate, they’re owed your utmost attention, time and resources?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">If I’m a first-time customer who may or may not utilize your service or your product, am I owed an amazing experience and exquisite service from the get-go of our first encounter?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Does the customer have anything to prove to the vendor? Or does all burden of proof fall on vendors’ shoulders? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Imagine a first-time, potential customer decides to take responsibility and before ever emailing or filling out the online contact form, they phone the vendor. They introduce themselves and explain to the vendor their need. After some introductory professional banter, they alert the vendor to an email that will come from them to further detail and concretely explain their need. If a customer did that, the vendor would probably be “wowed” by their professionalism. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But that’s not typically how it happens. Normally a person sends a <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/emailing-factory-supplier-in-china.html">curt, vague email</a> and if the vendor didn’t “hop to it’ and answer asap, on the button, “Johnny-on-the-spot”, then that vendor is deemed a slow response vendor and perhaps the buyer may tweet about their poor customer service response rate. All responsibility of “wowing” falls on the vendor’s shoulders. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Nobody is denying the importance of customer service or positive and proactive first impressions. If we took those off the table, then it would be hard to secure long-term relationships and business.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But do we need to start looking at what we can do to make our buying experience what we hope it to be (and I think this crosses the board on many industries)?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Vendors in China receive many inquiries, all day, every day. Time and manpower doesn’t allow timely management of every request, and just like buyers, vendors have to filter and prioritize. If the vendor is slow at getting back to the customer (who sent an email), the customer many time never sends a follow up message or phones to find out how the inquiry is proceeding. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Resources and time (which is a resource) have been stretched thin working to accommodate every inquiry. But you can bust your tail, put in overtime to answer the inquiry and the <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/going-cold-on-offshore-projects.html">customer finally says</a>, “Oh yeah, sorry, um, that’s err..no longer on the table…but thanks for the effort”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What percentage of the time does the customer take their business elsewhere (because of slow response) and what percentage of the time did they not follow up because it wasn't that solid of an inquiry in the first place? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With the majority of non-follow-ups, many times, the inquiry was never that important to begin with. Does an important inquiry not deserve at least one "touch-back" or one phone call? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Or is our day and age so "tech" that all requests are all digital and life is so hectic that it's one shot or I'll take my business elsewhere?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When dealing with China, just like you’re treading dangerous waters to make price your deciding factor, hold the same standard on making the vendors’ response rate a deciding factor. These should, at the most, be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one of many deciding factors</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The further you get away from home, in manufacturing and supply-chain, anybody worth working with, long-term, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-building-establishing-long-term.html">has to be developed, grown and nurtured</a>. Don’t expect immediate amazing customer service. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Approach the table with the mindset that not only does the vendor have to “wow” me, but I also have to “wow” them. It’s a two-way street and if you’re only looking for sincerity from the vendor, you may find a very sincere vendor, but they also sincerely cannot deliver.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/does-your-buyer-know-how-you-source.html">Does Your Buyer Know You Quote That Way?</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/nobody-is-willing-to-quote.html">Nobody is Willing to Quote?</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-building-establishing-long-term.html">Bridge Building: Establishing Long-term Relationships with your Supplier</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-1962114318746646642011-08-02T15:40:00.001+08:002011-08-02T15:40:56.664+08:00Finding a Factory<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Importers often comment how they are “interested in finding a factory”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">If you are buying promotional products / ad specialty items, are you sure this is your best bet?</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">It’s an often played-out scenario; the Western buyer tells the eager (and perhaps capable) trade company they are looking for a factory.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">It’s like they are Ponce de León, looking for the Fountain of Youth.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In some Indiana Jones-style fashion, they are going to hack through brush with their machetes, scale hazardous peaks and cross the roughest terrain.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">At the end of the trek, they encounter this shining factory in the middle of an oasis.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TJCQeThsxrwEJEFi4m_wx6nm858a1AGZ6Omzut-Q8DSGkQDDcT5YLvaa_gYxMpFdxDt_0UnTuoC5a-uDbRdq9zy6WMITMSDq_qMJpLnDxutZ41vyJfdA1nNI1MqxRa31f7m4AKE_aaM/s1600/DSC04419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7TJCQeThsxrwEJEFi4m_wx6nm858a1AGZ6Omzut-Q8DSGkQDDcT5YLvaa_gYxMpFdxDt_0UnTuoC5a-uDbRdq9zy6WMITMSDq_qMJpLnDxutZ41vyJfdA1nNI1MqxRa31f7m4AKE_aaM/s320/DSC04419.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This factory is clean, has cheap prices, certified, approved, has cheap prices, willing, welcoming, fluent in English, has cheap prices, years of doing business in your market (except of course never with your competition)…and did I mention they have cheap prices?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Oh…and their range of capabilities, they can produce in this oasis; anything from baseball caps, to plastic injected accessories, to tote bags, to ball pen sets, to metallic gifts – all under one roof!<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Needless to say, this is a make-believe scenario. There is no factory that produces that range of items and offers such advantages. As with any long-term business strategy, especially in China, it takes considerable effort to lay the foundation. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-building-establishing-long-term.html">Develop your relationships with factories</a>, no doubt, but relationship development takes time and research. Most importers (especially distributors) in the promotional product industry are not in a position to invest the necessary chunks of their life into this development. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Many factories once knowing you are in the promotional product business, hesitate to really solidify the relationship. The nature of the promotional product beast is; as an importer you are serving your end-user, whether directly or indirectly and the end-user(s) constantly are moving on to different production. One year they produced backpacks, this year they are doing a wine glass drink set. It’s constant change and one buyer doesn’t get the opportunity to establish a solid history with one factory. Here is a brainstorm list of why, from China, wholesale vendors or trade companies better serve the importer. (whatever you want to call them; I’m adverse to the labeling and would prefer we just say “supplier”)</span></div><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">You import too large a range of production.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">It’s not efficient on your part to find a factory for each project.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Either find a niche area in certain product ranges or collaborate with a solid company to supply your whole gambit.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoListParagraph" style="margin-left: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto;"></div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The factory does not want to work with you.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-you-want-quality-it-comes-with-cost.html">You demand low price</a> and excellent quality.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In China they call that “Wanting the horse to eat, but you don’t want to feed him”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">You also don’t order enough from this one factory for them to deal with the headaches you give them over your “lofty” expectations.</span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Since you don’t order large volumes of each style of item, <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/nobody-is-willing-to-quote.html">the factory is not going care</a> as much about the overall picture as a solid supplier will care.</span></li>
