We are currently working with a Tunisian customer on sourcing business, and the progress is very smooth. We have plans to develop it into a project-based system, so SourcingBiz shares it as a case show.
Initial Contact
We didn’t know each other before the collaboration, and it all started with a dinner party at a hotel in Xiamen City.
SourcingBiz Company is located in Quanzhou City, which is a city rich in ceramic tiles and stone, therefore providing customers with the procurement/sourcing of tiles, natural stone, artificial stone, and stone tools is one of our services. SourcingBiz participates in the Xiamen International Stone Fair every year to help customers find various stone and tile machinery, tools, raw materials, and more.
The Xiamen International Stone Fair in 2024 was held from March 16th-19th, and SourcingBiz took part as scheduled, over there we received invitations for dinner parties from our partner manufacturers.
And then the story began.
At the end of the party, we saw a foreign man in the lobby trying to connect to WiFi. Due to the Chinese interface, he was unsuccessful, so we helped him complete it and chatted happily. It’s amazing that in this business setting, we didn’t ask each other about their businesses, just chatted. And then go back, rest, and sleep.
Just a simple help and communication.
The next day, we ran into this friend again at the fair, he gave us his business card and told us that he is a distributor of stone machinery in Tunisia. We added each other’s WeChat and WhatsApp.
Then, SourcingBiz continued the busy work. This friend has also returned to Tunisia.
Usually, people who meet by chance are also prone to losing contact. But we don’t…
Re-contact
Three months later, on 18th, June, the Tunisian friend messaged us on WeChat.
Due to Tunisia’s relatively small land area and population of only 12.36 million (2022 data), the demand for Tunisian stone machinery is limited. Therefore, this Tunisian customer wants to expand into more product categories and leverage Tunisia’s location at the intersection of Asia, Africa, and Europe to sell products to more countries. To increase sales opportunities through this method.
He plans to establish a specialized company to operate this project, and the product supply chain will mainly be imported from China. Having an office or partner in China became part of his plan, so he re-contacted us – SourcingBiz.
Meet Again in China
This Tunisian customer really has a very strong execution ability!!!
After communication, the customer decides to visit China once again, the second time after he participated in the Xiamen International Stone Fair in March.
He quickly booked a flight to Guangzhou on June 26th.
The representative of SourcingBiz also booked a high-speed train from Quanzhou City to Guangzhou City, which arrived in Guangzhou City on the same day. Then we met at a Starbucks in Guangzhou City.
The customer mentioned the following 4 demand points:
- Due to the customer’s unfamiliarity with the new product category, they require partners who can assist in the development and procurement of products across multiple categories.
- Supplier visits. Although customers can come to China on their own, having partners in China is obviously a better way to handle high-frequency procurement of multiple categories.
- Quality control. Chinese partners can conduct on-site quality inspections to avoid the high cost of cross-border returns and exchanges.
- Transportation planning. Recently, shipping costs have fluctuated greatly, and different objects require different transportation standards. Therefore, a reasonable transportation plan is very important.
SourcingBiz introduced the content of China sourcing agent services to the Tunisian customer, including product search, supplier choice, quality check logistics distribution, etc.
Finally, we decided to first verify our level of understanding through small orders and continuously adjust in practice.
Start Work
In July, the customer received his first order, children’s education robot/toy, STEAM robot(Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics).
We quickly found the supplier ZMROBO, and the customer was very interested in the Alpha series products.
Unfortunately, after we received ZMROBO’s quotation and submitted the purchase order, ZMROBO temporarily informed us that there is a Tunisian local distributor already, and we must purchase from the distributor. This also means that this customer cannot sell in the Tunisian market.
At the same time, we have also found that mature STEAM toy manufacturers generally adopt a marketing approach that includes distribution, training, and promotional events. If the Tunisian customer wants to obtain support from manufacturers, it is better to work with the start-up STEAM technology company.
We shared this idea with the customer, and was adopted. Then the key point is to find the start-up company with the following conditions:
- Having a full range of STEAM products with sufficient SKUs.
- Start-up company, but the quality needs to be reliable.
- Sufficient product usage instructions, teaching resources, and programming cases.
After sourcing, we ultimately chose MakerZoid company, it is a start-up but meets the above requirements, and has a very nice online STEAM platform including programming, teaching, and community. Most importantly, they are very willing to cooperate with us because they also need partners to help them expand into the Tunisian market.
Then, we completed the sourcing task delivery successfully.
Further Cooperation
After our first successful experience, the cooperation became smoother.
In the following month, we also completed the sourcing of the jaw crusher, drum-type polishing machine, hand stone polishing machine, manual stone edge cutting machine, hydraulic splitting machine, and boom stick.
Further cooperation is ongoing…
