Practical Export Marketing Skills & Generating Trade Leads

Hello friends. Welcome to this very exciting course on learning practical export marketing skills and generating trade leads. In this course, I want to start with the opening case study. So that we can take off on this course, what this course is all about. I want you to understand that through this case study. In this case study, I have titled Indian Brands in International Markets: Finding Their Way into Overseas Markets. So this is a very unique case study. I will talk about it. I will give you the background of this case study and what this case study is all about, which I'll just discuss with you.

And then I'll put up some questions for you that emerge from this case study. This is based on real information that is available in recent times, taking the example of India and Indian companies and their foray into overseas markets. So let's go into this case study. Now, the background of this case study is like this. In recent years, Indian brands have been making remarkable strides in the global market. So this is happening. There are several reasons; there is no single reason.

We will be trying to understand those factors. They are showcasing what? They showcase their strengths and unique offerings to a diverse International audience. Very different. India is a very different country. If you look at the culture of India, its cultural ethos and diversity within India itself, that diversity is also very different from the kind of diversity that exists in the international market.

The International audience for Indian culture is very unique. But still, these brands can showcase their strengths and unique offerings. This is very remarkable. That's why I took this case study, and this is the background. And what these brands are doing? These brands are leveraging India's rich cultural heritage, which comes from this diversity and its very diverse population. And it has cost-effective manufacturing capabilities. That's very unique about this country.

These brands, these Indian brands, have been able to carve a niche for themselves, and they can gain recognition worldwide with this diverse International audience. So this forms the background of what I'm going to share with you, the real facts, the information that I'm going to share with you. That is going to be very, very interesting. And we'll put up some questions based on these facts. So let's go into these facts, and then we'll come to the question part.

Before we go further, let's discuss some of the factors that I have identified because of the remarkable success that many of these Indian brands can showcase. So the surge of Indian brands in global markets can be attributed to several factors. It's very difficult to enumerate and list all such factors; it's not possible. But some of the very popular factors, very debated factors, are in current times- India's growing economy. India's growth is remarkable.

It is the fastest-growing large economy in the world at present. So India's growth is one of the major factors that we can easily see as the reason for this success; this is one factor only. And secondly, supportive government policies. Indian government's policies are very supportive of international business, foray into global markets by Indian companies, and Indian Brands.

There are many enabling factors in government policies. Recently, the government of India has come out with a foreign trade policy for 2023 that is going to be there at least for 5 years, maybe more also. So these are enablers. And the Rising popularity of Indian culture itself across the globe. So the global popularity of Indian culture is also very unique. This was in the past. It is now that the International audience is attracted to Indian culture, which is so diverse and so different from what is there in many other countries. So these brands have strategically utilized some of these advantages.

I have not been able to list down all, but some of these advantages that I just mentioned to create unique products and unique services that resonate with the global customer base. This is a fact that is observed in recent times by the best of the research companies and consulting companies, and those companies that do global ranking of countries have observed.

These are some of the common factors popular Factor apart from many others. So that's the idea of this course, we are trying to understand these factors and whether we can learn anything concerning practical export marketing skills concerning creating business for Indian firms, Indian Brands getting into International markets. That thing is what has to be done, what the secrets are that we'll try to understand in this course

Talking about India's rich cultural heritage, which happens to be an interesting advantage because of the newfound attraction of international audiences to Indian culture, the rich cultural heritage of India.

So this one notable aspect of the Indian brand's success, I just told you, lies in this utilization of India's rich cultural heritage.

They are trying to exploit this rich cultural heritage to their advantage and to newfound attraction towards this rich cultural heritage of international audiences.

So many companies, what they are doing, they have tapped into traditional Indian textiles, Indian type of fabrics, Indian styles of different types of handicrafts in different regions of India, and very importantly, Indian Ayurveda and its principles for medicine to infuse some very unique and authentic products.

They have created some unique and authentic Indian products that are attracting international customers.

This is one very clear thing, and this is happening.

So basically, what is this?

This is we can say in modern languages, and modern management jargon, we can say that this is a differentiation strategy, that is helping these brands, Indian brands, to stand out in a highly competitive international market, in fact, a hyper-competitive international market, attracts international customers seeking a blend of Indian tradition and quality, quality because of Indian rich cultural heritage and these products are authentic products.

These products are unique, so obviously, they are the result of the dexterity of Indian artisans from generation to generation.

Then, to give you some examples of what I'm trying to tell you, prominent Indian companies like Tatas, Mahendras, or Infosys are Big brands from India. They have emerged as Global players in various Industries, not in one industry, with the same formula; they have used a different, diversified product range and diversified business activities, which they are competing head-to-head with renowned International Brands. So what they are doing is their emphasis on quality, Innovation, and value.

I told you, uh, where this quality comes from and innovation from the rich cultural heritage they have innovated into very attractive products and value propositions. So their emphasis on these three things, quality, Innovation, and value, has played a pivotal role in establishing a strong global presence and earning overseas customers' trust from across the world. Customers can trust these brands, and these brands are very well known. I'll uh show you how many countries these brands are in.

There, I'll just talk about it. So these are the facts, these are the examples that can be easily verified. So these forms this case Study, I'm just talking about uh uh not in a very theoretical way I'm just talking about these are facts we'll try to understand why these facts are there why it is happening what are the factors behind this kind of uh growth of Indian brands in overseas markets we are trying to understand that in this particular case study and when we try to understand the reasons about it and we raise certain questions we'll understand that what we want to learn from this course on uh uh successful and practical export marketing skills and uh generating International Trade leads.

These things we are trying to understand what we should learn about, and are there any concrete answers to these facts that we are talking about as the concrete reasons that step by step we do this thing, and we reach this kind of growth. We'll try to see if we'll take a call on this later in this course. So just let us discuss, uh, these examples, let's discuss these facts, let's discuss the things that are happening with Indian Brands, and a very large country, which India is, and they can produce so many Brands.

I will not be able to give you the list of all the brands that are doing this, but I'm just sharing in this particular case study, certain selected Brands. This is happening with many, many other companies. So some of these examples I'll elaborate upon, and I'll take more examples in this particular Case study. Let's go further

So another thing to discuss about as one of the major factors that is supporting this growth of Indian brands in the international market is the approach towards sustainability and environmentally friendly practices. So, very importantly, Indian firms are prioritizing sustainability and environmentally friendly practices in their manufacturing, especially in manufacturing processes. In many other practices, management practices are also. In many things that they are doing, they are trying to bring it, and that's the need of the present times. So, a large country like India and its companies, which are very well established and have a long history of success in the domestic market, understand this and are ready to embrace these sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. So they are not shying away from their responsibility. It is not just the responsibility; the result is very good for Indian companies, especially in global markets.

So this Eco-conscious approach of these companies has resonated with environmentally conscious overseas customers worldwide, contributing to this success which we are talking about. And attracting a growing segment of socially responsible buyers. In international markets, the market is so large that a critical group of socially responsible buyers is enough to bring success to these brands. So this is an economic and strategic point that I wanted to share with you.

So this eco-conscious approach is not only the question of responsibility and value proposition or morality question or uh uh value system of Indian companies, but it is also a business-friendly approach. An economically business-friendly approach to target socially responsible buyers who are probably widespread across the world. In most countries, you have a very critical mass of such customers. That's very important to understand. This is reflected in global rankings, and whatever I'm saying is very much reflected in the global rankings of these Indian Brands. The acknowledgment of Indian Brands' impact on the global stage is evident through their recognition in prestigious Global rankings.

This is there for everybody to check. Companies like TCS - Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Infosys, or LIC - Life Insurance Corporation of India have secured positions among the top 100 global Brands, standing alongside industry stalwarts and giant Brands like Apple, Google, Amazon, and even Microsoft. So this is already there. So we are trying to see these developments, and we are trying to understand the implications of these developments from these facts.

Another thing that I just talked about and want you to focus on is the versatility and Innovations infused by these brands in everything that they do. So Indian brands that have garnered international acclaim are seen encompassing diverse sectors, showcasing India's versatility and Innovation on a global scale. So this Factor also stands out in companies like the Tata Group with its diverse product lines, Mahindra and Mahindra, Infosys, Amul, and Titan; they have all established themselves as Global icons representing India's capabilities across multiple diverse Industries. Whether it is manufacturing, whether it is trading, or whether it is services that they provide for diverse products and services, their capabilities are a testament to these Brands becoming Global icons and showcasing India's capabilities in diverse Industries with their versatility and Innovation.

And these brands that I just discussed are going places overseas markets. For example, the Tata group, with its presence in over 100 countries and diverse offerings ranging from steel and stainless steel to automobiles and services like IT Services, consultancy Services, remains a stalwart in global markets. This particular brand is very well-known internationally. Similarly, Mahindra and Mahindra, known for its rugged sports utility vehicles and tractors, has already successfully penetrated more than 100 countries.

Talking about another brand, Infosys, an Indian IT giant operating in over 50 countries, has made significant contributions globally in this particular area. Another brand, Amul, renowned for its dairy products, boasts a presence in more than 60 countries, including its manufacturing plants in sophisticated countries like the US, emphasizing its quality and affordability. And on the strength of these two things, quality and affordability, they can sell their products in such sophisticated Western markets.

We can talk about all these factors that we have discussed and many others. Brands like Himalaya Herbal that has infused ayurvedic principles of Indian medicine and come out with versatile and Innovative products Titan watches, Godrej very highly Diversified Group then Bajaj Auto in the two wheelers industry as well as in uh three-wheelers and other Innovative vehicles, and Brands like Old Monk, Zomato and Royal Enfield and many many others that cannot be covered in this case study they all have made impactful strides in their respective domains solidifying India's presence across the globe.

So this is what we are trying to drive upon in this particular case study. We are trying to understand these developments, and we will try to understand the reasons and the factors behind these recent successes.

Another thing we can easily observe and see is a commitment to Excellence when we talk of these Brands. The success story of Indian brands in international markets not only reflects India's economic growth and entrepreneurial spirit. That is, there are many other countries, but it also signifies India's commitment to Excellence, because without this Excellence, the recognition that they have got in the international market is not possible. As Indian Brands continue to break barriers, innovate, and expand into International markets and new markets, they are setting higher benchmarks for industry standards globally.

Because of this commitment to Excellence only. So these are some facts that we are trying to talk about regarding several Indian Brands. Many of those I might not have been able to cover in this particular study, but these are some selective sets of Brands I'm talking about. But it is true for many other brands. Having said what I just shared with you in this particular small case study, I can easily conclude that the growing prominence of Indian Brands and international markets stands as a testament to India's multifaceted strengths, cultural richness, and the Innovative Spirit of its companies and its Brands.

These brands are not just competing, they are thriving and reshaping Global markets, affirming India's position as a key player in the global business landscape. So this is the fact that can be observed, and it is going to go up and up in the coming time. That is the main idea of this case study, where I'm trying to talk about and understand the reasons and factors behind these successes.

A very important thing that comes in this case study is the questions that come to our mind about the areas where we have certain questions in our mind, and we will try to answer these questions through the learning of this course. That's my main idea. So, for example, if we divide these questions according to their subject matter, if we talk of the market penetration strategies of these brands in International markets, how do they penetrate the Indian markets? What have been their strategies?

We'll try to learn and understand these strategies, Market penetration strategies. So how can, for example, leveraging a country's cultural heritage, we are talking of unique strengths that I discussed how it can aid in international market penetration of products and services. Is it possible? So, can you provide more examples of successful strategies used by Indian brands of a similar type in this context? Can it be generalized that using so-called cultural heritage and unique strengths is possible to generalize that any company will exploit these advantages and be able to penetrate International markets?

We'll try to find this answer. How strong is this case, observing these facts in this case study? Secondly, about digitalization, I talked about global reach. What is the relationship between this digitalization of international business, or all kinds of businesses, or spreading the name of the brand, and Global reach? What is this connection? So in what ways has the advent of digital technologies transformed the landscape of international marketing and the generation of overseas business? Can we generate international business and international trade leads using these digital tools? Is it possible?

