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Chinese Buyers’ Experience Of Western Companies

It is clear that Western companies are doing their utmost to market themselves to Chinese businesses. Over half of all companies included in our study state that they have been targeted by ‘20 or more’ Western businesses within the last year alone. 41% of companies maintain that they are targeted by Western companies at least as frequently as they are by Chinese companies. Whatever the views we arrive at in terms of the execution of Western marketing and sales campaigns in China, the determination of Western companies is beyond doubt. Chinese businesses are now being targeted on a large scale not only as low-cost suppliers, but for their burgeoning purchasing power.

Means Of Communication – How Well Do Western Businesses Perform?

It is true to say that the most effective way of targeting a potential customer is not necessarily the way in which that potential customer asks to be targeted. Nevertheless, it is informative to compare the approach of Western companies with the preference of the Chinese target market. If nothing else, a company that perceives a supplier to be approaching him in a suitable fashion is more likely to be well-disposed towards that supplier, particularly when it is a supplier that has not been used before. Figure 6 shows how Western selling approaches correspond to the main means of communication desired by the target Chinese audience.

Figure 6 – How Well Do Western Companies Choose Their Marketing & Sales Approaches In China?

Strong Communication Through New Media

When comparing the communications approach of Western companies with the preference of the target Chinese businesses, it can be seen that Westerners’ strengths and weaknesses fall into two distinct areas. On the positive side, Western companies are seen as excellent in terms of their ability to communicate through new media. The efforts made by Western companies to communicate in Chinese are recognised, and above all Westerners are seen as presenting themselves extremely professionally and clearly.

A typical remark made by a Chinese businessperson in our study was “Western companies are excellent at using their websites to tell you exactly what they offer, and how it can benefit you. They get straight to the point. Chinese companies tell you about their people and what industry they are in but don’t really tell you what they do.� This view of Western businesses (and Westerners in general) as being extremely direct is widespread in China, and often not seen as a positive characteristic. However, in written business communications, absolute clarity is a distinct benefit and one which Western companies are using to their advantage.

Weak Interpersonal Communication

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Westerners’ abilities are seen as lacking in terms of interpersonal contact. This manifests itself in a perceived unwillingness to attend events or visit the client’s workplace, or even to make phone calls (of course linguistic limitations are part of the reason for this). Good as Westerners’ written communication is, complementing this with verbal and particularly face-to-face interpersonal contact is essential. One of the most commonly mentioned and extreme differences between supplier-client contact in Western companies, in comparison with China, is Westerners’ tendency to think that ‘work is work’ and that it is therefore limited to the workplace. In China, relationship building and often negotiations take place not only during the working day, but also at a restaurant afterwards. Taking a business guest for a meal is a basic common courtesy. The comment below is typical:

“The British don’t understand Chinese culture. Their technology and quality check system is mature and comprehensive, and they are professional in their field and everything they do. They are polite, but that is not enough. We’d like to invite them to join our supper after finishing working, but they can’t understand and will go back to the hotel directly.�

A particular area where Westerners place insufficient emphasis on interpersonal contact is in recognising the importance of exhibitions and similar events. The prominence of these has been seen; however many Western companies see insufficient tangible benefit in attending. Western companies must understand that the right exhibition in the right location can be more valuable than almost any other aspect of the promotional mix.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 22nd, 2007 at 12:09 pm and is filed under Quantitative Research, White Papers, Industrial Research, Qualitative Research, Market Research China, Market Research, International Market Research, Market Assesment, Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.