Tsunokake： Tell us the reason why you chose Singapore for a place to exhibit.

Shimizu： That is because of the information we got that Hong Kong and Singapore were suitable for exhibition beginners as Japanese food was getting popular in these places. Besides, they are in the same Asian culture. Also, we could get support from the hosting public agency, which took care of the cumbersome procedure of overseas exhibitions. We could also share a joint booth with other companies to participate with a relatively low budget.

Tsunokake：What was your impression of your first trade fair exhibition?

Shimizu：To tell the truth, I was very nervous at our first exhibition. In a place unfamiliar to us, we had to explain the details of our products to foreigners. That was tremendous pressure. But on our exhibit's first day, a local buyer visited our booth and tasted our product, then said, "It is so good!". That was when I began to think things would turn out great for our products.
For the first time, I noticed the strength of my company by getting out of my own country. To that day, I lived my life only knowing about octopuses, and I had believed that our company's steamed octopus was just one of those ordinary ones. Of course, I was confident of the quality of our products, but I believed the taste was not at all different from others. I had felt no solid chance of winning when we first exhibited our products overseas, so I was amazed when one of the foreign buyers tasted our octopus and said, "It is perfect. This is the best octopus I've ever had."

Tsunokake：The taste must have also been a real surprise to the buyer. And then?

Shimizu：After that, our business negotiation quickly went ahead, and we made a successful contract.

Tsunokake： That was wonderful!

Shimizu：With momentum in the next year, we exhibited at two trade fairs in Singapore.We realized the exhibits with the help of the subsidy Market Development Support Project (Trade Fair Exhibition) of the Ibaraki Industrial Prefecture Creation Fund Project by the Ibaraki Small Business Promotion Agency. The subsidy was a big help for us, who would hesitate to risk failing to make a contract and losing a significant amount of money required for the overseas exhibition.　

　　　　　　　　　　　

 

Business Negotiation with Overseas Buyers

Tsunokake：When presenting to overseas buyers, you would have many obstacles, including language differences. How did you manage those problems?

Shimizu：As for languages, we didn't have any particular problem, thanks to the professional interpreters dispatched from JETRO or Ibaraki Small Business Promotion Agency. But I've had this belief that it is essential to communicate with one's own words even though their English might be broken. So I learned English to be able to express myself. To tell the truth, I wasn't good at languages, but I overcame that with my own belief. I still believe it is very important to directly advertise and recommend the value and quality of your products through your own words.

Tsunokake：It is the right mental attitude to appeal with your own words even if the communication might not be perfect. In a trade fair overseas, the atmosphere would be a bit different from that of domestic ones, and wasn't it that most buyers demand the prices from the start?

Shimizu：Yes, most of them did so. But we, as a supplier, can't present the final price without having a distributor who handles the merchandise in the local market. We have to know the actual retail price in the local market beforehand. It has become a big hurdle increasingly not to be able to present the price of our products at the export business negotiations.

Tsunokake：Tell us how you managed the situation.

Shimizu：Our company didn't have the opportunity of getting a local distributor. So what we did was first visit the local restaurant that wanted to use our octopus and ask them if they currently use it and where they purchased it. Then from that information, we made contact with the distributor. In that way, we tracked back from the terminal user to the upstream dealers one by one.
When we contacted the distributor, we asked them to load our product, at least a sample, in the container as this restaurant wanted our octopus. Then they said yes, and the next thing we did was direct contact an exporter in Japan to arrange the container loading. We steadily proceeded with our deal.

Tsunokake： So Mr. President himself took the role in direct negotiations.

Shimizu：When you want to sell things, which is not limited to export, I think the most important thing is the seller's enthusiasm. When we participated in the overseas trade fairs, we always sent back thank-you emails in English to the buyers who visited our booth on the same day, even if it took us to work until two or three o'clock in the morning. Then, sometimes the agent came to our booth the next day, and the negotiation was settled during the exhibition session. Early response is often required, especially in overseas business negotiations. Hence, it is necessary for someone like the president who has the right to decide to lead the action to proceed with the deal.

Tsunokake： It's easier to think than do it. Your strategy is excellent. A quick response is one indicator that conveys the seller's seriousness to the buyer.