My question is, how can social media e-commerce and digital platforms be effectively utilized if it is true to expand Global Outreach? Is it possible to do International marketing and Export marketing using these tools? For export-driven companies and brands that focus on International markets, is it useful is it worth doing? We'll try to talk about it, and we should have this question in mind. And then the third thing that comes to our mind concerning what we talked about is the sustainability question. And the relationship of this sustainability to generating a Competitive Edge that I just talked about, these Indian brands have used sustainability questions to generate a Competitive Edge internationally. So, can we discuss the significance of adopting the environmentally friendly practices we talked about, especially in manufacturing processes for companies looking to export their products? Is it worth doing it? So, how does sustainability contribute to gaining a competitive advantage in international markets? This question comes to our mind. So, can we answer this question from the learnings in this course? That's the very important thing. So when we talk of practical expert marketing skills, these things come to mind. More questions come to our minds. Let's discuss those questions.

They all come from this case study that I just shared with you. So we talked about these success stories and Global recognition, Global rankings. So, are we able to analyze the role of reputed Indian companies and Brands like Tata, Mahindra, Infosys, and others in establishing a strong Global presence? We talked about their success stories. What strategies have these companies employed apart from what I discussed to become household names globally? And gaining such a position in the global ranking? Were these success stories the result of a few factors that I have discussed, or are there many other factors? That question comes to our mind. So what are these other strategies? And diversification and brand presence.

So Friends, welcome back to episode number two of this VJ Exports Mastery Course titled - Learn the Practical Exports Marketing Skills. So, Friends, today in this episode, I will start with a very interesting story. In this episode, I will share this story, which is a real story, and this story is very close to my heart, although it's a very, very old story. But I'm sharing this story because it will serve as a very good foundation for you to understand how export marketing works, which is very, very important. And this story is also related to the very first year of my experience with exporting. And it was way back in 1989, which is very old.

But Friends, this story is still very important, very pertinent, and very useful even today, so I'm sure that you will find this story very interesting. Some of the names in the story I will not reveal, but you will get the gist of the story, which is very, very important. So, Friends way back in 1989, when I was in my first year of my career in exports after I completed my MBA in exports and imports from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in New Delhi, I got a chance to visit Europe with my immediate boss. So he was a person with whom I went for the first time in my life out of India, and the main agenda was to visit Budapest, although we went to some other countries. But the main agenda was to spend at least three weeks in Budapest to attend and display certain samples and goods in an international trade fair and Consumer Products Fair, which is very famous in Budapest, and is held every year in September or around that. And it is called the BNV Fair. So Friends, for me, it was a new experience and I went to certain countries and then we reached Budapest and we had a quite large stall at the international trade fair in the Indian Pavilion, which was organized by the Indian Trade Promotion Organization, ITPO, because in most of these international trade fairs, India's pavilion is managed by International Trade Promotion Organization, which buys the space in the trade fair at highly concessional rates. The stalls, which are given to Indian exporters by Indian trade promotion organizations, are heavily discounted. And if you are a new exporter, in any case, you get market development assistance.

If you are a member of the respective Export Promotion Council, then the government of India provides you with almost half of all the expenses, including stall expenses, travel expenses, and hotel expenses. So all the marketing expenses, which you do almost 50 percent, are paid by the government of India to promote exports from India. Of course, our company had a quite spacious stall where we had many types of consumer goods and items because our company, which I represented there at the BNV Fair, was a consumer goods trading company. I was in the consumer goods division of the company, and there, just next to my stall, there was a very, very small stall of another Indian person named Mr. Dhillon. He was just next to us, and this person was new to exporting. So he did not have much knowledge about exports and imports, but he just came because he wanted to try his luck in the export business. And we became quite friendly because we had to spend almost three weeks at this international trade fair. So we were on very good talking terms. And this, his stall was almost empty. He had some samples of some grey fabric, cotton fabric, and a few things he had brought just to taste the waters. He just wanted to check whether he can do some exports. He was just exploring. And since he did not have much knowledge about exports, he could not bring many items, and his stall was also very small. So he had not spent much money on the whole thing. So when we had been talking, he came to know more about exporting and export marketing, and he was quite friendly to me. I shared with him some skills of exporting at that time because I was a graduate of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in this area.

So I had certain knowledge about the process of exporting, although I was also quite fresh in this area so I could not share much experienced knowledge, but some knowledge could help him. So what happened that I helped him in explaining how pricing is done, how export prices are reached, and what the different types of costs, you have to add before you quote the price to the international customer? So he was receiving certain customers in the trade fair and he was talking to them in some mixed-up English language. But he was not very fluent in English and was not very educated either. But he was a smart young fellow. And with my help, he could do some product costing of the fabric swatches, which he had brought samples, and he could get the interest of some of the international buyers and local buyers from Hungary, and Budapest also. So when this trade fair was about to end, and we had been packing up and all these things. So I talked to this person, Mr. Dhillon, about how it has been, and he was quite upbeat that, OK, he got some good buyers and all, and he wanted to stay back for some more time to explore the market.

My boss and I had planned to go back to India after the trade fair and did not spend much time, maybe one or two days, just to follow up with some of the inquiries that we had received at the Trade Fair and what we had planned, so that we can catch up with these inquiries later on from India. I also knew I was not very conversant with the overall process, whatever my boss told me. So we agreed that, OK, we'll spend one or two more days after the trade fair, and we will go back to India after that. So we came back, we did some follow-up work, we could do certain orders and business with some of the good companies in Europe and Hungary, where my, mainly my boss, was involved, and my role was not that much because I was new. So about two months after that incident, when we came back to India, and two months after that, I received a call from Mr. Dhillon. He had a house in Delhi, New Delhi, and he invited me to his house. So I went to his house and he told me that he spent almost more than one month after the International Trade Fair, and he could make some very good contacts in Budapest and neighboring countries. And he also said that he has got some very good orders for cotton grey fabrics and different things. And he was focusing more on those items. And he was quite happy that I helped him with the pricing of the samples and how to talk to the international buyers. So he was quite happy, and he acknowledged my contribution to his initial success, and that is how I came to know that he spent almost one month after the trade fair, and he made some really good contacts over there. So that was a knowledge for me, that this is another way of dealing with the international buyers, that you go to the International Trade Fair and you get some inquiries, you follow up with them right there, and spend more time in that country or neighboring country, and go deeper, like what Mr. Dhillon had done.

That was something very interesting, which he improvised. That was not my suggestion, but it was a learning for me from Mr. Dhillon that this can be done like this, and with his very limited resources, he went to this trade fair and somehow he managed to be there. I don't know how he managed there, but he managed there. And later on, I came to know that he established himself in Budapest itself, and he had his own office. He had his permanent house later on. And he became very active both in India and in Budapest, he was. Later on, I came to know that he expanded his business very handsomely. After a certain years, I happened to visit Budapest, I came to know about him, and I came to know that he was doing quite well.

So this particular experience of myself, so long back, 1989. Still, it is very much suitable. The learnings are still alive and suitable, even in the present times, when in export marketing, you have to be near the buyer, possibly wherever possible. Although in the present time you have digital modes, you need not be physically present many times, but especially when you are starting new, you are a new exporter. Probably your physical presence, in the local market and internationally, may be very important. That is one learning that I got from this story, and this is a real experience that I came to know. Another thing that I understood, and it was a learning for me in my initial years, is that it is not just the physical presence, it is also the focus on certain products and certain few buyers and a very narrow area. For example, in this case, Mr. Dhillon focused especially on Budapest and neighboring areas, and a few customers who visited him at the trade fair, and he followed up with them. He must have met these people several times, and he would have slogged a lot with them to get his first order. But he persisted, without major knowledge about exports, not even he was not even aware of how to calculate the cost of the fabric. But he was a good learner.

He learned things very fast, whatever English speaking, he had communication skills, and whatever he had, he managed that. And a smart person with good acumen, business acumen, this person became very, very successful. And as I know, he is very active in Europe, and he is doing great business in these countries. And he's a very well-established international trader in Europe. And of course, he has very strong ties with India. So, Friends, I started this course with this story, a real story, because this story is also linked to my own story with exporting and importing my export career. At the start of my export career, I encountered this case study, this story, which is very inspiring, which is, which gave me a lot of insights into the process of export business.

And if you understand the story and go deeper, it has got some really interesting facts that a person without very strong training in exports with very limited resources and with the help of the Indian government, and Indian trade promotion organization, got a very small stall in a very simple and less costly international trade fair in a European country, at the right place, at the right time, and I don't know how he got to know about this trade fair and how he identified that he can go there with very limited resources and try his luck. And he tried his luck. He succeeded with very few items. He could make it big. So there are so many elements to this story, so many learning from different perspectives. And there is a lot to learn from this story.

That is the reason I started this course with this story for you. So in this course, in the episodes later on, whatever I'll be sharing with you, you will be able to relate the story directly or indirectly with the experiences, examples, case studies, and concepts, which I'm going to discuss in the coming episodes. So, Friends, I am quite confident that this second episode will be very, very useful to you in understanding the contents of the coming episodes, which I'm going to share with you. So with this belief, I request you to start episode number three at your convenience. Thank you very much.

Hello friends, welcome back to the course. So in this section, my objective is to apprise you of how the export marketing process can be done in a very practical way. No theory. It is just a demonstration of how this process has to be carried out. So to do this I'm going to take up a kind of case study based on my own experiences working with an Indian company and in an Indian environment what I'm going to demonstrate to you and what I am going to share with you that information can be implemented in other countries if you belong to any other country you will find similar online resources you will find similar types of portals and the sources of information that will be local local in the sense that it will be of the local type of that particular country but they're going to help you in carrying out similar export marketing process in your own country.

While it is an India-based case study, this is the only way for me to share with you how to carry it out based on real events that are very important, so no bookish knowledge. Pure practical demonstration of the things that have been done in a particular case in a particular product line in a particular situation.

That situation is very revealing and very demonstrative. So that's my idea. So let's go into this section and uh let me share with you this complete case study uh that uh will surely help you understand how this export marketing process has to be done for whatever product you deal with, whatever country you belong to, and whichever internal markets you are targeting.

Desk research is the most important starting stage of the export marketing process. Desk research can save a lot of time, effort, and money in the later stages of export marketing.

In the last three episodes, I give you an introduction to export marketing the different types of skills, and how this course is organized I also shared with you one very interesting story which uh is a story which explains to you that on the ground when we talk of export marketing what are the realities what are the facts and the extent of the role of theoretical knowledge or the bookish knowledge which has a very limited scope in the Practical world but these theoretical knowledge Concepts do have some advantages to take certain decisions when you go for export marketing so nobody can deny that. But at the same time, the more important part of international business and Export marketing is the practical skills, practical case studies, and practice, which you do, which keep on changing from time to time. So you had an era where the practices were different now you have a different era when practices are different so in today's episode I'm going to discuss with you one very good example of how you start doing export Marketing in a very practical way and I will take the example of uh a particular situation which I faced long back in the early '90s and how I managed starting of the export marketing of those products and how would I do now. So that era is what I did, and this era is what I would do in a similar situation if I had to start export marketing certain identified products, what I would do now. So why I'm doing why I'm taking the example of the '90s to be implemented now is because the practices that I adopted in the early '90s to some extent are still relevant So we cannot ignore those practices of export marketing in that era even in today's era So that's why I want you to learn what I did in early '90s and what I would have done if I had faced the export marketing problem of the type which I faced in ' 90s what I would have done now how would I have tackled that situation.

So this will serve as a very good example for you, and you will understand how to start export marketing. So I will just share with you this situation, which I faced in the early '90s. I joined a Swiss company, which was the competitor of uh Xerox company, which you already know, and Xerox was manufacturing toners and Developers for the photocopy machines and other office equipment, black toner. This company was among the very few other companies that had the technology to manufacture black toners, and even today it is one of the uh biggest companies in the world. This Swiss company manufactures black toners for photocopier machines and Laser printers. So this company had set up a plant in India for manufacturing toners and developers with an Indian partner, and uh, I was inducted as the key person heading the export department, and my job was to do export marketing of the black toners and developers at that time for photocopy machines. Selected models. So they were not very uh large range, but there was a fairly good range of compatible black owners and Developers for certain photocopy machines like Canon, Ricoh, and other brands. So my job was to set up the exports division, which would be able to export these products to different countries in the world, and that was my job to start with desk research to start, to find out the markets, find out the potential buyers internationally, and start exporting.

So what I had expected from this role is that for 3 to 4 months, I will be doing some desk research, I will contact some International companies that deal with toners, I will start the dialogue with them after finding out which are the countries which uh can actually be potential for uh importing the toners and developers manufactured by this Swiss company in India. So what I had expected was that I would be doing this for 3 to 4 months, and then I would be moving to these countries and talking to these people in person by visiting these countries, and uh I will be able to forge ties with them and probably set up a regular distribution of these products manufactured in India and sold to these importers regularly. So that was my idea. That is how I envisioned this role. So as I had envisioned, I tried to find out all about my product. I talked to the technical people. I visited the factory of the uh organization, which had my office, marketing office, and export marketing office in Delhi, and the factory was located in one location in Uttar Pradesh.

