We will receive the customer's offer, may be a simple sentence give me price list, or we talked to the customer about the payment method of the deadlock, or the development of the customer, then through the back of the customer's adjustment, we can understand the customer's product categories, purchasing, creditworthiness, etc., to confirm that the customer is our benchmark customers, what payment methods and other corresponding measures.
I. Main directions for backtracking on clients
1. Basic information
Company name (whether the official English name is the same), registration information (whether there is a legal registration record), company address (whether it really exists), shareholder structure, company size (number of employees, branches, etc.)
2. Financial situation
Annual turnover, profitability, ability to pay, and whether there are any delinquent payments or default records.
3. Procurement requirements
Core business areas and scope of operation, whether there are already suppliers of similar products, and requirements for product quality, price, and delivery time.
4. Client markets
Customer's primary market (e.g. Europe, America, Southeast Asia, etc.), type of end customer served by the customer (B2B, B2C, retail, etc.).
5. Credibility and reputation of clients
Availability of peer reviews or collaborative records, negative press or controversy.
6. Existing supply chains
Whether there are already stable suppliers, whether there are supply chain pain points (e.g. unstable delivery, high prices, etc.).
7. Competition
What suppliers are the main competitors, and whether customers have a tendency to choose suppliers from specific countries or regions.
II. Tools and methods that can be used for customer backtracking
1.Company's official website
About us:First of all, look at the official website of About, which has the introduction of the establishment of the company, including the establishment of time, mission, vision, etc., through which to determine the development of the customer.
Product page: view the customer's products, analyze the product type, style, design, market positioning, and determine the relevance of the product to us, including the degree of overlap, scalability, and so on.
2. Online search tools
(1) Google Search
Method: Search by keywords such as customer's company name, product name and address.
Focus on what to look for: news reports, customer records at trade shows, third-party reviews, company size, etc.
If the customer's company name is "XX", you can search for the following:
"XX + fraud" or "XX + scam/complaint" (to find out if there is a record of fraud)
"XX+ products" (to understand their product range)
Through Google Maps, to understand the customer's company's real-world situation, storage capacity, for example, the customer's warehouse is very large, indicating that this customer is very strong, with a strong purchasing power.
(2) LinkedIn (领英)
Method: Search for the customer's company name or the name of the person in charge of purchasing to view their company homepage and employee information.
Focus on finding content:
Whether the client company has an active LinkedIn page. Many companies have a company homepage on LinkedIn, through the company homepage and About you can understand the basic situation, scale, and at the same time through the posts you can understand the customer's products, company dynamics (including new product releases, company humanities activities, exhibitions, social responsibility) and so on to determine the customer's development prospects, and through the People you can learn about the staff situation, including senior leadership, procurement staff position and background, etc. Through People, we can understand the staff situation, including senior leadership, purchasing, position and background of the staff, and so on.
Professionalism and authenticity can be judged by finding the purchasing manager of the client company in LinkedIn and checking to see if he has worked in a similar industry for another company.
(3) Zoominfo
Multiple dimensions can be searched with Zoominfor, including company name, industry, geographic location, people positions, contact information, organizational structure, financials, competitors, etc. Zoominfo also provides key people profiles such as job title, contact information, social media activity, and more.
It also allows for competitive intelligence analysis to understand competitors' strategies and dynamics.
2. Customer background inquiry platform
(1) Enterprise Search/Tianyecha (for Chinese customers)
Function: Check company registration information, shareholder structure, business scope, court execution record, etc.
Website: www.qcc.com or www.tianyancha.com
(2) Dun & Bradstreet (Dun & Bradstreet)
Function: Check the credit status of the company worldwide, including employee status, bank credit certificates, payment habits, historical debts, credit ratings, credit scores, etc. We will take the corresponding payment method according to the customer's financial situation and credit scores. For example, if the client has a bad credit score, then we cannot agree to DP's payment method.
Website: www.dnb.com
Check the customer's Dunn & Bradstreet number (D-U-N-S Number) for their credit risk rating.
(3) ImportGenius or Panjiva
Function: To inquire the import and export records of the customer, and to understand their purchasing volume, product categories, and supply chain. Through the customer's purchasing volume and frequency, infer the customer's company size and order quantity, and at the same time, analyze the customer's preference and general price direction according to the supplier's situation.
Website: www.importgenius.com or https://panjiva.com
(4) PACER, Eurojust
Through these websites, it is possible to check litigation records, administrative penalties, loss of trust, bankruptcy, violation records, and so on. Their risks are examined, including legal risks, cooperation risks, etc., to determine whether or not to cooperate.
U.S. PACER (Court Case Lookup) Web site: https://pacer.uscourts.gov
URL of the EU Eurojust database: https://www.eurojust.europa.eu/
3. Exhibitions and industry websites
(1) Global Exhibition Record
Function: To check whether the client has participated in relevant industry exhibitions through the exhibition official website, to understand its market activities and product range, and to infer the client's enterprise scale and company operation.
Recommended Platform:
https://10times.com
(2) Industry websites
We analyze the purchasing volume of our customers by checking the Euromonitor website to determine the scale of their purchases.
Website: https://www.euromonitor.com
4. Social media
Facebook/Twitter/Instagram
Understand the customer's social media activities, determine their brand image and marketing through the videos, posts and user comments posted by the customer, customer interactions, etc., and research customer pain points for marketing in conjunction with the company's official website.
5. Peer and network communities
Methods: Through trade forums (such as Alibaba forums, foreign trade circles, Fubu forums, etc.) or peer sharing to understand the customer's reputation, especially serious negative situations, there will be a businessman to share warnings.
The above is a complete customer background investigation. Through the customer background check is a necessary skill for foreign trade development of customers, you can avoid risk, build trust and develop a more targeted cooperation strategy
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