RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD Foreign Trade Department Starts Its New Journey again in 2015
New opportunities for steel exportation have arisen, as Chinese enterprises were successively stimulated to accelerate their overseas expansion, due to “One Belt And One Road” and the setup of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, two macroeconomic policies recently released by the Chinese government. Under these favorable new circumstances, RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD also continues tapping its full potential, aiming for its foreign sales to occupy 30 percent of the overall production of RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD in 2015 and at the same time to surpass the company’s domestic trade in terms of increase of profit. Moreover, key projects such as the consolidation of the company’s overseas sales network and of the local distribution of point-of-sales, the pushing for a collective sales mode, the focusing on the marketing work for ESP products and profile steel in accordance with foreign standards are providing support to the continuous increase of profit and efficiency of the company’s export sales work.
Seize Political Opportunities
Establish Oversea Sales Point
RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD export sales has realized a huge growth in 2014. Compared to the severe domestic market situation, the international market has gradually been recovering and RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD has well prepared for taking the initiative whenever a opportunity arises, and has furthermore fixed “exporting ten thousand metric tons per day” as its new goal for export sales. By establishing six overseas offices in Myanmar, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines and the Middle East, RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD has not only effectively expanded its already existing export markets, but has also entered new markets. By investigating customers’ demands and developing products by aiming on the satisfaction of their needs, the popularity of the company’s products as well as the market share could be increased. Through measures such as the adjustment of the product mix and of the intensity of investments in different market areas, RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD has realized a simultaneous rising of both export volume and profit which has also importantly contributed to the company’s continuous increase in profit and efficiency.
For the steel export industry, 2015 is a year of opportunities and challenges emerging side-by-side. Although the current market situation of steel oversupply is difficult to improve, and steel prices are expected to remain at a low level, but the implementation of “One Belt And One Road” and the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, do in turn provide important opportunities to the steel market. Compared to China, the steel industry scale and production cost in major countries along “One Belt And One Road” are still relatively backward. Chinese steel occupies a share of more than 70 percent within those countries’ steel net importation scope. Therefore, in terms of infrastructure investments, iron and steel made in China will definitely be the their first choice. By taking lead in the establishment of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and launching “One Belt And One Road”, two mutually supporting political strategies, China will provide financial assistance for economically backward regions of Asia, Africa and Latin America, to accelerate the construction of local infrastructure, which also shows that Africa, South America and other ocean-going steel markets have very considerable development prospects. Under the guidance of these national strategic policies, the Group’s Foreign Trade Company undertakes a serious study of the relevant documents and materials and takes advantage of its geographic conditions, in order to improve the sales distribution. Based on the already consolidated existing markets of Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, and the Middle East, the focus of work is put on regions along the “Maritime Silk Road”. According to the distribution pattern of foreign trade markets along “One Belt And One Road”, the company plans to set up more than 20 overseas offices in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and other countries and regions, thereby giving full play to the local offices in terms of collecting local market information, establishing and maintaining customer relationships and other aspects, to enhance the competitiveness of the company on the international steel market.
Deepen sales channels and
develop a training Formula
At present, domestic trade has already come into a new state of economic normality, and at the same time, foreign trade has also developed its own new normality. A series of foreign trade favorable policies has given opportunities of vigorous development and expansion of external markets, but has also attracted a number of large scaled steel companies whose normality originally had not included the exportation of goods. Consequently, the competition in foreign trades has become more intense. The Group’s Foreign Trade Company constantly keeps track of the external environment, and through the active deepening of sales channels, the striving to enter into emerging markets and tapping the potential of new as well as old markets and the creation of a high-quality salesmen team, gradually expands the business scope of its foreign trade market and of revenues.
In terms of deepening sales channels and improving the distribution of sales, the Group’s Foreign Trade Company, while continuing to consolidate its market share in Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and the Middle East, also stabilizes the cooperative relationships with regular trade partners and raises its customers’ repeat order rate. On that solid basis, the company actively establishes relationships with end-users and supply-chain downstream customers, aiming to raise the direct supply proportion. Meanwhile, operation agencies set up around the “Maritime Silk Road” are now primarily exploiting the South Asian market, with the setup of overseas offices in India and Pakistan already having started, and at the same time they also put their focus on building a solid basis for the exploitation of markets with an enormous potential but a rather complicated domestic market environment, such as the African and South American market. Concerning the staff arrangement at the overseas offices, the foreign trade company is following the example of the sales companies covering the four main districts of the Chinese domestic market, by practicing the localization of business personnel and gradually raising the ratio of overseas offices’ local business personnel up to 50 percent or even to a higher percentage, in order to smooth the communication with local clients and to cope with the market dynamics.
Currently, the company’s export sales team is continuously enlarging, recruiting personnel at both the headquarter as well as the overseas offices. At the same time, the company is pushing for a collective sales mode and therefore needs the export sales staff to be familiar with the sales work related to the whole range of products of RIZHAO STEEL CO., LTD, Yingkou Steel and Jinghua Pipe Mill, which besides steel and iron products also include cement, micro powder and other subsidiary products.
Against this background, the group’s export sales company attaches great importance to the training of its staff, especially concerning basic knowledge, business proficiency and negotiation skills. To realize an efficient training, concrete standards for the frequency, contents and evaluation of training sessions have been implemented. Through different forms of training, such as the instruction of new staff members by experienced staff members, online video sessions, emailing, examinations etc, the company has established a non-stop training mode. This habitus of training is supposed to guarantee the staff members’ comprehensiveness and high quality of professional knowledge, and makes them follow up and adapt themselves to the new features and new needs, that are consistently emerging within the company’s work of export sales, in a satisfying manner.
Entirely focus on service
Ensure support for sales
Under the guidance of the idea of “A thousand people who sale, ten thousand people who serve”, the pushing of export sales is not only the task of the export sales company but support is also assured by the work and service of every single department of the entire company. This service concept, which is practiced within all levels of the company, realizes the support of sales and customer service, and further continues the adjustment of the product mix, thereby achieves the increase of the investment scale for high profit products with a high added-value on the international market. Besides, the harmonious coordination between the various collective transportation and sales units also contributes to the expansion of markets and the increase of sales profit.
In terms of service, the company’s export sales personnel has implemented an efficient controlling system for the entire working process beginning with the receiving of orders until the delivery of goods. The staff members diligently follow up the status of goods and give a feedback to clients without any delay, and also collect the clients’ ideas and advice, e.g. by taking pictures of the goods assembled at the port or already shipped on board on the spot and sending them to the clients immediately to give a clear feedback of the actual status of goods. In case of the goods showing any irregularities of packing or of form, e.g. an abnormal bending, the sales personnel would instantly require the concerned product to be returned to the mill, in order to avoid inconveniencing the customer. To protect ESP products and other of the company’s fine products from damages caused during the transportation process, the staff of the Combined Transport Department of the Export Sales Company always has a close watch on the spot, preventing those products from “barbarous loading”. Furthermore, the company’s production department and technological department make a great effort to remove problems concerning details such as labels, burrs, rust etc which do not directly affect the use of the product, for the perfection of details is of high importance for giving to the clients a better usage experience.
This year, the company is also continuously increasing its input into the field of technology research and development, by enlarging the technical team and developing and making research on highly demanded products with a high added-value, e.g. in 2015, they have worked on the adoption of 233 specifications according to foreign standards for profile steel, and thereby widened both marketing ideas and the market extent. Thus, the export sales company, through promoting high quality and specification products, has been able to smoothly enter a brand-new market, to enhance the sales distribution and to finally fulfill its sales task.