So I went there I talked to the head of the manufacturing Division I talked to the uh main technical people about how it is manufactured what is the function of black toner and how it works in a photocopy machine and laser printer so I tried to understand everything all kind of properties of the product specifications and uh what is the meaning of compatibility that this toner is compatible with a particular model or Canon or some other product so I for almost about 1 month I spent in understanding the product and understanding the specification and understanding the compatibility and the role of the product in the photocopiers or laser printer or whatever uses they had. The quality issues and uh, what could be the problems which consumers can face in terms of performance of the product. So everything I wrote down in my diary, I made very good notes about everything, so for one month, I was just trying to understand the product. At the same time, I also started to visit International Market Information or market intelligence sources in Delhi and around Delhi. In the early '90s, we did not have a very robust online database International database that could tell me which countries to Target and uh which countries where my product would be more sellable, what the right strategies were to enter into a specific market.

So that data had to be collected in those times through physical sources, which were available, and the physical sources were like we had in Delhi, for example, Market information data available at the Indian trade promotion organizations' trade library at Pragati Bhawan in Delhi, so it contained a lot of market reports on different products. So I had to find out my product if there was any report or any information available in the ITPO library or in the Indian Institute of Foreign Library, which had product reports and market reports of specific products. Then CII also had some Market delegation reports, then FICCI at that time had a complete top floor in their main office near Bengali Market in Delhi, which was devoted to Market intelligence data.

So I subscribed to their newsletter, and I also subscribed to their Market Intelligence Unit. I went there and tried to find the data, all those things, to find out which are the countries, which are the markets, and how this business is done internationally. So all the information I collected from these kinds of sources, ITPO sources, IIFT sources, CII sources, FICCI sources, even FIEO had some data of that type, and very importantly, at that time we had certain private Services that were giving the Customs data.

So if we get that data from Customs using the ITC code we could find out from that data how much quantity in what form is being exported to a particular country but since India was not manufacturing this product in a very big way that data did not help me much because we had the Indian custom data and since the goods were not being exported from India so obviously this data did not contain too much information about this particular black toner and developer which was being manufactured again in Uttar Pradesh by Xerox. Xerox had a factory for the same product. So Xerox was doing some export, but it was uh of a different type because it was the Xerox brand, so they had been supplying to their own uh consumption in different countries, so that did not help me much.

So I had to collect the data on the other countries' exports to different markets and what is happening So that were the two things which I did the first was to understand the product and the second was to understand how the goods of that type were being traded internationally what is the import Source what are the export source and whether there was some special hubs of uh trading that product like for example I give you an example in India we have the manufacturing of small diamonds which uh is very much concentrated in Gujarat and Maharashtra but the trading centers are not based in India the trading centers for small as well as the larger Diamond are based in Europe not in India. Similarly to the black toners and developers, I came to know that the biggest trading Hub at that time, at least I'm not very sure what the position is now, but at that time it was Singapore. So Singapore was the hub for the office automation equipment supplies and consumables, it was the world's largest Hub where the sales, purchases trading were happening, and the second place where trading was happening was Dubai and Sharjah.

This was the first information that I understood from all these efforts of going to ITPO or IIFT library or FICCI Library FICCI intelligence unit or FIEO unit and Customs data all this information which was collected through physical means at that time gave me an outline of the flow of black toners and developers in the world and all flow was moving through biggest TRADING hubs of these items in Singapore and Dubai So that was very good information for me. At the same time, I also came to know that the type of models for which we had been manufacturing the toners and developers or the models for which we had the Knowhow in the manufacturing unit in India to manufacture compatible black toners and developers were in countries like Jordan Kuwait Russia Bangladesh and of course, there were uh big traders in Dubai and Singapore which uh these Traders had their clientele all over the world and they knew where to sell and how to sell either in bulk form or in retail packing so that that was a very good data and information which I could collect from all these efforts and all this desk work or and communicating with the foreign parties about their interest in our products all these things took almost 3 to 4 months which were enough for me to collect all the product information Market information buyers information trading Hub information so with all these information I made a plan to visit these different countries.

Uh collected all the information on our products and collected all prices did pricing export pricing of the toners and developers either in bulk form which was the drum form like 20 to 30 kg Drums of the black toner powder and developer powder or in the retail packing the small purchase packing so both the packings and different uh uh forms of products I made the complete list of uh pricing of different models and uh the uses. And the targeting to the bulk purchaser or the uh retailers. So I also found out the nature of the consumers, they could be the end users, they could be the wholesalers, they could be the importers, they could be the Traders, and there was another category of buyers that we even today call OEM. OEM is an original equipment manufacturer. Now what is this OEM? OEM means, in my case, of this example of black toners for photocopiers or Laser Printers, these are the companies that manufacture the equipment, like for example Ricoh or Minolta.

At that time, there was another company called Minolta, which was manufacturing photocopy machines like Ricoh or Canon. So there was a possibility that in the bulk packing that is 20 kg or 30 kg Drums of the black toner, we could supply to these manufacturers of the photocopy machine who could brand our product in retail packing of their put the powder in their packing or the cartridges or in the refill pack, whatever form and put their brand and sell the product. So they are called the OEM manufacturers.

So all this information is not rocket science, and you don't need very big training for this.

This was in the early '90s when I had done all these things, and uh, complete with all data, I could visit the International visit plan. I went to Singapore, I went to Dubai, I went to Sharjah, I went to Abu Dhabi, and I went to Kuwait. I went to Jordan because I why planned to visit these countries because was in the desk When I was contacting these parties, so many of these parties from these countries had only responded to me, and they had shown their interest in buying the products. So I made a list of all the possible Traders and importers in these countries, which I just mentioned to you, and I visited all these countries and talked to them, and tried to get first-hand information from the horse's mouth.

By talking to these importers and Traders, I wanted to understand if they are willing to give the kind of price that we are expecting they are willing to take the quantities regularly that we were trying to sell? And if they had any apprehension or if they had any reservations about the prices, the possible quality issues of the product, or the post-sale services, and very importantly, the time of delivery.

How long after they place the orders for our toner, either in drum form or in the refill packs, or in the retail packaging to reach them? That is the supply chain Logistics time from UP Factory to Mumbai Port, from Mumbai Port to the destination Port, how long does it take, and how long does it take for our Factory to process the export order? So these timings also I had already worked upon, and I discussed all these things with the uh potential Partners clients, and uh some of them were okay, some of them were not okay. So they gave their terms and conditions. So we had to write down I had to write down their requirements and their expectations from us in terms of price, in terms of packing, in terms of logistics, and time of delivery, and also payment terms. What are the payment terms?

Is it through a letter of credit? is it through some kind of advanced system, or is it through some credit lines? Usance lines? So those things also, as an exporter a marketer, you have to know and you also have to understand a little bit about the nature of contracts. What kind of contract can you reach between you as a seller and the Importer as a buyer?

In the next lecture, I will take you to the Indian Trade Portal as a case example and case study, and show you step by step the techniques to find out potential obvious overseas markets for my products and those places offering certain competitive advantages vis-à-vis my competitors.

In the last episode, I discussed different ways of starting the process of export marketing initial phase of export marketing is desk research. And I had told you that by giving one example of uh the real situation which I underwent in the early '90s, and I mentioned to you that not much has changed, but there are a few things that have changed. The starting point of the desk research has changed, and I promised you in the last episode that I would take you to the India trade portal, where I would start my desk research on examples of toners and Developers for photocopiers and Laser Printers. If I had to start export marketing from scratch in 2020, that is the current year, I would start with the Indian trade portal. I will take you to the Indian trade portal. I will make you aware of different uh facilities which are available on the Indian trade portal to start with.

And then I will show you how I will use the Indian trade portal to find out possible countries of focus for doing international trade in uh this example of toners and Developers for photocopiers and Laser Printers, as well as the other types of information, which will be very, very useful at this stage of the desk research for export marketing. So without much ado, let us go to the Indian trade portal.

As you can see here, this is the Indian trade portal website where you can see Blue Banner, which is a new service started by the government of India through the Federation of Indian Exporters' Organization FIEO which allows you to start your product export online store. So, before I set up my online export store using this very good service of the government of India through FIEO, I will first do the market research and the desk research. And once I have this complete research with me and when I have done the second phase of the initial research which is to meet the international buyers and get to know the difficulties of the buyers and the requirements of the buyers I will come back to the FIEO service wherein I can create an online store online export store for Toners and Developers for photocopiers and Laser Printers to get the direct orders from the buyers.

Because this is a very, very important uh development that has taken place in this desk research, is that now the digital channels have become very important. We are trying to find out the information from the Indian trade portal here, uh, uh, for uh destination countries and other information similar services, which is given by this trade portal, in terms of setting up your exports online store is equally useful. So we'll take up that thing later. So as you can see here uh this portal is very comprehensive, and uh I will show you what facilities are available on this portal. So first, I will show you that this website has data for 87 countries, as you can see here, and it provides basic customs duties, most favored nation tariff, preferential tariff, rules of origin, and SPS measures that are sanitary and phytosanitary, because they are kinds of non-tariff barriers. SPS is the non-tariff barrier imposed by many countries.

So it is very, very important to understand what the different types of barriers which can be tariff barriers and non-tariff Barriers. Tariff barriers are mostly in the form of import duties. Non-tariff barriers are in the form of non-monetary barriers like SPS barriers. And then there are technical trade barriers, as you can see here, and they are also a form of non-tariff barriers. So this website gives you country-wise information on all these matters, as you can see here. In addition to that you can search for your ITC HS code for the product which will do and we can find out the tariff, preferential tariff, and as I already told you SPS-TBT matters, about the GST rates which are applicable although GST whatever is the rate is refundable for exports and the government incentives in the form of MEIS, drawback interest subvention rates and the export-import policy conditions. There is so much information available on this uh Indian trade portal, which is extremely useful for my desk research for toners and Developers for photocopiers and Laser Printers.

There is another area here that is of a lot of interest, and that is the trade statistics, as you can see here. So trade statistics refer to the different export as well as the import data of 87 countries, which are claimed on this website they have this data. So from trade statistics we can find out how much exports and imports are happening for my product, which is the toners and Developers for photocopiers and laser printers. So I'll be using this link to find out trade Statistics of the target countries that I decide. So before that, I have to find out which are the countries of interest for black toners and uh Developers for photocopiers and Laser printers.

I will first try to find out which countries are suitable where my company has an artificial Advantage vis-à-vis the exporters from other countries. So those countries will be more suitable for me. So let us uh start the uh the research here on this. So here I will first use this part, which is to find out the Tariff structure in different countries, SPS TBT information, and other government policy information for my product, and to do that, I need to know the ITC HS code for my product.

Now, to start with, I have not done any research to find out what the ITC HS code is for Black toners for photocopiers and Laser Printers. uh So what I will do instead of the ITC HS code, I will write down the description of my product, which is black toners for photocopiers. So I will just write it down, and I will try to find out. okay. So here is what I see: there is a description given here that says compatible black toner for Laser Printers and photocopiers. So it is there. And my HS code starting HS code is 370790. I'm saying the HS code is a starting HS code because it is 6 digits.

In the international market, the HS code can be quite deep in classifying a particular item in HS code it can go quite deep so when I say six digits it is not deep enough if it is 8 digits if it is 10 digits it can be even 12 digits in some countries so while six digits code will be standard all over the world, the 8 digit 10 digit 12 digits further deeper classification may differ from country to country. So I also have to find out in my target countries how the deeper HS code number changes for my product, and I have to keep track of the deeper code numbers. So that's very, very important in the uh International Products Research, it is very, very important you start with a digit HS code number. Go for eight. Go for 10, and when you are reaching 10 depth from country to Country, uh, the last few digits will change in uh different countries. So that is very, very important to understand. But a superficial six-digit HS code would be almost the same in all the countries.

I can take my start from this six-digit HS code number. So that has to be understood very well. Now I have my HS code here, so what I will do with I will start here. I will click on export because my area is export. Interested if it had been Imports that I'm looking for the black toner to import in India and sell in India, then I would have pressed the import button, but since I want to export so I will press here export button. So when I press the export button, I see that I see further depth in the HS code. So here you can see that the chapter for my product is 37. The category is 4 digit 3707. Item category, subcategory is six digits, which is 370790, and then I do have the 8-digit HS code number, which is recognized by Indian Customs, which classifies subcategories into two different product categories, sub-subcategories.