</ul><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Remember to the actual factory, you are never as big as you think you are. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-like-big-machine.html">The factory is like a big machine</a>; they’ll accept the order and will quickly want to spit it out, quality being secondary or a way distant third place.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></li>
</ul><div><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">A solid supplier that has a good factory network will control your China business more effectively than you will do from abroad. A solid supplier will watch out every step from sampling, to port delivery; <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/urgent-delivery-time-checklist.html">while keeping their eyes on the delivery time</a>.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span></li>
</ul><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">If the factory thinks you are too small, they will outsource you to another facility or bump you in the production line. YES, factories also will outsource you to another facility. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It goes without saying that <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/breakdown-on-trade-companies-bad-and.html">there are some bad to downright horrible suppliers here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But there is also <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/breakdown-on-trade-companies-good.html">a large share of quality companies</a> that you can position for a solid pivot point for your overall production program.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">While saying “You Want to Find a Factory” or “I Only Work Factory Direct”, sounds romantic, sounds adventurous, it sounds like you got a leg-up on your competition and get more price breaks than Wal-Mart. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But, as soon as the factory decides you are not important, and starts playing one of the multitude of games they can play, you’ll wish you had a solid vendor watching your back.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-like-big-machine.html">It’s Like a Big Machine</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/lot-like-dining-out.html">A Lot Like Dining Out</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-your-work.html">Show Your Work!</a><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-59652871165665244962011-07-29T19:41:00.001+08:002011-07-29T19:42:15.970+08:00Meaning What You Say<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Recently I saw an announcement for a China-focused seminar.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The speaker was a “China expert” in manufacturing, had a seasoned background in traveling to China, importing from China and the point of the seminar, was to train other folks on “ins and outs” of China business.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">On the group announcement were bullet-points of some of the topics; such as safety from China, quality control and then it had this little gem on there:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“In China Yes and No are not always Yes and No”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This comment is often said in my industry and field and if you’ve had 5 minutes of dealing with China, you’ve probably heard someone pipe up with this quip as if they are some cultural archeologist and just discovered the key to unlocking mysteries. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8GG5StFwkllre7dIpQM45bjOUhgItcPzlsIfA89wVwuJzpkrXAR95uxHWqe8OzpuHuGIjfaoSL-veEwKKlS8CshZ2FSixlmYn4aLJovRyWRtAi1fZgje6NdbzCk-Lk4f4Z8vNV5u5Fs/s1600/01+.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8GG5StFwkllre7dIpQM45bjOUhgItcPzlsIfA89wVwuJzpkrXAR95uxHWqe8OzpuHuGIjfaoSL-veEwKKlS8CshZ2FSixlmYn4aLJovRyWRtAi1fZgje6NdbzCk-Lk4f4Z8vNV5u5Fs/s320/01+.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I did not attend the seminar but it's possible this topic was approached how I've heard it approached thousands of times; a blanket statement about the Chinese suppliers and their “deficiency” in manipulating the conceptual depth of a “yes”, or all the nuances and high-ended mental gymnastics that accompany a “no” and everyone sitting there nods approvingly and understandingly over the fact. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">This made me think;</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Imagine I’m giving a seminar in China to factory owners and suppliers about the Western buyer.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Can I confidently say to these Chinese businessmen and women, that in the West “yes is yes and no is no”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Imagine, I’m up there, pounding the podium and adamantly informing these manufacturers that in the West, “our yes is yes and our no is no, unlike you guys.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">So you better get on board and start shaping up and doing things the right way”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I wonder, after I said that, how many of these thoughts would drift through the hypothetical attendees’ minds: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“How many times did a buyer say an order was in-hand, only never to see hide nor hair of a Purchase Order?”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“How many times did a buyer inform me about massive yearly quantities they were planning on ordering, only to never see the orders or when we actually received the orders, the quantities were much smaller than originally confirmed?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“This buyer said they were big in their industry and if we gave favorable price, they would bring much business. Up until now, we have not seen this”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Many buyers tell me they will follow-up on the prices we quoted them. But we never heard anything back”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“That buyer assured me if we invested in making samples, that would secure the order. We still have not seen the order.” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“The buyer knew the payment was coming we sent them the B/L and they even said that they made the transfer. But we’re still waiting and the goods are almost to the port”<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You get my drift… so, that begs the question, which side has issues on saying what they mean and meaning what they say?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">When the Chinese are not giving straight answers, why is that anymore detrimental to the business process then when the Western buyer is not being straight? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Is it worse when one side does it?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Do we need to have the seminar for both sides?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click title</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/weve-been-doing-this-for-x-number-of.html">We’ve Been Doing This for “X Number” of Years</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/06/does-your-buyer-know-how-you-source.html">Does Your Buyer Know You Quote That Way?</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/supplier-love.html">Supplier Love</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-37738540742195593012011-07-23T20:21:00.000+08:002011-07-23T20:21:57.849+08:00Back to the Basics: Air Shipping<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In the spirit of the last “Back to the Basics” article on </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-basics-sea-shipping.html">sea shipping</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">, here is the air-shipping counterpart.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">As always, any manufacturing-specific post primarily focuses on promotional products and the ad specialty industry. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Large portions of orders in the promotional product biz are sent from China to destination by air. One would think is this very costly and you would be correct in your thinking. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Some basic discussion points on air shipping:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Packing:</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Inform your supplier from the beginning that you are bringing this in by air. The main reason to spotlight this to your supplier is the purpose of using air efficient packing. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is packing that allows the greatest number of pieces per carton at the least amount of cartons, without damaging the goods or the cartons. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Does the supplier not normally use the most efficient packing? No, they will not. It will be their standard packing that is typically for sea shipping. If your product is customized then any packing they’ve already provided is more times than not ESTIMATED packing and subject it will change. This will also lead to cost confusion when you’re working to obtain your airfreight quote. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ43GVeARss4MoqR3KSdFKH7GaJ6eEaU3SGRry6yiufbJNmyOLIRabW84uiL46YduMecqhfbjXu2my7LjQjNOcZbw71U0AZ9SdSqI3N1bbL3LEMeUfXHo5QDBdb5uGezqphjEJPwcjOfo/s1600/IMG_0749.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ43GVeARss4MoqR3KSdFKH7GaJ6eEaU3SGRry6yiufbJNmyOLIRabW84uiL46YduMecqhfbjXu2my7LjQjNOcZbw71U0AZ9SdSqI3N1bbL3LEMeUfXHo5QDBdb5uGezqphjEJPwcjOfo/s320/IMG_0749.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you are dealing directly with a Chinese supplier, they will hem and haw to skirt around the issue. They are accustomed to doing packing at the last minute and they will only think you are troublesome by bringing it up. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You need to get on the ball and get on the supplier, the factory, whoever and make sure you get efficient packing or else you will have needless cost and will pay for empty space. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Wear and Tear:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Airfreight can be tougher on your cartons than sea freight. Especially if it’s going by express instead of airfreight, the handling is rougher<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(Quickie note: Airfreight is normally airport to airport. You may have to book some other line or party to clear customs, collect at airport and then ship inland. Express is express courier (DHL, FedEX, UPS) and is to-door – for the purpose of this post, I’m using the general term airfreight or air shipping)<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Make sure the factory uses good quality cartons. Here’s the double-sword; since this is going by air, it’s probably a smaller order and since it’s <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/reasons-against-doing-small-quantities.html">a smaller order</a>, it’s not worth the factory purchasing brand new, nice quality cartons. They will tape up and use old cartons. Either insist on new cartons or insist on seeing visuals of cartons before factory departure. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Payment</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">:</span> Keep in mind since this is going by air, your supplier will most likely require payment before departure. From my weathered point of view this is standard and should be acceptable. Unlike sea shipping the airway bill does not stay in their hands as “keys”; so as soon as that bad boy is en route, it’s no longer controllable or in the hands of the supplier. If you know you are sending by air and delivery is urgent, be as just as prompt with you payment as you want the supplier to be with the delivery. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Be Proactive</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">:</span> And you may even have to be annoying…Annoying to who? Either the freight forwarder or the express company. If your delivery time is urgent, it’s not smart to rest on your laurels waiting for the goods to ring your doorbell. You need to phone, email, tweet, fax, the air company in advance, as advance as possible. Have in hand a packing list and copy of the commercial invoice. Let them know you are expecting a shipment. Let them know it’s urgent and tell them you are ready, willing and able to do what you can in advance to quickly expedite the goods.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If not, your goods will sit in customs, waiting for YOU to do something but there will be some inefficient gremlin that causes wires to cross. Be on top of your business; don’t rely on the overseas folks to do this. This is on your turf, you handle it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There is the seldom, not-too-rare-case where airfreight will make more sense than sea shipping, be sure to check that. For example if you are doing a low quantity of light-weight goods (ie lanyards), then to-door air express makes more sense; not only from timing perspective but also because after you add up all sea shipping charges, loading, unloading, inland freight, the direct, to-door shipment for a light-weight order makes more sense. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Importers (suppliers and distributors) resort to air because of the urgency of the campaign. And in the promo business the end-user needs their goods yesterday. Could the distributor do a better job on <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/urgent-delivery-time-checklist.html">staying on top of the end-user and mapping out scheduling and working timelines</a>? Probably. But the root cause of poor planning seems to permeate the entire industry when dealing offshore and although folks may have a “head knowledge” on what it takes as far as timing to successfully manufacture an order offshore, they don’t have the “heart knowledge”…<a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">it hasn’t rooted deep inside of ‘em</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Another solution to this is to <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-building-establishing-long-term.html">purposefully establish concrete relationships</a> with our offshore supplier. Having them as someone “to watch your back” on scheduling; reminding you of what happens if you order this week or what the landscape will look like if you delay until next week, someone on the ground to hold space in the factories’ production schedule, etc… <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But perhaps that’s a different post…. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click below title if you want to read more<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/07/back-to-basics-sea-shipping.html">Back to the Basics: Sea Shipping</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/whos-controlling-your-suppliers.html">Who’s Controlling Your Supplier’s Supplier?</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">Know What’s Happening with Your Order</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-10474707398380076412011-07-21T21:45:00.003+08:002011-07-21T21:58:55.512+08:00We’ve Been Doing This for “X Number” of Years<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Mountains of advantages come from good ol’ fashion experience.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Many things in life and business come from putting the time in, logging in hours and simply doing it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a name='more'></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">But what about when the banner of “we’ve been doing this for x number of years” becomes a stumbling block? Or can it become a stumbling block? Or is it a superman vest that reflects all barbs of life and your experience will overcome everything?</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Some allow their experience to put them on a pedestal. It clouds their minds on who they think they should speak with, or share time with or who is due the “graciousness of their presence”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf770pXVyT1JYUAry3KwCgkIP_tU4vIb94h2RnuI_tSGg2qTd0hRnSOIHC4xfx2gcPwyLklCT50bokyEHateZ8cvDEe7ByJCkq2__C5o1bZgbAoJFpGIe3s8YVajkjTCNHHYW4nFf9xl8/s1600/DSC_0614-115.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf770pXVyT1JYUAry3KwCgkIP_tU4vIb94h2RnuI_tSGg2qTd0hRnSOIHC4xfx2gcPwyLklCT50bokyEHateZ8cvDEe7ByJCkq2__C5o1bZgbAoJFpGIe3s8YVajkjTCNHHYW4nFf9xl8/s320/DSC_0614-115.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Experience</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: Arial;">There are others, who have experience and that experience leads them to be humble, teachable, eager to learn what they haven’t already grasped, eager to learn more of what they already know, flexible…you get my drift. These folks are easy to work with. They take time to share knowledge and help bring people up to their level. They also seem to “roll better with the punches”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I work and live in place and in an industry that requires you to be as fluid as water. If you are rigid and stringent, China will eat your lunch and pop the bag. This place changes on a daily basis. Rules can be there one week and gone the next. Companies you thought were solid partners can disappear in a flash. If you are set in your ways and in your mind on how things are done, should be done and need to be done, then YOU’LL be done. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Although China is changing faster than any other developing and (needless to say) developed nation, this day and age, aspects of the outside world are not that much different. You’ve got economic worries, technology changing at the speed of light (think about your daily tech and internet walk today compared to exactly 10 years ago), trusted brands and stores we once new have disappeared, consumer habits are changing where I no longer have to listen to YOUR newscast and watch YOUR commercial. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Adaptability doesn’t trump experience, but the truly experienced know how to go with the flow and adapt to ever-changing landscapes – It’s a right balance of both…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now I’m just thinking out loud, but if I fall back on “x number of years” but are not the best in my field or not even as good as I would like to be, then is that “x number” doing what it should be doing or is there more I need to do?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click title below for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-building-establishing-long-term.html">Bridge Building: Establishing Long-term Relationships with your Supplier</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/dont-despise-small-beginnings.html">Don’t Despise Small Beginnings</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/04/assumptions.html">Assumptions</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-80603663877200162822011-07-15T11:27:00.002+08:002011-07-15T11:27:43.780+08:00It’s Like a Big Machine<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">A Chinese factory is a like a big machine.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Picture a gigantic steamroller that once you push the button, it mindlessly and harshly starts its path, regardless of what’s going on around it.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">And once you get that big beast a’ started…it’s extremely hard to find the “off switch”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Or better yet, it’s extremely hard to find the “let’s all stop for a minute and hold hands and sing kumbaya” switch.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-dcUzHd_mPbQps5P8_a5ZDxwXfuU1t21UsbjAGPi4yafwHccf7hxHs9h-5cn-GqcT87gmaAdMw2_WV-a1x7NWXSGKAvzKgCWXCd1R0eh03Tre0bPvLU4ezU5un3sb9aXOU47ojBYn_o/s1600/Assembly+Lines_photo+9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2-dcUzHd_mPbQps5P8_a5ZDxwXfuU1t21UsbjAGPi4yafwHccf7hxHs9h-5cn-GqcT87gmaAdMw2_WV-a1x7NWXSGKAvzKgCWXCd1R0eh03Tre0bPvLU4ezU5un3sb9aXOU47ojBYn_o/s320/Assembly+Lines_photo+9.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Making Sure the "End-User" is Thrilled <br />
with the Product is not this Lady's Top Concern</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> "</o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Jacob, Jacob…what in the blue blazes do you mean about singing kumbaya?"</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m being a bit overboard there, but what I’m talking about is dilly-dallying and time wasting. I’m talking about the need to shoot straight from the hip before your order goes in to production. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m talking about when overseas buyers, whether importer, supplier, distributor, janitor, agent or 007 himself…whatever you label yourself as…when you are providing specs to your vendor, give them EVERYTHING they need. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What I see is a large chunk of buyers giving too little of the important detail and too much of the stuff that doesn’t matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“Why rant, Jacob, having a bad day?” No, my good pal Renaud Anjoran, quality and factory control extraordinaire from <a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/">Quality Inspection Tips</a> gave me “the muse” in one of his recent posts. <a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/mistakes-by-importers/">He’s got an awesome post of “no-no’s” that importers often do</a>. One that struck a nerve…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Forgetting to describe an essential product attribute, or even the entire packaging</span></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you don’t specify your expectations in detail, a factory technician will take the decision for you, based (most probably) on cost savings. And you will not even be able to protest when you notice it.</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So let’s go back to our lumbering, destructive steamroller..or better yet a runaway locomotive that’s moving at top speeds. As the machine moves forward, some fast, some slow, but either way, it’s moving, the machine is not going to stop and ask you:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“Should I take a right or a left?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“This flower bed is very beautiful, should I tippy-toe around it or just plow through it?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“Do you want your pooch in or out of the doghouse that I’m going to demolish?”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s the same way with a Chinese factory. The “start button” is usually the deposit payment or some sort of written signoff and once they start going…brother look out. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you didn’t confirm all colors, all specs, all sizes, all uses of every aspect of your order, like Renaud said, not confirming is the same as giving them free reign to do what they want. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And their decision will usually fall on the side of “crushed flower bed”; meaning a decision that you will not like. It will be one that saves them cost, time, material, energy, whatever, but to their advantage. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Before you start that machine, you need to spend time to <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/educate-your-supplier-on-product.html">EDUCATE your supplier on the product</a>. Not only hard specs but the soft-side of specs too.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The factory who’s got a ton of mouths to feed, timing to meet, workers to manage and problems of their own are not going to stop and ask:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“Are you sure this artwork is correct”?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“You mentioned many different sizes throughout various emails, which one did you final decide to use?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“Is for children usage or adults?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">“Sure you take all the time you need to discuss with your brand, we’re going to shut all of this down, lose time, money and enjoy a Coke”. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Just like the steamroller won’t stop and nitpick about it’s path, the factory is not going to stop and get detailed with you <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">on specs that need to be confirmed before all systems are a-go</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">And the factory has got “systems”: there is the sales office that deals with you or the trade company from whom you are really buying. There is the production line, there is the cutting line, the packing line….all sorts of “lines”, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1559280648">not to mention all the 3</a><sup><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1559280648">rd</a></sup><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/whos-controlling-your-suppliers.html"> party vendors that are being used for the job</a>. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Once all these systems start huffing and puffing forward; how to stop it? It’s a real pain and can possibly do more damage to your order than the importance of the change you actually want to make. Stopping to make changes will create loss, more problems, more confusion…<a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/lasting-first-impressions.html">remember the rule of "lasting first impressions"</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">“But”, you may indignantly say, “They should ask if they have questions”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Why should the factory care about your small details when you didn’t seem to? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Want to avoid problems? Give the supplier what they need. Otherwise, you gave them authorization to do what they want.