Finding International Customers - Different Phases in This Journey

Attraction: This is the initial stage where Entrepreneurs need to create a digital, professional, and personal attraction. Focus on creating unique selling propositions in this phase at both digital and professional levels. Product and Service design is important, creating credibility about the product or service is important too. Having respectable references helps.

Demographic Analysis: Understanding which countries have a demand for specific Indian products, whether textiles, technology, software, or organic foods.

Acquaintance: In this stage, customers get to know you and your product better through communication and shared activities. They share information about their backgrounds, interests, beliefs, needs and requirements to assess compatibility.

Approach and Initiation: One or both individuals take steps to make their interest known and may initiate more direct communication. This might involve meetings, asking a few questions, exchange of information, sampling, commission discussions. This is a trusting phase.

Intensification: This phase starts after the sample approvals, Hereafter, your relationship progresses faster, and interactions become more frequent and intense. Interactions become deeper and connections have potential to form a strong bond. This is the beginning of commercial communications, a time and opportunity to create deeper bonds.

Exclusivity or Preferred Partnerships: This is a desirable phase but requires a lot of hard work in serving the customers with his needs that no one else can deliver. If you have innovative research and development and can come up with outstanding products that are not easy to make for your customer, then there is a potential that your customers may commit to a exclusive relationship with you being, their one of the most preferred partners. This stage often involves time and a successful track record of overcoming tough challenges during this time.

Commitment: This phase of relationship starts after you have proven your innovative capabilities and your abilities to overcome tough challenges which most other suppliers cannot. Customer has to feel that there is something special about you. This is a phase when you can ask for favours. in this phase, it is important to meet often have frequent meals and meetings with the customers. More meetings outside the office, create deeper bonds. Focus on discussions that revolve around future challenges that your customer wants you to meet.

Lifelong Partnership: Most customers will not say this, but they do not prefer a single owner business for creating lifelong partnerships. Customers are looking for both scalability and sustainability. You will ensure that your partnership is lifelong. only when customer experiences that there is a team serving them and not just an individual. More importantly, they need to see that there is next generation involved in your business for them to consider a lifelong relationship with your company.

Throughout these stages, communication, mutual respect, and genuine affection are key components that help the relationship progress healthily and sustainably.