I have to be very, very sure that among these 8-digit HS codes recognized by Indian customs, which one is suitable for black toners for photocopiers and Laser Printers. So we have to read this, uh, particular subcategory in the first category, which says chemical preparations for photographic use other than varnishes, glues, adhesives, and similar preparations. It says it is an unmixed product for photographic use, put up in measured proportion, or put up for retail sale in a form ready for use. So my toner in the user's hand is unmixed. Users need not mix the toner because it already comes in the cartridge, so it lies in this category.

And uh uh it is for photographic use because in the laser printer and the photocopy machine, toner makes a photographic image, and the plastic properties of the toner with the pressure drum and the heating drum, the image is fixed on the paper. So it is definitely for photographic use, and it is with the example of Developers and fixers. So, as per the description, out of the two possible categories in the 8-digit format of the HS code, this seems to be the best candidate for my toners. Nevertheless, we will look at the other categories also, which say chemical preparations for photographic use, other than varnish glue, adhesives, and similar preparations of unmixed products for photographic use put up in major portions or put up for retail sale in the form of ready-to-use.

In case any wording in my toner for photocopy and laser printer would not have fallen in this category, then I would have put this in the other category, so I need not go for this other category because all the wordings of the first 8-digit HS code match with my line, so I need not choose the other. So it is very, very clear that my HS code 8-digit is this, which I can note down in a diary, also it is better. So you will have an idea at least of the Indian Customs. My HS code is this. You will find that this HS code of 8 digits will coincide with similar numbers almost same number in many of the countries you will find that 8 digit HS code will match in many countries.

We should try to First keep track of this number 8 digit number in those countries unless it is 10 digit or 12-digit number in which case we'll have to be more careful and we have to find out the right category in those countries so this will come later on in my research that how to select the Sub sub-subcategories in the 10-digit and 12 digit format of the HS code. So I will show you how to do that. Now, here as you can see here uh out of these two-digit categories, the first one suits me. So I will click here, and I will press next here.

When I press “Next” here, I get the option to try my luck to find out the suitability of countries among the 87 different countries for which this portal has data. For all practical purposes, these 87 countries are the ones with which India frequently has regular dealings for exports as well as imports.

Beyond these 87 countries, I do not see that any kind of research would be required, maybe in the later stages.

If there is one country outside these 87 countries, and I get some information from the international market that there is some potential, that may be a different case, but it is a very, very rare situation.

These 87 countries' data will suffice. On this page, the portal first gives me a list of the top 25 countries based on my selection of the product, which is the HS code — a 6-digit HS code.

I can find out that these are the top 25 countries that are importers of that category. The category I have chosen includes the 25 countries that are the big importers of that category.

Now, within that category, they may be importing toner or they may not be. There may be other kinds of products or chemicals being imported by them. Hence, I cannot confidently say that these are the top 25 importers of toners and developers; they are the top importers of the category represented by this HS code.

It is a category, not a product.

This category includes many products that can be grouped under it.

These 25 countries out of the 87 are the top importers of items that fall into that category.

I think it is reasonably good information that these countries have been importing this category.

At least from the import and tariff points of view, since they are the top importers, Indian exporters are finding them quite comfortable to deal with, which means the possibility of exports looks quite promising.

For my initial research, I can focus on these countries and not go to others, such as those in the SAARC region, ASEAN region, European Union, GCC countries, Mercosur countries, EAC countries, or other countries not listed in these trade groupings, including poorer nations like Ethiopia, Mozambique, and Senegal.

My idea at the initial stage is not to target regions.

My present interest is to find out a few countries where I can start my focus.

It is very clear to me that I first have to try my luck with these 25 countries and find out which one is more suitable for me. Another thing I want to point out here — and this mistake should not be made — is that even though these are the 25 countries importing this particular product category, this list of 25 countries is not in order of import value. The list is given alphabetically.

You can see here Bangladesh, Belgium, and Brazil — all in alphabetical order.

We are not able to see which of these 25 countries is the biggest importer of this category.

This information is not available here.

We cannot find out the sequence of countries based on import value. Rather, this list simply gives the top 25 importers of my category.

At any given point, I can choose to compare countries.

Why compare? Because I want to compare country-wise to see whether we have any advantage in dealing with a particular country.

Do I have any landed price discount available for export from India, so that I have an artificial advantage over my competitors if I have a bilateral agreement with these countries?

For my general knowledge and initial research on toners and developers for photocopiers and laser printers, I will choose five countries to compare, and later on, I can change this set.

Among these 25 countries, I can have different combinations of five countries to compare which one is better for us.

For example, I started with Bangladesh.

I chose Bangladesh, and I see here that Bangladesh, which is our neighbor, has five agreements, some of which seem to be bilateral.

If there is an advantage because of a bilateral agreement, Bangladesh would definitely find importing from India more attractive than from any other country, including Singapore, unless Bangladesh also has a bilateral agreement with Singapore.

This is the list of the agreements.

The greater the number of agreements, the better the prospect of getting a favorable deal.

We’ll come back to that later.

I chose Bangladesh, Brazil, and Singapore because Singapore is a trading hub.

I also chose Thailand and Turkey.

Now, I can see here that with Turkey, we have only two agreements, so the chances of any special advantage with Turkey seem very remote.

In any case, I will include Turkey for comparison purposes. With Thailand, we do have certain agreements, but they all seem to be multilateral. With Singapore, we have several agreements, and some seem to be bilateral.

Let us look at this set of five countries, because I cannot choose more than five countries for comparison at a given point.

In this particular trial, I will use these five countries and press “Next.”

The moment I press “Next,” I see these five countries in a table.

What I see here is very interesting.

The possibility of our product under this six-digit HS code varies from country to country because every country has a combination of 8-digit, 10-digit, or even 12-digit HS code numbers, under which our product may be further identified.

If you remember, I mentioned that we have to go deeper and deeper to find our item.

In these countries, this table shows that in the case of Bangladesh, there is no problem because they have not gone deeper into the HS code. So our toner will lie in this code only.

In the case of Brazil, there are five possibilities for finding our product. When I hover my mouse over these HS codes, a description of the products appears — in Portuguese. I will need to translate it to find out which of these five categories includes our product.

So, for Bangladesh, there is no problem.

In the case of Brazil, I will press the first option and take the help of translations for the descriptions of each of these 8-digit HS code categories to find where my toner lies.

In the case of Singapore, there are two possibilities, as in India. Both categories are the same as in Indian customs, which also lists two codes — “10” and “90.” We found earlier that our code lies in the first one.

Therefore, there is no issue here; the Singapore and Indian categories match.

In the case of Thailand, they are using a 10-digit code. Here too, the codes “10” and “90” appear, both with zero duty. So there is no dispute. Our HS code matches Thailand’s code as well.

In the case of Turkey, there are some differences in the HS codes. After “90,” instead of “1” and “9” as in India, Turkey uses “2” and “9.”

The last one is not our case because it matches the Indian HS code we had already rejected. So our product should lie in one of the first two categories.

When I hover over them, I see that both mention “developers and fixers.”

Upon closer look, the first code also uses the term “electrostatic toner cartridges,” which means it includes both developers and toners.

Therefore, our choice would be the first one.

In all cases, we see that the first option corresponds to our HS code of 10 or 12 digits in these countries.

We have chosen the correct HS code — the overseas HS code recognized by the customs of those countries.

Now we have been able to identify the HS code in those countries as well.

This is very important.

Once you know the HS code in these countries, you should note it down because if you happen to export your product there and need to find the exact import duty, this HS code should be in your records. The Indian HS code will not work. You have to use the HS code recognized by the customs of that particular country.

This is the time to copy or save it — you can take a screenshot, save it, or note down the details.

Now we already have this information too.

We’ll press “Next” and continue.

When I press “Next” here, I get complete data for the five countries, including details about the agreements and the import tariffs.

Here, we are talking about the tariff barriers.

We will see the non-tariff barriers later. For now, we are discussing the tariff barriers in each of these countries.

We have to look for those countries where we have artificial advantages for exporting from India.

In the case of Bangladesh, we have an artificial advantage because of the South Asian Free Trade Area tariff, which is zero percent. This means that if I export toners and developers from India to Bangladesh, the import tariff by Bangladesh Customs will be zero.

This is an artificial advantage for me.

This makes Bangladesh a good choice.

Now, let us go to the case of Brazil.

In the case of Brazil, we do not have any bilateral agreement.

We only have a multilateral agreement through the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the WTO advantage is available to all WTO member countries, which number around 180.

We will not have any artificial advantage because of this. Under the WTO framework, the MFN (Most Favored Nation) tariff is 14 percent, but this 14 percent tariff applies to any country exporting laser toners, developers, or photocopier machine toners — whether it is Singapore, Indonesia, or China.

This means Brazil is not a good selection for us, while Bangladesh remains a good choice.

Let us move to the next countries.

If we look at Singapore, we have a bilateral agreement, which is visible here — the ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.

We also have another agreement: the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement with Singapore.

Additionally, the MFN tariff is zero percent.

In the case of Singapore, we do not have artificial advantages because the MFN tariff is zero, and the bilateral agreement tariff is also zero. This means there is no artificial advantage for Singapore.

The MFN tariff applies to all countries, meaning that if Singapore imports from India or any other country, it will impose only zero percent import tariffs.

Despite having two bilateral agreements, we do not have a natural advantage.

Singapore is therefore not a good choice from the point of view of artificial advantages.

However, we cannot ignore Singapore, probably because it is a major trading hub for laser and photocopier machine consumables.

From the point of view of artificial advantages, though, we do not have any here.

Now, coming to Thailand, if we take the example of Thailand, we do have an ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement.

We do not have any special preference. The ASEAN-India Trade Agreement is not applicable here. The Early Harvest Scheme tariff also does not apply, and the Rules of Origin are not applicable.

In the case of Thailand, it is similar to Singapore. The MFN tariff is zero.

Any country that exports toners for photocopiers and printers will face a zero percent import duty.

We do not have any artificial advantage, although we have the MFN duty, just like in Singapore.

If Thailand happens to be an important buyer from the point of view of total import value in this category, as well as for my specific item in that category, I have to research further to find out how much of my particular item is being imported by Thailand.

If I can find out category-wise data, I will know that Thailand is among the top 25 importers, but I do not yet know how much of my item is being imported — that has to be further researched.

What I have learned here is that Thailand imposes zero percent import duty.

In the case of Turkey, the MFN tariff is six percent, and we do not have any other agreement.

Out of these five countries, our best choice because of the artificial advantage happens to be Bangladesh.

When compared with Brazil, Singapore, Thailand, and Turkey, Bangladesh gives us a clear artificial advantage. Being our neighbor, we have zero percent duty, while many other countries, including China and European countries, will not have this advantage.

This is one example showing that, from this perspective, Bangladesh seems to be a better choice.

We can do this exercise with many other combinations of five countries, as we did here, and jot down the list of countries that provide us with artificial advantages.

At the end of these iterations, we should be able to find at least five or six countries where we have such artificial advantages, just as we found one — Bangladesh — in this example.

By repeating this process among the top 25 importers of this category from India, we should be able to find four or five countries with similar artificial advantages.

This is the idea.

We are talking about tariff barriers here, not non-tariff barriers like TBT (Technical Barriers to Trade) or SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) barriers.

What we find here is very interesting.

On this particular page of the India Trade Portal, there is no mention of SPS or TBT policies in these countries — at least in these five countries. It may be present in some other countries, but here there is none.

If there had been a non-tariff barrier on our item, a button would have appeared here in front of that country, allowing us to press it and find out whether there were any non-tariff barriers such as SPS or TBT.

It is therefore clear that at least in these five countries, we do not have any non-tariff barriers.

This is another good piece of information—that my product line does not attract any non-tariff barriers in these countries.

If such barriers are not present in these countries, it is unlikely they exist in many others.

However, in the case of the U.S. — which is very particular about technical sophistication — and perhaps some European countries, SPS or TBT barriers may exist.

That has to be checked.

If there are non-tariff barriers, you need to click that button to find out the policy and requirements, which are usually not difficult to meet.

This is the method I would use to conduct my desk research.

In this way, we will not only list the countries where we have artificial advantages but also write down, country-wise, the import duties.

We will then be able to calculate the landed price very easily, since we already know how to find it.