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Click on below title for similar posts</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/mistakes-by-importers/">Top 10 mistakes committed by importers</a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/lasting-first-impressions.html">Lasting First Impressions</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/educate-your-supplier-on-product.html">Educate your Supplier on the Product</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">Know What’s Happening with Your Order</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/whos-controlling-your-suppliers.html">Who’s Controlling Your Supplier’s Supplier?</a></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-70023190198444000652011-07-08T09:58:00.001+08:002011-07-08T09:59:50.875+08:00Back to the Basics: Sea Shipping<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33GZbICTqssulps7dK1enOS9Yb7JLFznYFi5K7N76uRO1amZpHqDDqLEVXuZrUx5erlK2iTVU5LhPS2Lzr9OOobPC_Dq9WHv0NmwGM6nO7qemocFf2ExZYNg3xLprYhoQn5OnyYWbfcE/s1600/29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33GZbICTqssulps7dK1enOS9Yb7JLFznYFi5K7N76uRO1amZpHqDDqLEVXuZrUx5erlK2iTVU5LhPS2Lzr9OOobPC_Dq9WHv0NmwGM6nO7qemocFf2ExZYNg3xLprYhoQn5OnyYWbfcE/s320/29.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A few reminders about sea shipping; especially for those of you in the promotional product / ad specialty industries bringing in goods offshore.</span></div><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Closing Date and Sailing Date:</span> </b>Not having an adequate understanding of this can make or break you in achieving needed in-hand dates and delivery times. Most importers are not crystal clear on these terms and what it means in “plan talk”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The closing date is the day the shipment has to be at the port to clear customs and then board the next vessel. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The sailing date is the day the merchandise will be on a boat and set sail.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Here where it is critical. If the goods leave the factory on Monday and the closing date is Monday, then it is possible that it could be another 10 days from the time it left the factory until the time it actually sails. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Why? Take the following scenario: <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Goods leave factory – Monday<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Closing date – Monday<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On the way to the port, goods are held up in typical China traffic, monsoon, whatever the reason…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">…you don’t make it to the port in time.</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> Normally there is a certain time of day on the closing day the goods have to be there. The customs office is not 24hrs, so there is a cutoff point on that day. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let’s imagine there is only 1 sailing day per week. This will vary, some China ports and destinations have more than 1 day per week, but it is <u>not</u> uncommon from a port to destination to have only 1 sailing day per week.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Sailing date – Wednesday<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You missed the closing date, goods will sit in a warehouse until next Monday when they will then pass through customs to be loaded for sailing on that next Wednesday. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">…You just lost 10 days. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The supplier in China may very well complete your goods in time. But in a case like the above, both sides, China and you, didn’t consider the logistical monkey wrenches. Know your closing and sailing dates.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So if delivery time is critical and those 10 days can break you; learn to work backwards in your planning and scheduling. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">*Another side point: many times, if you get to the port right on the closing day and you are close to the cutoff time, that will cause your shipment to be “flagged” for extra inspection thus causing you to miss the next sailing date. Important your supplier or freight forwarder doesn’t get you there at the last minute. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Handle Your Own Shipment:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">My advice to any serious importer for sea shipment, is to handle your own shipment. Have your own freight forwarder, who you know on a first name basis. Someone you can call at any hour of the day that will help you in any shipping bind.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPWXONXQj0CV07894TqeTUC3FeEll57vgYnOniBAv9Y2RKCp_fRX4mkSimTuPE0Urj7YGp3s24ZAgu4azU-ZTLhcC4rJdWm2CMmwZZ_mqxOIt2WxJ9dKHuTDsmjXFfSMh_Q7cKEq6RYw/s1600/19.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiPWXONXQj0CV07894TqeTUC3FeEll57vgYnOniBAv9Y2RKCp_fRX4mkSimTuPE0Urj7YGp3s24ZAgu4azU-ZTLhcC4rJdWm2CMmwZZ_mqxOIt2WxJ9dKHuTDsmjXFfSMh_Q7cKEq6RYw/s320/19.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Nothing beats having a shipping partner in your own country; from the destination, the freight forwarder can assist with inland logistics and customs clearance in ways that your offshore supplier cannot. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Also this local freight forwarder can better assist in working backwards from your needed in-hand date. They can map out and help you jump through the hoops of all critical dates. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Other Critical Phases to Consider:</span> </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">There is a good chunk of time from the moment the goods arrive to your port to the time they arrive final destination. Another reason to have a close shipping contact in your home country; you can proactively be there to receive, work through the expediting and speed up any red tape. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #783f04;">Customs Clearance on Origin (China) Side</span></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">…there is no turning back. Keep in mind that once it goes through the gates of the closing day to awaiting boarding and departure, there is no recall. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Whether someone is new to importing or been doing it for years, these are all basics that bear repeating. Many seasoned importers are in the dark on shipping processes – hopefully these are helpful reminders to some.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">Know What’s Happening with Your Order</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/02/show-your-work.html">Show Your Work!</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-37307689191734812092011-06-15T18:53:00.007+08:002011-06-15T19:05:07.280+08:00Confessions of an Open Networker<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauEvA7Pk-9JzYAinjAs3WkZ5WTzd2120sVIdWmxcpeyFt0WuldaDE47eI7OCeNpg0uBk7z7QhCyCjo_TB1XXyB1Wtl2bjQEXDX1lEnYIJefG5p3vYyK_3DLxRq7si1Cdps3mGUHFy8Ls/s1600/Photo0396.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiauEvA7Pk-9JzYAinjAs3WkZ5WTzd2120sVIdWmxcpeyFt0WuldaDE47eI7OCeNpg0uBk7z7QhCyCjo_TB1XXyB1Wtl2bjQEXDX1lEnYIJefG5p3vYyK_3DLxRq7si1Cdps3mGUHFy8Ls/s320/Photo0396.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I like LinkedIn.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">In fact, probably too much and had let my network get out of control.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The thrill of connecting.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">All the exotic foreign countries.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">The multitude of careers, positions, names, faces.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I was caught up in the moment.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Recently, I’ve been on a mission to get my network down to a manageable level. </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Early Spring / late Winter 2009 was when I started using LinkedIn and I would say that from the start of the whole process until now, I didn’t have a strategy. That was where the problem began. But all too often when we start projects, we don’t have a clear-cut path and that leads to aimless wandering about. Those LinkedIn wanderlust days are, as of today, long gone. I’m drawing the line and making a strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">No more outrageous numbers: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">If I never deleted any contact, I would be way over 1000 connections. That was a distraction to me and was making my LinkedIn use burdensome. How do you interact with so many people? I know some people fully endorse open networking, but that’s not my cup of tea. It was getting to where I was just throwing numbers on a pile.