I am most afraid of impatience in doing foreign trade. Recently, my experience has made me deeply realize this point.
In June, I received an inquiry from a customer who said that he was very interested in our products. This is a Mexican customer. I've heard people say that Latin American customers are procrastinating. This time I met, but at first I didn't care. To facilitate communication, I added the Skype of that customer. Because of jet lag, I usually wake up in the morning and chat with each other on skype.
At first, he asked me what the price was, and I quoted him the price. He was not satisfied with the price and asked for a reduction. I thought that if the order is large, we might as well offer more discounts. I asked him how much he would like to buy. He said that only one hundred. No way, it's hard for me to give him a big discount for such a small quantity. I only agree to reduce the price by 0.5%. Who knows, he never responded to me since then. I leave messages to him on Skype every day, and I never get a reply.
I guessed that either my price scared him off or Latin American clients were procrastinating, as rumored. Half a month later, I almost decided to give up. Who knows that customer suddenly sent an e-mail saying that he had gone on business for half a month before and forgot to reply to me on Skype for a moment, hoping I could understand. Unexpectedly, this customer would also send me a special email to explain the situation. I was very touched at that time, thinking that such a close customer must not miss. I responded to an email asking him what he thought about my offer and the client said he wanted to lower it a little more. I think since the other side is so sincere, and the manager discussed, decided to reduce by another 0.5%. This time the customer readily promised to close the deal!
Sometimes, when you are about to despair, hope quietly comes to you. Therefore, we should be patient in doing foreign trade and not give up easily. Like my experience, the customer did not respond to me in time. I waited for half a month and wanted to give up. Fortunately, the customer contacted me on his own initiative. But not all customers will be so good, not every time can be so good luck, more often, you have to take the initiative to follow up customers regularly.