The only portion that remains now is to see whether, among these 25 major importers, there is any way to find out the exact quantities they are importing from India.

That information still needs to be found.

In the next episode, I will explain how to find out, among these top 25 importers, which countries are importing major quantities of these category items.

I may not be able to find the exact figures for toners, but there is one important thing here: in the case of some countries, we have even 12-digit HS code numbers.

Possibly, in some of these countries, if we can find out the value of imports under the 12-digit HS code category, there is a strong possibility that it refers to toners.

However, in most cases, 12-digit HS codes will not be available, so we may not be able to determine from the data how many toners for photocopiers and laser printers these countries are importing.

That is the reason I said in the last episode that this research cannot give us the complete picture.

It cannot give us the kind of picture we would get from data available through the IIFT Library, ITPO, National Informatics Centre, FICCI, or CII delegation reports and trade intelligence reports.

In those reports, there is a possibility of finding exact figures for toners and developers.

But from customs data alone — unless we have data for all 12-digit HS codes — we cannot find out the quantity for our specific product.

That is why we cannot depend on just one source.

We cannot rely solely on the Indian Trade Portal to get the complete picture.

This desk research cannot remain confined to the desk.

We have to move to the IIFT Library, CII, FICCI, and the Thomas Register.

Thomas Register may not give us data, but it will give us the names of the parties, companies, and major traders who might be interested in doing business with us for the importation of toners and developers.

In this episode, I will stop here, and in the next episode, we will try to find out the quantitative data, possibly for our product category, in the top 25 countries mentioned.

Thank you.

In the next video, I will explain how to use the International Trade Center portal to analyze the international trade statistics for your product line using the ITC-HS code.

Hello, friends.

Welcome back to episode number nine of this VJ Exports Mastery course titled Learn Practical Exports Marketing Skills, friends.

I'm Dr. Vijesh Jain.

We are continuing this very important export mastery skill course.

In the earlier episodes, I discussed with you the initial part of the desk research, which is required to be done in the present times, by taking the example of one product line — toners and developers for photocopiers and laser printers.

Friends, in the earlier episode, I took you to the Indian Trade Portal, where we found out the ITC code number of our product, toners and developers for photocopy machines and laser printers. We researched the advantages of exporting to certain countries from India, to identify countries with obvious possibilities — the artificial advantages of being able to export our products to those countries. In that particular research, we focused on the top 25 countries that are importing that product category, and we could locate a few countries where we have the advantage, like Bangladesh and Singapore, being a trading hubs, so it is a natural choice for us.

Now, in this episode, friends, I will take you to another website — the international website where you can find the import data of our ITC HS-code category (six-digit HS code). We can find out which are the top importers, how much they're importing, and what the trend of their imports has been over the last several years. I will show you how you can find out that information.

What will happen with that information is that it will help us know which are the main countries to focus on, and what we can do once we find that some top seven or eight countries are importing that category from the world as well as from India. We can also find out how much they are importing from India. Based on that information, we can come back to the Indian Trade Portal and do the market-advantages or market-preference research, as we did in the last episode. These possibilities are there. You have to keep trying different sources to get whatever information you can.

Not to forget the other sources I discussed earlier — very traditional sources like the Indian Trade Promotion Organization, the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, the American Library, CII reports, FIEO reports, FICCI reports, and intelligence data. All those information sources have to be tested, and we have to be very sure about the identification of the markets we would like to target in the second phase of this export-marketing strategy, which is visiting the countries to meet the clients there. Many times, when you send communications, many people respond, but that response may not be based on factual data; it may simply be an expression of interest and not real business. You must visit those countries and those companies that have potential.

This information — whatever we collect from the Indian Trade Portal and from the new source I will show you today, whatever data, whatever the countries list and the policy framework — we need to note it down and analyze it. Based on the responses we get from interested importers in different countries, we have to take a final call about which places to visit, where to arrange meetings, and where to discuss business possibilities. Those things are interrelated, and the idea is to minimize the waste of money, resources, and time. It is very important that you hit the bull's eye at the right time and the right place so that the final results are good.

Friends, let's go to this new website.

We are here at the International Trade Centre website, which maintains robust international data of the ITC — HS code-wise, category-wise data, and year-by-year data, country data, and even product-wise data for both importation and exportation. The data is spread over several years, starting with 2001 to 2020. As you can see, this is the website of the International Trade Centre, and we will try to find out the information about the importation values of our product. What we found was a six-digit HS code. We will also try to see if we can get eight-digit or 10-digit data, which may not be free.

What it says here is that Trade Map is free to use and provides trade statistics and market-access information for export documents. The map covers yearly data of 220 countries and territories and 5,300 products of the ITC HS system. One important part is that a limited version of Trade Map is accessible without registration for yearly product flows up to the digit level of the Harmonized System, and monthly product flows at the HS 2-digit level. If you are looking for the exact data of the eight- or 10-digit HS code, you have to register, and that is a paid service — but it is available. We will try without registration to see how much data we can collect for demonstration purposes, since I would not like to register here.

We have come to this particular page, and as you can see, we have this data available for all chapters. What we are looking for is Chapter 37 — photographic or cinematographic goods — which is our area of interest. Within that, our six-digit HS code is 3707: chemical preparations for photographic uses. Here, under 3707, we can see the top countries: China, Taiwan, the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, Korea, the U.K., France, and Russia. If we look at importation from India, the data we have covers 2015–2019. The biggest destinations for our HS-code category happen to be China, Japan, then Singapore. Singapore, as I already mentioned, is emerging as a very big importer, followed by Taiwan, Hong Kong, the U.S., Korea, Germany, Malaysia, and Belgium.

For our category 3707 (chemical preparations for photographic uses), this four-digit HS code contains a large number of different items of a similar nature. Therefore, this information cannot precisely identify toner and developer items from the point of view of our product line. For eight- or 10-digit HS-code data, you need to register on the site; that is paid information. By registering on this website, you will be able to find deeper information. Similarly, you can also find export data of this category worldwide. The biggest exporter of this particular category in 2019 was Japan, followed by the Netherlands, Korea, the U.S., Germany, China, Taiwan, France, Hong Kong, Belgium, the U.K., and Singapore.

Another point is that, being a manufacturer, I can also try these big exporters because they might not be making the exact item I produce. Since they already have clients and are big exporters, they might buy regularly from us in large quantities and export to their clients. That possibility remains. Therefore, import-data as well as export-data analysis is very important.

This kind of analysis, if done beyond the four-digit ITC HS code — to six-, eight-, or even 10-digit using the same methodology — will make our work much easier. This is what I wanted to show you today: it is possible to get this kind of data. Here, instead of values, we can also examine quantities. If we look at quantity and export information, the biggest exporters remain China, Japan, and Belgium. China may not be the biggest exporter in terms of value, but in terms of quantity, China is number one, which suggests China’s price is very low — an inference you can draw. This information helps identify competitors: China is clearly the major competitor in this product category, and Malaysia might also be a competitor because it may match Indian prices.

A deeper HS code will give a better picture, but I have shown you the method of analysis. The quantity is given in tonnes. You can see India’s name in the quantity list: India appears among exporters, just behind Ghana, the UAE, and the U.K. India is exporting, though its tonnage has reduced after 2015 for some reason, and India’s position has declined in this category. The exact HS code will reveal the actual trend.

One more interesting point: Ghana is not a traditional exporter of this item; it appeared only in 2019. For practical purposes, India is a regular exporter of this category, followed by South Africa, Turkey, and Brazil — so they can also be competitors.

Friends, my idea in showing this trade-statistical analysis is that the more time you spend on trade statistics with deeper ITC HS codes, the better information you will get. This data is available online; you need a paid account on the International Trade Centre website to access complete statistics down to deeper HS-code levels. It can be a very useful desk analysis. If you use this data and spend time making graphs, trying different factors (value, quantity, country, product export data, import data), it will become much easier to understand what is happening. Again, it may not give you the complete picture, but it will give you a fairly good idea.

These International Trade Centre trade statistics, along with the Indian Trade Portal, allow you to analyze digital databases. Nowadays, it is comparatively much easier to do export marketing, at least in the initial stages of desk research.

Thank you.

In this section, using this case study of uh a situation based on my own real experiences, I shared with you a complete step-by-step process of how you managed a particular situation. You can copy this idea for your products for your own Target markets based on your company, which may belong to any country. That's the idea. So in this particular section, we started with desk research and initial research on what its role was in understanding the potential markets and possibly, uh, the buyers also for your products.

And later on how to carry out uh market research uh of the type that is beyond desk research so in this particular section, my idea was to help you understand how to carry out complete desk research based on online and offline resources what all you could do in uh making yourself confident about the markets and the possibilities of export of your products the starting point that I shared that's the idea of this section. I hope you will feel more confident about it later on in this uh course. In the coming sections, things will become more advanced, and you will have more ideas on uh, how to do practical export marketing and generate export leads.

So, friends, welcome back to the course. As I had mentioned to you in this uh course, real practical export marketing skills can only be learned from the experiences of the practitioners and the experts. So in line with what I had said, uh, this particular thing, and I'm very much upbeat about it, that uh, the real learning can come from the experiences of the practitioners. So in this section, I'm going to talk to Mr V B Kasi, who is a renowned International Commodities Trader based out of Singapore and uh Hyderabad in India.

He's going to share with me his experiences, his ideas, and his suggestions for upcoming exporters. How can they go about exporting successfully, doing practical export marketing, and generating trade leads? So the main idea of this course is to learn from these practitioners. So, in line with that, let's talk to V B Kasi in this section. Let's hear what he has to say about his life experiences in being so a successful International Commodities Trader, let's see.

In the next several episodes, several videos allow you to listen to the experiences, practical tips, and techniques of Mr. V.B. Kasi, the renowned international commodities trader from Singapore. He was in India recently when these interviews were recorded.

Hey, Vijesh, how are you?

How are you, Kasi?

I'm good.

Yeah.

Okay, great.

How's the situation in Hyderabad today?

Better, better.

Things are getting under control.

Slowly.

Yeah.

I think it will subside. The water will recede.

Yeah, it was a freak thing. It doesn't happen like that.

Yeah, yeah.

We had been talking yesterday that we need to graduate into international business more than exports — exporting and importing. That is a very valid point.

But remember, till now India was in a different phase of development. Going forward, I think India will have a lot of multinational companies coming out of India. They will gradually start becoming bigger and bigger. It's just the economy — the size of the economy — that will change everything.

Reliance, for example, I foresee in 3 to 5 years will be in at least 30 or 40 countries. Their operations will go; they'll probably try to replicate what they do in India in some other places as well, including the telecom side.

What then happens is that you also need the talent to go with it.

Correct?

Correct. The Indian talent. That talent is not then restricted to India specifically. It just has to be able to work in different markets and different environments.

That is why — I'll tell you. Around 2000, Singapore Management University was set up. Before they set it up, we used to get their people from IE Singapore (as it is called now — International Enterprise). Earlier, it was known as the Trade Development Board. They used to come to our office regularly, maybe once in 3 or 4 months, a small team of 2 or 3 people.

They were asking me at that point what we would need from TDB beyond promotion and development. I said they were also very instrumental in setting up SMU itself. TDB said we need to create a strong talent pool of managers locally — BBA, MBA, whatever. I told them that since they were asking, I distinctly felt a shortage of talented trade people in India and Singapore.

When I say trade, are you hearing?

I think I'm able to hear. There is some small...

We need to create talent locally. You can keep importing people from outside to do trading here, but you need talent to trade locally.

I said, now that you are starting a BBA program in SMU, you should have a track for trading. There are enough trading companies around who would come and teach, and companies are available for internships, practical experience.

I think they got some feedback from a few other companies. They then invited me to join the academic advisory board to start the trading-track program. Great. They picked a few people, one or two from each industry. I came from an agricultural trading background. Someone came from Sri Lanka, someone from the steel industry, someone from shipping. They brought together 6 or 8 of us into a team.

We used to hold regular monthly meetings on campus, 1 to 2-hour sessions at SMU. We would give ideas and sometimes linkages. The big shots at SMU put together the whole program and started rolling it out. When they rolled out, I also recruited people from SMU. Very nice — a win-win for both parties: they got talent with the right training; I got good people.

A lot of them worked with me. I always had one or two SMU guys on my team. Normally, what were the starting packages for these people coming from SMU? In Singapore, if they are completely raw with no experience, you start somewhere around 3 to 4 thousand Singapore dollars. If you have some experience or are very bright and can hit the ground running, you can go up to 5,000. Then it's a question of how you manage them — purely on performance and results. The sky is the limit, in fact.

