China is the ideal location for manufacturing businesses. It is a logical choice for manufacturers seeking to produce on a broad scale due to the country's size and population.
However, many businessmen may have no idea about how to contact Chinese factories. If you are not sure what you are looking for or where to begin your search, this may apply. Contrary to popular belief, Chinese manufacturing is of a very high calibre.
China manufactures goods for the worldwide economy; hence it is without a doubt regarded as the world's factory. Chinese factories are excellent at producing a variety of goods and services at low costs, which enables luxury brands and international corporations to charge a premium through the use of patents or specific ingredients.
If you are aware of all of this, buy from Chinese factories can be a good option for most businessmen.
Contacting a Chinese factory can seem difficult and time-consuming. Let us face it, it is not a straightforward undertaking since not everyone knows Mandarin, it is difficult to work out all the intricacies of where to even begin.
But it is hard to resist the growth opportunities presented by China direct sourcing.
You would want to take advantage of this rewarding opportunity as more companies hop on the bandwagon to make money. Low production costs might be advantageous for you, but you could also use that money for marketing or sales.
Before we discuss how to contact Chinese factories, we suggest that you must start as early as possible and find Chinese suppliers online.
We advise you to budget at least a month for finding the ideal manufacturing partner, as well as several additional months for completing design work, creating moulds, and starting the manufacturing process.
When you are attempting to build relationships that can result in a fruitful manufacturing cooperation, it might be intimidating to start from scratch.
Any manufacturer you come across initially appears to be your sole option. We advise creating a list of 10 suppliers you can speak with directly to get things started. The feeling of scarcity is lessened when you establish contacts and bargain with the most promising producers by compiling a broad list.
How to contact Chinese manufacturers？
The following are a few sources available to contact Chinese manufacturers but before using these sources, it will be worth knowing them well so that you can create your strategies on how to contact them.
The "super app" in China is WeChat. Everyone owns one, and they all use it for banking, online shopping, bill payment, ticket purchases, online sales, text and voice messaging, and video calling.
Even though it may be simple, by conducting business there, you run the risk of blending it into all of their other activities and interactions with friends and family, making it difficult to tell your business from your personal conversations.
Would you even be aware if someone quits their job at your supplier but continues to communicate with you? This might cause their new trading company, for example, to receive your orders instead of them.
WeChat is essentially forbidden for use in business communications. If a supplier does affirm something there, we ask them to confirm it again by email because it could otherwise be difficult to track down crucial information.
Messages sent here might not be preserved and might be difficult to locate later to verify a crucial point. At the very least, they will be disorganised from the influx of numerous personal communications.
WeChat is also not secure. The government could access anything spoken there. For many Western businesses, this can be a problem.
Email can be saved, archived, and searched for certain messages rather easily. Although it is a terrific option for business communication and unquestionably superior to WeChat, it can eventually get clumsy.
Instead of writing everything as a paragraph, it is possible to give structure to communication by providing a clear list of questions and asking that each be answered in turn in the follow-up letter.
If a chain of emails requires a day for each recipient to receive a response, it may be a cumbersome method of communication (so structuring email becomes all the more necessary).
Project management software
Software like Trello, Asana, and Basecamp are frequently utilised, and this is a step above email. They can be slow to use in China, especially for uploads and downloads, and Chinese suppliers don't utilise them very frequently.
However, they have advantages, such as the ability to set due dates and tasks, organise everything in categories, and make searches relatively simple.
Some importers arrange a weekly video call with their major suppliers during which they go over the tasks included in the project management programme, discuss the status, and solicit comments on each one. This is a great way to hold vendors accountable because it lets them know you will demand responses.
Ding Talk
Due to its familiar layout, Chinese employees enjoy and quickly utilise Ding Talk, a premium Chinese business app. The ability to send to-do lists, designated parties, and dates directly to a person's phone, which in China is the major focus of attention, makes it useful for task management. It is much cheaper than WeChat and much more secure.
It is likely simpler for Western clients to embrace this than to demand that Chinese suppliers utilise PM software from the West.
Working templates
You can construct a master file that is stored in the cloud and that both you and the provider can access. It will include the details they require, such as CMF information on drawings, user manuals, etc., as well as your expectations and what you like and don't like.
You might receive samples with flaws throughout the development and production of a new product. Photos of these flaws can be uploaded, and you can say that you don't like or accept this.
Having a dynamic record like this ensures that nothing is forgotten, unlike in emails or WeChat messages, and allows for easy reference for up-to-date information. You can ask for comments and written confirmations of your new changes.
If issues persist or there are issues with materials or components that were supposed to have been changed, your supplier may not have taken the necessary action, and you need to hold them accountable. Additionally, inspection findings and engineering change requests can be submitted, and the supplier is free to use these as references in subsequent productions.
Hire a sourcing company
Hiring a sourcing firm will help you stop worrying about how you could get in touch with prospective Chinese factories, whether your company is just getting off the ground or is well established.
This is because in exchange for a little price for their services, your sourcing agent will handle the full China sourcing process. It is safe to say that the majority of you may be discouraged from the thought of importing from China owing to all the obstacles that must be overcome given the amount of time and effort required to contact a Chinese firm.
However, you should understand the distinctions between an agent and a sourcing firm before using either one. A sourcing firm will offer a variety of services, from order placement to China inspection service. Additionally, they are cost-effective and will make your experience sourcing products look much like buying them directly from Amazon. Is not that easy now?
On the other hand, a sourcing agent is a single person, and while they will do their best, managing the entire process with just one person may be rather taxing. That implies that they are susceptible to communication errors.
A great sourcing partner will handle all of your communication needs. They will serve as your wingman, pushing your order along and expressing your needs to the Chinese firm.
Wrapping Up
The complexities involved in communicating with Chinese factories can appear very overwhelming. However, after you receive your order and it meets and exceeds your expectations at a fraction of the cost, it is a really satisfying experience.
We advise finding a sourcing partner to ease your process of how to contact Chinese factories and also do the necessary communication process so that you are relieved of some of the stress.
You may relax knowing that the factory is aware of your requirements. You may continue to be certain that you will receive value for your money with a qualified team at work.