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Less than 500 connections…no matter what</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">: If my connections say 500+, I feel “spammy”. If I see someone who has 500+ connections I think “spammy” and numbers game. I know, I know, someone says they can use and reap rewards with that kind of network. But at the risk of being closed-minded; I don’t see it.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Being more selective: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">If I don’t see how the person can add value to my network and I don’t see how I can add value their network, then I’m not connecting. Yes, yes, I’ve heard the ol’ “well, you just never know”…but that “you just never know” was what was leading me to have outrageous contact numbers and a network full of folks I didn’t need, didn’t know and didn’t know how to use. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I was an “open networker” at one time and I did that to pad my numbers. Folks in finances in Indonesia. Auto parts in Detroit. A recruiter in New Zealand. A librarian in Mauritius. All those places are, I’m sure, lovely. All those folks a fine bunch of folks, but it was becoming clutter…as I’m sure I was cluttering their network. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I even cut off some “friends”. Am I cold hearted? No, I still like them and if they want to keep in touch they can call me, email me, stop by the house or send me a message in a bottle…but we don’t have to clutter our LinkedIn networks, especially if our businesses are completely different. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Less groups: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Why was, at one time, I a member of close to 50 groups? Groups I never visited, groups I joined because they were there. Also just like the 500+ connections, too many groups feels and looks “spammy”. Maybe that’s your thing, but for me, it was only about numbers and if I see someone in a multitude of groups, it looks like you are also, only about the numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I think I’ve got my groups down to a manageable level…groups that reflect my business interests, the industry in which I work and my personal interest. Earlier, I was in groups in which I really didn’t belong because of the whole “well..you just never know”… holding on to that concept can be a real obstacle. You’re right, you never know, so if I missed something or missed an opportunity, fine, another one will come across. Clicking every “accept”, seeing every “tweet”, spending sufficient time on social media isn’t my hill to die on. I think one of the greatest lessons from this is, social media is a tool, not an ends of itself. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So what’s my strategy? </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">A select geographical area, select industry, and folks that look like can add value to me and I can add value to them. When I say “add value” I don’t mean maybe, possibly, somewhere in the long-term future if all planets line up exactly right… I mean the possibility has to really be evident.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Arial;">Do you use LinkedIn?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Arial;">What’s your strategy? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79; font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79;">How do you determine with whom to connect?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #a64d79;">Someone with 500+ connections...."spammy" or "well-networked"? </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-89548552961594332682011-06-13T17:32:00.001+08:002012-03-15T00:50:42.724+08:00A Lot Like Dining Out<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">(Thanks for stopping by this post. After you read this, do me a favor and stop by the new house: <a href="http://bit.ly/zr8IMc">http://jacobyount.com</a> Hope to see you there and remember to leave a comment so I know who is reading! Much love - Jacob) </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">This weekend we went to a restaurant that serves “Western Cuisine”.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I mentioned <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/11-dollar-box-of-cheerios.html">in a post from last year</a>, that I seldom like to go to the so-called Western places in China.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">I wasn’t surprised during this outing…the same ol’ same ol’ rang true.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">But one thing that stood out, is that, especially in the promotional product and branded merchandise realms, managing and supervising production from factories is a lot like dining out in China.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Now the following list purposefully does a comparison to the “Western Restaurant” experience in China, not the Chinese restaurant experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Because in standard restaurants in China the dishes are typically 1 way, there is no choice, there is no point where decisions, options and free-thinking are involved. There is no “have it your way” mentality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5E5urEz0yUiFw8oU6Vy7yxkvQDbjYrCNTfqZuk596u-_20jv05eT-m86YUfdfU-sOD7_39fX4-cOx9bbWIJQ-d6lnPFn7RnHuI8ubqlTamP-SgMqf1kgrTN2nKQTs-GTm1aXPOkSmZqw/s1600/Photo0505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5E5urEz0yUiFw8oU6Vy7yxkvQDbjYrCNTfqZuk596u-_20jv05eT-m86YUfdfU-sOD7_39fX4-cOx9bbWIJQ-d6lnPFn7RnHuI8ubqlTamP-SgMqf1kgrTN2nKQTs-GTm1aXPOkSmZqw/s320/Photo0505.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Western restaurants, although more like Chinese restaurants that serve restaurant food, they try to, hope to, uphold the same kind of ambience as a good restaurant in the West. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Consistency: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">We just went to this place two weeks ago. We go back this weekend, order the same dishes and there are noticeable differences. The ingredients, the consistency, the taste…all different. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In manufacturing, the same will happen with your order. Regardless if it is the 3<sup>rd</sup> or 4<sup>th</sup> time you’ve ordered the same product, without the proper control there will be glaring differences. The differences could be results of multiple factors: changed material vendors, different guy mixing the paint, the old production line boss moved to a different facility, etc… Regardless of the reason something is going to be different. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What You Requested vs. What you Got: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Although you specifically request something and the gal taking your order confirms it back and writes it down, it comes out different.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">The same happens during the order process from sampling to the end of mass production. This is more prevalent when there is more “guess work” involved. And in China, “guess work” can mean something as limited as choosing between two options, it doesn’t have to be broad. Hold the nasty comments; you come live in China for a bit and then let me know if you think I’m “over generalizing”. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/china-business-article-1-various.html">We know what kind of system is in this place and it’s not one that’s nurtured free thinking over the past decades.</a> The folks are used to routines, rote memorization, repetitive actions, rinse and repeat… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">So any crucial point that requires making a decision, or changing from the norm, be extra cautious. Be alert with your factory and learn what I call the “points of no return”. Have them show you proof of certain implementations before each further step or let them know you will not accept what they produce.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Cucumbers Seem to be Reasonably Priced</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Remember the rule of “<a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/lasting-first-impressions.html">lasting first impressions</a>”. If it was what you asked for the 1<sup>st</sup> time or if it is the way they’ve always done it, then chances are any personalized requests will be overlooked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Overuse of the Cheap Material: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">I could tell they were saving cost because the Mediterranean Salad was more like a Cucumber-terranean Salad. Obviously cuccs are cheaper than the other veggies in the salad and especially cheaper than the cheese. Heavy on the cuccs, light on everything else. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Your production facility will give you same kind of “switch-a-roo”. If something or a part or a process is expensive, no problem, spend less time on that and give ‘em more of the cheap stuff. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Also if you think you <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-you-want-quality-it-comes-with-cost.html">successfully negotiated prices</a> at the beginning, this will be even more prevalent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Reaction: </span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;">And your production facility will be no different than the waitress once you inform them of a problem. They will at first giggle nervously, and say sorry and they’re main goal is not quickly making it right, but they are deep down hoping you’ll shut-up about the issue, take it as it is and go away. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/handling-issues-in-china.html">Remember, when dealing with China, nothing, never, no way is EVER anybody's fault</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Informing your factory about issues that have already been done is futile and you’ll be wasting your breath. Instead control up front, make things as clear as possible from the beginning and monitor processes along the way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the restaurant it’s a bit harder..I should have gone back in the kitchen with the waitress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Before you place your order with your factory; anything that requires “guess work” anything that is “off the beaten path”, especially aspects that are theme/branding specific; be extra careful to get documentation of the process. Best case is to visit. <a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">If you cannot visit, get visuals and physical samples of each point in the process</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Because, just like the Western restaurants in China, the factory’s main goal, is getting one customer in and out so the next one can come. Detail, quality, service and exactness are all secondary if on their radar at all. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Home Cookin' Like This, Why Go Out?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Want to avoid the headaches? Don't eat out...stay home. How about with your offshore production? You cannot just "stay home"...the competition will pass you by. My recommendation; buy a bottle of aspirin and learn how to control your production. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Bon appétit.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/11-dollar-box-of-cheerios.html">11-Dollar Box of Cheerios</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-you-want-quality-it-comes-with-cost.html">Proceed with Caution in Asking for Lower Price</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/know-whats-happening-with-your-order.html">Know What’s Happening with Your Order</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-35030439178886979612011-06-08T17:56:00.001+08:002011-06-08T18:02:59.095+08:00Unity<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Back to </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/supplier-love.html">the conversation I had with the “China sourcing expert”…</a></span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m going to pick on this guy again. Not because this guy just deserves being picked on but because he embodies the mindset of most Westerners in the manufacturing business in China. It’s a mindset that is focused on the short-term. It’s also a mindset that leads to a multitude of the problems you see with China manufacturing, whether quality issues, certification / health scares, late delivery times, inconsistent pricing or loss of time.</span></div><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Not only was he calling long-term relationships with vendors pointless (<a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/supplier-love.html">Supplier Love</a>), but he gave good insight into how a large chunk of Western companies are managing their businesses in China. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I asked him a pretty straightforward question: “do you take the time to teach your staff in China, the business principles and skills you acquired over the years?” <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">His answer, “No, they don’t think like we do. I have a manager and she is the only one I talk to and then she handles China”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is typical for many Western companies, especially the ones in manufacturing. You have Westerners on the executive staff and then 1 to various (depending on the size of the company) “go between” managers. The “go betweens” are generally good at English and higher-level thinking and planning. The Western owners/bosses/managers pile everything onto the shoulders of these managers and then these managers are the ones who are actually running the company. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Ok, Jacob…so what? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the standpoint of the brands and end-users, they are buying from so-called expert importers who are masters at controlling Chinese manufacturing. But actually they are buying from guys who are great at loading work onto one manager. These kinds of higher-ups are not running a long-term business but more fly-by-night. Sort of “get in while the gettin’ is good”. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpCgbfIUXI7BTOc7MFF5MQkXEoGkVf0i6DTZDqQXTF7dWfKlA-evd_ozNB5wEmfzwJLvlNo3vP6pqa95DCiWLk6VvZH8JuEKMZdxi9QsuNLCA-IWgnIp814_NCk2H37Jhd7zIEsI_-dT0/s1600/IMG_0214.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpCgbfIUXI7BTOc7MFF5MQkXEoGkVf0i6DTZDqQXTF7dWfKlA-evd_ozNB5wEmfzwJLvlNo3vP6pqa95DCiWLk6VvZH8JuEKMZdxi9QsuNLCA-IWgnIp814_NCk2H37Jhd7zIEsI_-dT0/s320/IMG_0214.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What happens when this/these managers leave? Bring in more managers, start back at square one? I’ve seen it happen on more than one occasion. The manager leaves and the company takes mucho steps back. They are at the mercy of these “managers”.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is not these foreign guys who are the manufacturing experts; it’s the managers who are behind the scenes.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The entire staff of a company like this are loyal, trained and in reality work for this manager. So not only if this manager leaves are the higher-ups’ hands tied and they have to start back at square one, but they have no immediate control and leadership over their own team. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">How these kinds of companies present themselves to their buyers is not fully accurate. Even if it is by name their own company, most of the end-user and brands’ projects, are being outsourced to this manager. Sort of like “re-outsourcing” even though same company. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Since the oversea executive team never has direct dealings and interpersonal relationships with the Chinese staff, the core values and beliefs of the company, for example, how on their website they “say” they operate, is not really how they operate. It’s how the Western higher-ups hope to operate, it’s how they want to operate, but since they are never in direct dealings with their staff…it’s not really how they operate. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’m glad at my company, I’m only a cog in the machine. I’m glad that if something happens to me or I’m glad that once Leeds goes on leave that the company will still run. I’m glad that our buyers know our team by name and some of the buyers even know them better than they know me. I’m glad there are things that the team knows that I don’t; and I have to ask questions and they have to teach me. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This comes from treating your team like gems: like necessary, unique folks who without them, there would be no “business-you” and no company.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A lot of the attitude that is prevalent is, “the Western hero is coming to China to show these know-nothings how to do real business”. There is no unity in the company, it's "us and them" mentality. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">If you don’t start sharing with your team and training them the soft-skills and expertise you acquired from your home and the education that you were blessed to have, the ship is going to pass you by.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you come to China, don’t come with the mindset of “how can I control a bunch of Chinese to my benefit?”, but come with the mind of becoming part of the fold and making an even better fold than the one that exists.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I’ve seen the Western companies’ websites that promote “American/Australia/Western eyes in the factory”. But I tell you pal, I don’t want a non-Chinese speaking wide-eye foreigner checking my goods….the factory will eat ‘em alive. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If I’m in New York, I want a New Yorker telling me about the "in's and out's" of New York. If I’m buying from China, I want a Chinese professional, trained, one that knows quality, branding and business…one that can manage that factory and one that can hang internationally: best of both worlds. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/supplier-love.html">Supplier Love</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/bridge-building-establishing-long-term.html">Bridge Building: Establishing Long-term Relationships with your Supplier</a><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/boogeyman.html">Boogeyman</a></span></div>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5288730622829565494.post-49431289905989201742011-06-05T21:14:00.003+08:002011-06-05T21:21:56.815+08:00Does Your Buyer Know You Quote That Way?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbhjArUcTe2AMrxBzkWuSePI6vRdiIzOp8CbrV-2crz7hJ9D3ujuMcNcKSIwtIr1bzwID5A0EJoXslLYnKLYrNkrbUigZen4gBBKe8xR9Q9ounAhTcVXR5__giGIE8e1ETH7HBYZ2YAo/s1600/Photo0106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAbhjArUcTe2AMrxBzkWuSePI6vRdiIzOp8CbrV-2crz7hJ9D3ujuMcNcKSIwtIr1bzwID5A0EJoXslLYnKLYrNkrbUigZen4gBBKe8xR9Q9ounAhTcVXR5__giGIE8e1ETH7HBYZ2YAo/s320/Photo0106.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;">Many buyers treat offshore quoting like <a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/hands-off-buyers/">shopping</a></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">Buyers, importers, distributors, folks thinking about becoming importers, distributors who import, suppliers who import…whatever the classification, I’ve heard the same complaint from them whenever they come to a trade show in either Hong Kong or Mainland China.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p> </o:p></span>They come to the trade show and go in to a booth. They get a catalogue, ask questions, or network with the supplier. Whatever the form of communication, they are asked to leave a business card and most of the people oblige supplier. After all, why go all the way to the fair if you are not going to build contacts?</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But then once you (the buyer) hand that name card over to that supplier, many times in the two-handed gracious pass, as is customary in China, it is the same as if you took a chisel and wrote in a stone tablet to “Please sign me up and send me your emails for life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I understand the complaint: it is annoying. The Chinese, sometimes in their attempt to put their best foot forward and network with a potential buyer, all they know is junk/unsolicited email. And I don’t just mean one or two post-fair follow-ups, but it is a continual thing, for the rest of your life. Your kids will probably receive the same emails. The same thing happens if you sign up on one of those “sourcing portals” like Alibaba or Global Sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">But I was thinking; what’s worse? To receive a junk email on a semi-regular basis that you have to delete or to receive on a semi-regular basis large inquiries of multiple products, that require a lot of energy, time and manpower to quote, only to never hear a peep from the person doing the inquiring? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let’s be fair, it is uber annoying that the Chinese suppliers are keen to throw emails out in cyberspace, but is that any different from flinging an inquiry out in cyberspace? <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">China is a highly competitive country, especially for many of the kids in export companies and factories that are just out of college or in their mid-to-late 20’s. This is usually the age group of the people you are contacting if you source promotional products and branded merchandise from China. Whenever this kid receives your email, he or she treats it like the Holy Grail and handles it (to the best of their ability, mind you). They spend time quoting from the production line, contacting whatever 3<sup>rd</sup> party vendor is required, checking material prices and even adding on the shipping if the buyer requested. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4P4l1Fuxlemp-QMHgvRGArC6XG2YMDxtd5Z041U1v1-W80efV_WUcf1xrdaSrVAKrO9t7YWlZNbNnXe_bTuBx-7EITusH2ZsU1GdDnPF0fxclKwKr5I0_VwM586FYYA8kCeoVNqixEY/s1600/Photo0300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP4P4l1Fuxlemp-QMHgvRGArC6XG2YMDxtd5Z041U1v1-W80efV_WUcf1xrdaSrVAKrO9t7YWlZNbNnXe_bTuBx-7EITusH2ZsU1GdDnPF0fxclKwKr5I0_VwM586FYYA8kCeoVNqixEY/s320/Photo0300.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">After they spend all that time putting together the quote (whether the quote is accurate is topic), many times they don’t even get a proper acknowledgment from the buyer. Then the buyer sends the next, brand new, fresh-off-the-presses inquiry, that also requires multiple hours of work. And in the new inquiry email, they don’t acknowledge the last inquiry that was handled, quoted and sent. The sales kids puts energy and time back in to the new inquiry, sends it along…and the process repeats. Multiple inquiries, zero to little feedback from the buyer. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the promotional products business, many of the overseas buyers’ websites tout in fancy language how they are China-sourcing equipped and how this illustrious network and infrastructure in China is set up to accurately handle your offshore order all the while, closely monitoring your quality and production. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let’s say the overseas buyer puts on their website how they really source from China. Here is an example…<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;">“You (the brand or end-user) provide us with your inquiry and specifications. We then have a list of supplier contact details, many of whom we’ve never met or just met in passing at trade shows. We email blast them with your specs (most of the time just copied and pasted off your original email). We certainly don’t phone them to really discuss the job, flinging an email works just fine. Then whoever answers the quickest and with the cheapest price is who we give your order to. “</span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Does that sound like a company that is expertly managing offshore production? If you have a big name client asking you to manufacture their ad specialty products, is this how you would handle it? Of course not….<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">….but that’s how it’s being handled. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Which one is spam? Sending the poorly worded intro email looking for some business or the large inquiry that required physical work from multiple parties that never gets acknowledged? </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">How about your brands; do they know how you are handling their business?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span>My friend Renaud Anjoran of Asia Quality Focus and blogger at <a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/">Quality Inspection Tips</a> calls these kinds of buyers <a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/hands-off-buyers/">"Hands-Off Buyers"</a>. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What’s the solution to all of this? Slow down and make real relationships with your suppliers. Instead of a list of 5 to 10, have 1 to 3 strong companies you know, have met and work with continually. Just as you spend time grooming and “courting” your buyers, in dealing with the beast that is China, it takes just as much time if not more to establish a quality supplier. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So how to do it? It takes time and perhaps that’s another blog (actually I’ve wrote multiple blogs on this topic)….but what will not help is treating your supplier like they are one of many, like they are a faceless name and acting like your time is more valuable than theirs. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;">And I bet, just maybe, after you stop fishing for multiple supplier contacts, you’ll notice a reduction in that spam email. Hmmmm…. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Related Posts: click on below title for similar topics</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.qualityinspection.org/hands-off-buyers/">Hands-off buyers: accepting the risks of importing</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/supplier-love.html">Supplier Love</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/05/supplier-love.html"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/communication-conundrum.html">The Communication Conundrum</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/03/communication-conundrum.html"></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><a href="http://jlmade.blogspot.com/2011/01/dealing-with-1st-time-factories.html">Dealing with 1st-Time Factories</a></span></div></span>From Jacob's Deskhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10942623692141819414noreply@blogger.com0