I must have contributed at least six to eight trading people to Singapore's economy in a way, maybe ten, almost ten.

One guy, not only from Singapore, but one of our ship owners, used to take ships from them. They are a very big owner — one of the biggest in the world — with 60 ships, each 40 to 100,000 tons. Mid-size 40–45,000 tons would be mid-size.

They had their son — business training in shipping. Our shipping guys said, Why don't you take him for training for a couple of years? That is how you make the network — network with the right people. I said I didn't mind taking someone, but I would treat him like absolute raw material. You put your conditions: ask him to first come and see me. Young fellow, very smart, intelligent, good-looking. I said I do not care who your father is or how many ships you have. I don't know your wealth. This is how I decide it all.

He listened to everything I told him. I might even leave the office at six because we trade at night as well. That doesn't mean you run away either. Whatever time it takes, finish your work and then leave. I'm not going to even look at what time you left. Correct? Correct.

He understood. He said, Forget about my background — treat me like any of your trainees. Anything asked of him, no problem. Whatever time it is, he will finish it and go. He was fully ready for training. That guy did a fantastic job for me. Learned a lot. He became virtually like an advisor to me because he came with a business background. He was in business every day, so he was a great asset. He worked two and a half years with me and did not go and rent a massive palace or take money from his father. He lived in a very small apartment with no car. He lived like that for two and a half years.

This is the attitude: after a year and a half, he knew everything about our business. Two years later, he turned up in Singapore to invite me to his shipping office grand opening — he was the boss and had a massive party. He was very humble and simple. In exporting, you have to be humble because you deal with many different cultures and types of people from different countries. Unless you are humble, I think you cannot survive in international business. This is my view and my experience.

I was just thinking — if you would share some interesting moments from your career. You had a very illustrious career working in Turkey, then Egypt, and then coming to Singapore. You have almost spent your entire life in exporting, importing, international business, and commodity trading. You have handled several types of products and services. If you can share any interesting moment that highlights the kinds of skills a successful person in international business, exporting, and importing requires, would you share such an event or story from your past?

Yeah, thanks. I spent about 30 years in international business, and there are many takeaways, because everything you do is a learning process. What happens in trading — and I believe this is especially true — is that many developments happen in trading first, and then they filter into normal manufacturing and other industries: bricks-and-mortar, FMCG, and so on.

Way back in 1988, when fax machines were not yet common, I was going to Egypt on a mission to take over the office. We had a crisis: our country manager, a very experienced, seasoned man, was leaving. My boss, the owner, called and told me to go there and take over immediately. I asked, “When do I take over?” He said, “Like yesterday.” Very short notice. I asked what I needed to know. He said there were some files in the office — read them and go inland and do what’s required.

While we were leaving, he suggested, since I was going and it would be easier, why not buy myself a fax machine? I went to buy a fax machine in the Bangkok office. The fax machine was still new — only two fax machines existed there. He said I should take a fax machine so I could communicate faster. I bought it, submitted the bill, got reimbursed, and took the plane.

I bring this up because a lot of innovations actually happen in trading faster than in other industries. Trading is a fast-paced environment: there is no time to deliberate for hours, form committees, and then decide. You have to move quickly. When you want to move quickly, you need quick decision-making capability — to decide what is right. The boss could be wrong, and it may not matter; you still have to make decisions quickly. No decision is often the worst thing in trading. A decision is always important.

To make a good decision, you need to understand both sides of the equation. You can’t take one-sided decisions. That means you also process information faster and start categorizing things quicker. The world changes rapidly, and when you see a development on TV or in the news, you immediately take a call: is this good or bad for us? You don’t wait for deep analysis; you act on the face of it and refine later. Can I act to protect my interest, build my interest, or drop a business when options open up? Innovation is essential in trading because the next competitor is always breathing down your neck. The moment you falter, the next player moves ahead. Competitiveness in trading is extremely high — very cutthroat. You are always on edge, constantly checking the assumptions you made when you began the business. Every day you ask yourself: Is my business relevant? Will it be there tomorrow? If not, why not, and what else can I do?

Having said that, I have many stories from my career. One that always impresses me is about Turkey. In the early 1990s, I felt Turkey was a very promising nation — a secular Muslim country that is a bridge between Europe and Asia, with a long trading culture and strengths in certain industries. There was a lot of goodwill to start an office there, and I was the person asked to go and start it.

Before the office opening, a tender opportunity was likely to appear. They sent me there early so we would be on the ground before the tender opened. While waiting, I went to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, picked up a booklet of member companies, and made random cold calls. I met one person in each company, handed out our brochures, and took their brochures, reviewing their products.

After a few days, the tender opened in Ankara. I went there and worked with the local team: we won the tender. It was a big deal — competition was strong, but we secured the business. The company was thrilled; I was a bit of a folk hero for landing business right at the start. They asked me to stay to ensure letters of credit were opened and contracts signed, so I ended up spending 35 days in Turkey instead of the two weeks planned.

While I was there, I visited the bank that was to open the L/C. I knew the manager and coordinated the terms and conditions with the buyer. I still had time while the L/C was processed, so I used my company booklet and visited 25–30 companies, big and small. There is no harm in meeting people; cold conversations build relationships and give you market intelligence.

After a week or so of groundwork, operations were set up and we began. Meanwhile, the Bangkok head office sent an enquiry: they wanted to buy steel, as Bangkok was booming with construction. Since I had done the homework of meeting companies, I knew how to approach potential suppliers. I faxed a request with the required specs and shipment details. The next morning, the fax ran continuously — I had four offers from big companies within a day.

I tabulated the offers and terms, sent them to Bangkok, and the global trader in charge was astonished at the prices: he couldn’t believe them. He asked if I’d been drinking early in the morning because the prices were so competitive. I replied that I had four legitimate offers. He suspected standards or production issues; I bombarded the suppliers with technical questions. Within two days, I had their booklets and became a virtual steel expert — able to explain differences between ASTM and British standards and the implications.

After two days of negotiation, we secured a shipment for early March. This was January — quick turnaround. Some at the company and the shipping department were skeptical: was the cargo really available? Would the suppliers deliver? There was concern about being cheated. But you develop a feel for sincerity and commitment in meetings and interactions. In the end, the suppliers proved genuine, the shipment was fixed, and the business was completed.

That episode taught me several things: do your homework on the ground, meet people proactively, leverage local networks (banks, chambers, suppliers), and move quickly with decisions while validating technical and quality aspects. Trading rewards speed, diligence, and humility.

Finally, a cultural lesson: in exporting, you have to be humble. You deal with many different cultures and people from different countries; unless you are humble, you cannot survive in international business. That is my view and my experience.

These guys said they wanted me to visit the factory and see the cargo.

They said, “OK, fine, give us two weeks; it’s under production.” They did not have the production themselves — they were a trading house. But they were a local private company; they had bought it from the government steel factory.

I said, “Fine.” They said, “We’ll take you to the government steel factory.” They made all the arrangements — flights, bookings, everything. After about two weeks, we flew to Iskenderun, the other corner of Turkey, near Syria, which obviously has the biggest single steel facility.

They made arrangements with the GM of the factory, informing him that a visitor was coming. I was treated with great respect and given a full tour, though I was only twenty-seven at the time. They showed me the bundles and said, “These are all set for your company for export now. Bring the ship.”

I said, “You’re showing me bundles — how do I know these bundles are ours?” They replied, “No problem, come down and check.” There was a tag on them showing the company’s name from which we had bought the material. They asked, “Are you satisfied?” I said yes. There were about fifteen thousand tons of cargo — so many bundles lying there in the shed. They showed everything, and then the ship arrived.

Before the ship arrived, our guys started bombarding me with questions. “I don’t think they will berth. How is the port? Is it going to berth at all? In case there is damage, how do we protect ourselves?” I kept addressing issues one by one. When the time came for loading, I went back again.

The same company representative also turned up. We stayed at the hotel and went to the port. It took three days to load everything. The captain confirmed that the cargo was being loaded properly. Everything was loaded, the ship sailed, and we got a clean Bill of Lading.

I said, “Have I completed what I promised or not?” I think my reputation in the Bangkok office became the highest of anyone’s because a young man went to a new country, faced all odds, while everyone said, “It won’t work,” and yet made it happen. The deal was executed perfectly.

The moment the ship sailed, they were already negotiating with some local construction companies in Bangkok to sell the cargo. They were preparing for High Seas Sales.

As soon as the vessel sailed, the Bangkok steel market began rising due to a shortage of steel. Buyers were knocking on our door. The boss decided: no sales on High Seas — we’ll land it in the yard and sell from there. They were still skeptical. He said, “It will take twenty days to arrive,” expecting prices to rise — buying time.

A month later, prices went up. That one ship made one and a half million dollars in profit.

When I informed them, the trader immediately told me, “Bring more!”

By then, I already knew more companies. Over the next six to eight months — or a year — we shipped a total of around one hundred and twenty thousand tons to Bangkok from different suppliers. One of them turned out to be absolutely the best — top-quality steel.

My people in Bangkok said, after it arrived, that this steel could be made virtually anywhere in the world; it was that high quality. And it was coming at a discount to all major origins, including British steel. That was a big turning point.

There were many lessons in this case. Persistence and perseverance are extremely important in this business because you are often faced with complex situations. It’s your word against skepticism in the office. You are building your credibility. Once you have a reputation, your name becomes very important.

We used to say, “My word is my bond.” It means that if I tell you I’ll do this business at this price — say, fifteen thousand tons at three hundred and twenty dollars per ton, shipment in May, under CNF or FOB terms — then that’s final. You can’t change that. Even if nothing is written, once a word is exchanged, it’s binding.

You can only break your word once in life. If you do, you’re out of business. The other party will call you dishonest, and your company will have to take action. If it happens repeatedly, everyone in the market will know you’re not trustworthy — you lose your position and reputation.

Many big traders in the world are brands by themselves. Their names are recognized. People say, “Who are you talking to?” and if they hear a certain name, they know how that trader works. Some have reputations for long negotiations but guaranteed delivery. Others are known to be tricky. The market knows each trader individually because traders truly run the business.

Trading houses have senior traders who are real businessmen — intrapreneurs. They operate like entrepreneurs but within a company’s framework. They are given budgets, manpower, and targets, and they run the show. Sometimes, traders move from one company to another, taking their business relationships with them, because clients follow the trader they trust.

Now, what is success? People say, “He succeeded” or “He failed,” but success means different things to different people. My definition of success is when preparation meets opportunity — and timing.

That’s what creates an opportunity. When I was in Turkey, I already had a good idea of the companies — my preparation was complete. Then the opportunity arrived suddenly, and I could put things together quickly. That’s why I succeeded. If the inquiry had come first and I had spent fifteen days searching the market without knowing anyone, both sides would have lost interest.

Success happens when preparation and opportunity coincide. Preparation is very important for success.

It’s like preparing the field, keeping it ready, then sowing the seed when the rain comes at the right time — the conditions align perfectly.

That’s what success is about.

It’s also crucial to know your business well, inside out. You may not know everything, but you have to keep going deeper, understanding what makes it work and what doesn’t.

Nothing in business is foolproof. Problems can arise anywhere — at any stage. You must know where things can go wrong and how to handle them.

That’s the other way of looking at it.

One other thing that happened to me, in terms of perseverance and persistence, was that I used to visit a buyer in Jakarta, Indonesia.

I met that purchasing manager probably 20 times. I had to travel to Jakarta every one and a half to two months. The man was very slippery. Every time I asked, “When are you buying next?” he would say, “Next week.” I’d respond, “Fine, then I’ll send you prices every day. Just let me know when you’re ready to buy, and I’ll quote accordingly.” He would agree, but after a week, when I called again, he’d say, “Actually, I bought it last Friday.”

This went on for almost a year.

It was a very hard nut to crack. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t buying from me, because I was offering competitive prices and already doing business in that market. Eventually, I realized he was favoring certain suppliers and taking benefits from them.

Finally, one day, when I visited again, I found that he had been sacked — exposed for corruption. A lady had taken over as the new purchasing manager. She came to the meeting, and I explained what had happened and why I hadn’t been able to do business earlier. I told her I was still keen to work together. She said, “I can’t vouch for what happened in the past, but I will be straightforward. If your prices are right, I’ll do business.”

That happened because I kept persisting — visiting, sending quotations, and maintaining contact. I deliberately sent slightly lower prices, and we finally hit a deal. For the next one and a half to two years, she continuously bought from us.

The business built up very well. She became more comfortable with me and even started asking for advice: “When do you think is the best time to buy? Should we buy now or later?” That gave me insights into their company operations.

This is important — in any business, especially export business, you are essentially providing a solution. Success in exports is about being a solution provider, identifying the client’s problem, and solving it — not just adequately, but elegantly. If you do it well, your competition will notice quickly, so you must do it exceptionally well — more elegantly, more effectively, more excitingly than others.

If they want this, you must give them that — something better. Spend more time than your competitors to offer more value. When you do that, you move ahead, and by the time your competitor catches up, you are already at the next level. That is how export markets work.

I recently went to speak at an FPO (Farmer-Producer Organization) event in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. It was an FPO of mango producers — around 5,000 farmers who had come together. They faced many challenges: brokers exploited them, rejected produce unfairly, and dictated prices. The farmers had little control.

They produced around 4,000 to 5,000 tons of mangoes every season. After forming the FPO, things improved. A friend of mine started advising them on proper harvesting techniques to avoid damaging the fruit when it falls to the ground. I was invited to speak to the farmers about increasing their price realization in the local language.

They were even building a cold storage facility at the time. I spoke to them about export markets — something very relevant to courses like yours — explaining why exports can be a great idea.

I told them that planning to export part of their produce could change everything. Export markets demand the highest standards. When you produce for export, especially food products meant for supermarkets in countries like Singapore or the U.S., your quality must be world-class. You are competing with the best of the best.

First, you must be confident that you can produce the best. They said, “No problem, we will.” Then I explained that their packaging must also be excellent — not baskets, but strong corrugated boxes, neatly packed, ensuring the fruit is not overripe on arrival. They also needed to meet international pesticide and insecticide residue standards, and post-harvest handling had to be carefully managed.

I told them, “You are competing with the best in the world. Start by exporting even 10% of your mangoes. If you remove 10% of your production from the domestic market, even if sold at a slightly lower price abroad, domestic supply tightens, and local prices rise. You recover your cost — and more.”

By producing for export, their domestic quality would also improve. With better branding and packaging, domestic consumers would recognize the brand and prefer it — even at a slightly higher price. That changes the entire mindset from being a local producer to becoming a global player.

You don’t have to physically go global to think globally. Simply supplying to international markets transforms your standards.

That is why it is so important to think globally in export marketing. It elevates not just your export division but your entire company. Your processes, quality, and thinking evolve to a higher level.

This is very interesting because everything is interconnected. When you sell part of your production in international markets, even at a slightly lower price, you improve your brand, quality, and long-term profitability.

Another key takeaway for export professionals and traders is the need to remain humble. The world is vast and changing rapidly. The day you think you are a big success, you risk falling behind the next. Staying humble keeps you learning.

The new definition of literacy is “learn, unlearn, and relearn.” That’s true in international trade. You must unlearn quickly and relearn continuously because the world is evolving. This brings innovation, progress, and improvement in quality and processes.

What you learned yesterday may not hold meaning today; you must be ready for tomorrow.

In trading, we get a profit-and-loss statement every day. There will be bad days when you feel completely down because of losses, but you must say, “Yesterday was yesterday. Today is another day. I’ll do something different.” Tomorrow may bring profit again — but even then, don’t sit on top of Everest, because the day after tomorrow, you could be in the Mariana Trench.

When you make a big profit, analyze why. Carry forward the right lessons, but remember — what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow. When you make a loss, analyze again — did you do something wrong, or did the market behave unexpectedly? Keep reviewing your actions.

To do that, you must remain humble. Humility keeps you grounded, learning, and improving — and that, ultimately, is the true genius of success.

In the next video, Mr V.B. Kasi explains the kind of workplace that can give great results in international trade, with examples of his own experiences.

And most of the time, these are very transparent businesses, and within the trading company you work for, operations are quite transparent.

You sit around the table or at the desk, and everyone can hear and see what’s going on. You’re talking to someone, and others can listen. The idea is that the entire team knows what is happening.

People are often asked to jump on the line or get off the line when required. You say, “Okay, jump on the line,” and everyone joins in. It’s a transparent way of working, and everyone learns fast. There’s no need to brief them separately later — they already know what happened. You can simply ask, “Do you have anything better to suggest?”

All senior managers also get access to the P&L — the divisional profit and loss statement. I can see what my colleague is doing, and he can see what I’m doing. That gives a 360-degree perspective.

You know what your position is, and you also know your colleague’s position. Sometimes, if I see something wrong on his side, I can alert him because his business could be affected by what I’ve noticed. He, in turn, watches out for me.

It’s collaborative — a system where everyone learns and helps each other.

That’s actually a very good way to work because when you operate like this, you make fewer mistakes. It’s all about bringing the team together and continuously improving — not just one day, but every day.

I think, essentially, there are many stories, but in a nutshell, those are just a few takeaways. There’s so much that can be discussed, so many valuable lessons.

It was actually very inspiring — everything you discussed. What you shared is rare and very insightful. It gives direction to people who are trying to understand how exporting works, how to think internationally, and how to enter global trading and international markets.

Especially what you said about the personality and reputation of an individual in the market — that’s what truly brings business. It’s very interesting because, while reputation matters in domestic markets, in international markets the stakes are much higher.

When the stakes are high, a person’s integrity, commitment, reliability, and the trust others place in them play a very major role. That’s quite true — and quite interesting. I think this is the only way to succeed in the international market. There’s no doubt about it.

Absolutely, and one point that is very important to highlight — especially for youngsters — is that business demands discipline. You must be committed. You need to have that hunger to do things right and stay in control. That means very high levels of commitment and discipline.

Even if things aren’t going your way, you must be determined to succeed, pull yourself up, and keep moving.

Most importantly, I’ve noticed that the level of commitment in general public life in India is quite low. People often make casual promises. They’ll say, “Let’s meet tomorrow,” or “Let’s do something over the weekend,” but it doesn’t really mean anything.

You don’t need to wait — they won’t actually call. Sunday will come and go, and six months later, you’ll talk again and say, “Let’s meet soon.”

It’s a simple example, but in international markets, it doesn’t work like that. People are very conscious of their time.

For instance, in our Geneva office, we used to have a daily senior management meeting from 10 to 11 a.m. The rule was that the meeting should start at 10 sharp — whether or not everyone was in the room — and end at 11 sharp, even if the boss was still talking.

No one could complain because that was the agreed procedure — and it worked perfectly.

That kind of discipline and commitment is very important. You have to be serious and structured. Trading and export markets demand time, effort, and a disciplined life. You can’t do this business casually — that’s simply not acceptable in this trade.

Very nice, Kasi. It was truly interesting and a privilege to hear from you after such a long time. Your experiences are incredibly valuable.

Let’s meet again sometime soon. Of course, I can’t commit right now because things aren’t in great shape with the ongoing pandemic. I don’t know when I can visit Hyderabad or how long you’ll be in India, but let’s hope we can fix a time to meet.

Maybe if you come to Delhi, let me know — we’ll catch up then.

Thank you. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much.

All right. Thank you.

So, friends, in this section, we talked to Mr V B Kasi. He was able to give some time to share the moments of his career and very rare experiences, suggestions, tips, and techniques for becoming a very successful and practical export marketer. So I'm sure this section must have given you a lot of inspiration; it must have given you some ideas on how to go about becoming successful in export marketing.

I am very sure you will feel now more confident of uh carrying out all your export marketing activities. Thanks for watching uh this particular talk with Mr V B Kasi with me in this section.

Hi there!

I hope you are doing well and making great progress in this course.

I wanted to take this small moment to congratulate you on your remarkable progress in this course.

Your dedication and commitment to learning have truly impressed me.

I have been following you and your journey closely, and I must say, I am delighted with the efforts you are putting in.

This course is part of the VJ Export Mastery Courses Series, a collection of 25 different courses targeting the area of export management designed to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in the field of export and international trade.

On my part, I am committed to helping you expand your learning journey by providing access to more similar courses in the series, but at the same time, on your part, I have a small request for you as well.

Your feedback is incredibly valuable in refining this course and ensuring it remains world-class and is refined to its best.

Therefore, I kindly ask you to leave a rating for the course along with your honest feedback, if you have not yet done so. Your input will help me continue to improve and tailor the course to meet your needs and those of future learners.

Thank you once again for your dedication and enthusiasm.

Keep up with the fantastic work that you are doing, and remember, I am here to support you every step of the way.

Together.

Let's continue on the journey of learning and growth.

So friends in the last section, you learned a few things from practitioners and experts in the area. That's an example. Taking the same example you can accelerate your learning by talking to various other experts whom you can land up with you can make contact with and who are willing to share their knowledge and their experiences with you. That's very important.

In this particular section, what I'm going to do is demonstrate to you, uh, how you can create your online catalog or online store. This is a very key component of your strategy to create new leads. You can create your own website. A website is one way of doing it. But promoting a website is a hell of a job. It's not so easy to reach out with your website to potential customers in different countries. It is not so easy; it is always very important to be digitally present on certain high-traffic portals. So in this particular section, I'm going to take up one example of how you can create your online catalog and come online store on the FIEO-sponsored government of India, Federation of Indian Export Organizations-sponsored Global Linker website, where you can create your store. Automatically, traffic is coming there, and you will get the trade leads automatically.

But this is an Indian example. If you are from any other country, you will find similar services that will be available in your country locally from local export promotion organizations. All export promotion organizations in the world generally offer these kinds of services, where you can create your online store. Creating your online store along with your website in this way brings you extra traffic and extra trade leads. That's very, very important, and it is a key component of your strategy. Let's go into this section, and I will show you how you can create your online store and promote it on the global Linker website that is sponsored by the Federation of Indian Export Organizations FIEO, the government of India. Take it as a case

In the next video, I will discuss with examples how you can effectively create your first free online export store on FIEO Mall.

Hello, friends, welcome back to episode number 15 of uh this VJ exports Mastery course, the title of which is Learn the Practical Exports Marketing Skills. In the earlier episodes, we focused on how to do the initial research for developing a knowledge base and an information database, and to identify certain major Traders and importers of your products in overseas markets.

And possibly meet them also by visiting them. Our Focus was also to understand the skills and approach which is required to become a successful export marketing professional. Going through all these episodes I'm sure that you already have certain rare skills of uh doing the initial export marketing research and you already have an idea of how you want to understand your product and how you want to understand the potential of your product and what is the information which you require about your product to export it in the overseas markets and you already know how to identify certain major importers and to contact them and uh probably meet them.

You already have certain confidence as far as the initial export marketing research is concerned. So in this episode, I will discuss with you the typical next steps that are required after this initial export marketing has been done. So the approach to these next steps would be how to create a robust database of serious clients who would be interested in your product. What are the things that are likely to attract these exporters? and how you can La their apprehensions, reservations, and uh skepticism they may have about your product. and uh, how do you create a real and serious interest of these importers in your product? So that you can start exporting regular quantities to these importers' traders in different countries.

I will be giving you an idea of what things you can do in the present times, when you can exploit advancements in the Internet and communication technology. How can you use these tools to reduce your cost of going further with your export marketing? and how you can successfully carry out your export marketing with the less resources at less cost, and uh by optimizing your export marketing operations? So these will be my goals, these will be my concerns when I tell you the different tools and techniques which you can adopt now after going so far, uh, in your export marketing process. As for my understanding, the next important Step would be to exploit the digital channels first to improve your customer database to generate leads for your products and to start exploiting the digital channels. The most important thing is to set up your online export marketing store.

And if you are an exporter from India, the best place to start building your online export marketing store is on the FIEO web portal, Federation of Indian Export Organizations, which is a very active organization that is trying to help Indian exporters. They have a trade portal, it's a free service, and the link to this portal is available at the Indian Trade Portal. In this episode, I will show you how you can create your online export store, where you can expect a good number of importers if you do the correct digital marketing after creating your store. Let's go to the Indian trade portal. So at Indian trade portal this is the web address of the Indian trade portal when you go there you get this blue Banner here this blue Banner is a link that takes you to the FIEO web portal and we can see in this uh blue Banner that it says that create your free online store uh basically this is for exporters of merchandise, services, technology.

All types of exporters can create their free online store on the website of FIEO. Now this online store can be used to create new customers as well as to service the existing customers overseas. So basically, this is a FIEO Mall kind of thing, and it is very typical. So it says that you create your Brand to add credibility to the store with FIEO's registered member logo if you're a member of FIEO. And if you're not a member of FIEO, you should become a member if you're an exporter from India, because you can get a lot of benefits from this membership in FIEO. And you can add your products to this uh store. You can also tell about the process of your manufacturing, what are the different certifications your company has that are recognized internationally?

And what kind of different Innovations have you done, and what are your USBS? You can add videos, you can add images, pics of your products, a lot can be done on this uh FIEO mall. Okay. So let's go to this link. When we go to this link, we reach the FIEO Mall homepage, which is the landing page. which uh talks about the exporter's online store, which I was just talking to you about, and the digital catalog. So in my opinion, after you have done the initial export marketing research, this is a very obvious next step to exploit the digital channels. So to do that what you need to do is that you have to create your online export store, come digital catalog for which what you have to do you have to start here by adding your mobile number. And when you add your mobile number, you get a six-digit verification code on your mobile, which you have to add here. So once I enter the OTP, I reach the dashboard of my online export mall.

Herein, I can do all kinds of control activities for my online export store on this FIEO mall. I can access the details of my buyers, I can track my orders, spending orders, shipped orders, canceled orders, and return orders, so I can control all these details I can control. I can even control the communication with the buyers or any inquiries that are coming from different buyers. So I can even track the sales report, inventory report, and uh, I can add products, I can modify the specs of my product, I can add videos, proc videos, Innovation videos, or image picks different picks of the product from different angles. So I can add all these things. But if you are creating this mall store export Mall store online store on FIEO mall for the first time you will not straight away come to the dashboard you will first go to the profile creation page in this profile creation page you have to add your IEC Code number, your company name, the company formation, the number of employees the products you are dealing with or you intend to deal with countries you want to export your products and if you are already exporting to some countries names of those countries.

You can add your USP to your production process or Innovations if you have any, and the type of international buyers you are looking for, so those details you have to write in a very short format on the uh profile creation page. Since I have already done that process so that's why I'm coming straight away to the dashboard, but if you are signing for the first time, you have to create that information, and then only you will come to the dashboard like this here. And on this dashboard, you can easily add your .... so here you can add a product like this toner cartridge for Ricoh 2324 copier machines, and you can write your ITC HSN code. ITC HSN code is the same code that we had found out on the Indian trade portal by writing black Toners.

So, for our initial research so we already have that kind of information we already have the selling price of the cartridge, which may be $7.5, and we can write a summary of the product-compatible black toner cartridge FOR USE IN Rico 2324 copy here, and I can write down the minimum quantity of 50. My maximum capacity is 500 or 5,000. And I can write my brand here. I already have my brand added, so I'm using that brand. You can add more Brands, and you can also add the logo of your brand. So in this case I'm already I have already added that. So it is not needed. You can also put the product labels, for example, here I can write donor cartridge, or I can write the model number Ricoh and product tag, and I can write Ricoh cartridge, and like that. And I can save it.

I have to put the category also, which I just forgot, so I will write office and school supplies, and here I will write toner cartridge, uh, toner cartridge I will write, and uh, I will add the image also. So I can add this image, and I can add more images here, so almost total in total you can add six images. It is better to add many images because ultimately, you have to improve the customer experience on your online export store. So now here you can save these details, and once you save these details, you can preview the information here. So in this, we have this office and school supplies, and toner cartridges. So here I can see my different products for example, this product I just added so buyers can use this button to send inquiries, and uh I can view the details which I have added I can check the details, whether they are correct, so HSN code, minimum order quantity, fulfillment capacity, price, and uh the summary of the product images.

If more images are there. Similarly, I can add more products here. For example, I have added it here just for example, some more products that are in the Furnishing category, then we have another product here. So, in different categories, you can have different products here, like this, can have different categories and different products, so this is how your store is created on FIEO Mall. This is very, very important. And once you are satisfied with your mall, you can click the publish button here. This is the publish button. And once you publish, your store will become online. And after that, once your store is online, you have to start the digital marketing process. So in the next episode, I will tell you how you can do digital marketing for your store. Similarly, you can create the same stores on portals like Amazon, Shopify, or itsy.com, depending on what categories they promote.

You can use many other portals. Some are free, some are paid, but this FIEO mall is free, and if you're a member of f you can also use the FIEO logo on your website to increase your credibility. So this is the starting point of the next step after you have done your initial marketing research. If you want to know more about creating an online export store, you can also enroll in my other course, the title of which is Learn how to set up your online export business instantly. Which is also available on Udemy. And there I have explained in detail how you can create this kind of online export store not only on FIEO mall but on many other portals that promote exports from different countries. Thank you very much.

Hello friends, welcome to Episode number 16 of this VJ exports Mastery course, the title of which is Learn the Practical Export Marketing Skills. Friends uh in so many last episodes we have reached the stage when you have done the initial market research you have learned how to create your online export marketing store and you have all the wherewithal of your foundation for a very robust and dynamic marketing campaign which you can start now to woo the international customers and to create a really good base of inquiries and uh International Distribution Network. So now is the time when you need to market your products and use all your skills, knowledge, experience, and understanding of the overseas markets. Now the success will depend on your pricing strategy on your distribution strategy, uh, targeting the right markets, and also how you are communicating with your international buyers, and how you can reach the right people. How do you make contacts? Which channels do you use to make contacts? So I already explained to you that digital channels are the starting point, from there, with very low cost with very optimized resources, you can start contacting the buyers.

Therefore, you have to start initially with the digital marketing campaign focusing on your company website as well as the exports online marketing store. So, to carry out this digital marketing campaign, you can either outsource this activity of digital marketing or you can carry out this activity by yourself, but the basic approach of digital marketing would be to exploit every nook and corner of the social media that is available on the major platforms, the major International communities, which consist of a very large audience. To give you an example, there are communities like Facebook which contain more than 2 billion people or the users of these communities, so these communities themselves are the geography are the countries themselves are the regions to Target. So, to target these people, you have to use all free resources that are available on major platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. So you have to understand how to create your profile on these platforms. how to create company pages on this platform? and if you have a digital marketing budget, you can start the paid campaigns also on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. So the idea is to reach the maximum number of people's attention, and uh, you can also do the targeted campaign. So in the case of a paid campaign, you can filter out the audience, and you can Target pinpointed you can target the Right audience.

So that targeting would require the creation of your campaign, where you have to filter out the regions you have to filter out the age groups you have to filter out the professions. So much filtering will help you to pinpoint the Target community of uh potential customers for your products in the international market. Even the professional groups that are related to your product and with trading can be targeted on platforms like LinkedIn, where you will find those groups are formed by hovering around your product line, and it has several members who are likely to be your potential buyers. So once you start looking at the different communities, different configurations, different channels in this digital media, you will start learning which areas where a high possibility of getting your potential customers is very high.

But the thumb rule is to start with using every free resource available on these platforms. So you need to be present everywhere in a very consistent manner. So what is required is that your message has to be very consistent. It should be regular. It should be timely, and in the case of international marketing, your posting on these platforms should also be timed according to local times. So you can use several free resources that are available can help you in scheduling your postings and engaging with them. So there is a lot to be learned in digital marketing, but the important point remains that you need to be present on all these platforms. Use all their available resources. Create your presence in these uh places using your video clips, your images, using the information on your product that you already have gathered in the initial marketing research stage. So all this information, images, videos, and uh messages will help you reach out to the people in every nook and corner of the world. And uh, it can be focused, it can be targeted as I've already explained to you. So friends digital marketing in itself is a very big subject that requires you to do further research on how to successfully carry out digital marketing with or without uh the budget so it can be done organically as well as it can be done inorganically. So you have to learn all these techniques. You also need to optimize your websites, your pages, and your online export store according to the requirements of the major search engines like

Google. And uh, you can carry out the uh marketing campaign on Google and Facebook, which are the major places to do the campaigns, and LinkedIn, also, you can consider. So, friends, I have given you a very short summary of what is required to be done in digital marketing, and you have to carry out these activities either by yourself or you can outsource this activity. Or you can hire somebody in your company who can carry out these activities for you for your product line. So the person has to be trained according to your product requirements, and that person should be very conversant with your product line and product range. So, having said that, friends, the further steps beyond digital marketing are some traditional steps, like uh participation in international trade fairs. Participation in international trade fairs, if you are exporting from India, you can get a lot of help from the Indian Trade Promotion Organization ITPO which is headquartered in New Delhi.

ITPO organizes and participates in most of the major International Trade fairs, and you have to select the right trade fairs that are related and connected with your product line, where the international Traders and buyers come for your type of product range, and you have to participate in these trade fairs. You can have a budget for this kind of participation. You can also avail of the market development assistance MDA facility, which is offered by the government of India, and uh, there are certain conditions, there are certain eligibility criteria that can be understood from the information available with ITPO, as well as the Federation of Indian Export Organizations FIEO. Both these agencies, FIEO and ITPO, are authorized to reimburse MDA assistance to the extent of 50% of all your expenses of participation in International Trade fairs or making international market research visits. So these facilities can be availed in a very professional manner by being a member of the respective EPCs, that is, the Export Promotion Council, which is related to your product line. And uh, this participation will make you eligible for all the government schemes, including the MDA scheme, and it will also help you in claiming the export incentives.

A very important area for friends is also to look at your pricing and uh to find ways of making your price more attractive in the highly competitive International Market. So you can take recourse to the possible export incentives which you may get from the government of India, including Duty drawback uh interest subvention, or MEIS schemes. So you need to calculate how much percentage of your final price you can bring down by taking into account these incentives, which are available from the government of India if you're an exporter from India. And how attractive can you make your pricing and other terms and conditions of your offer? So with these friends, you can carry out your export marketing very successfully and efficiently effectively and uh last but not least how you deal with your buyers how much commitment you can make with your buyers and how much you can keep your word with the buyers will Define the satisfaction level of the buyers and will potentially help you getting repeat orders from your international buyers. So dealing with your buyers your commitments your terms and conditions you have to be very serious about what you are committing to your international buyers what is written in the contracts how you manage your International risks of payment how you deal with the banks and how you bring down the cost of uh acquisition of international payments and how you reduce the cost of your International distribution International Logistics.

All these things will decide what kind of growth you can bring to your company and your Enterprise by increasing the potential of these international buyers and maintaining these buyers, increasing the client base, and improving the quantities for exports. So with these words I I thank you for participating in all the episodes which were related to this course and I sincerely hope that you have learned several rare skills which are required in the export marketing field and uh you must have found this information and tips techniques shared by myself and my guest speakers were very useful and very interesting and very relevant to your product line. thank you very much.

So friends in this section my idea was to demonstrate to you how you can have your presence online almost at no cost and still get free traffic from international buyers, and generate trade leads by having a very very important and mandatory thing to have your online presence on certain e-commerce portals, where International B2B customers are visiting like the one that I took as an example in this particular section. In any country, wherever you are, you will have similar services available to create an almost free online store on such a service.

This was just an example, uh, or you can see a case study of uh exports from India, and the same thing you can do in your country. So I'm sure this section must have been very useful to you in understanding why it is important to have your online catalogs or online store on an e-commerce portal of this type.

"Welcome back to the course! This section delves into practical export marketing and operational insights derived from real-life experiences. These tips are rooted in the intricacies of international marketing and operations. Covering various categories like pricing, communication, insurance, documentation, and more, we explore critical factors to consider.

When it comes to export pricing, we discuss the significance of fair pricing over deep cuts, emphasizing the importance of relationship-building over price leadership. Communication with overseas buyers is paramount, focusing on aspects like lead times, payment terms, delivery details, product knowledge, and brand policies.

The legal aspects underscore the necessity of understanding the buyer's country's laws and choosing jurisdiction wisely. Details regarding delivery terms, packing, export documentation, and insurance are also highlighted.

The lectures will equip you with practical strategies, aiding in confident decision-making and bolstering your expertise in export marketing and operations."

Hello friends, welcome back to the course. So in this section, I'll be talking about a few things that you must know. That you may say, as a practical export marketing and operations tips and techniques, whatever you say. These are the things that you must consider. These are the tips and techniques that come from experience. These are very practical. These have no direct logic.

They are the result of many such instances where people have gotten into difficult situations. So based on those experiences, based on those statistics of things happening in international marketing and operations, export operations, I have prepared these few things purely based on my own experience. So let's look at these practical export marketing and operations tips and techniques based on there are certain categories like pricing, communication, Insurance, and documentation that way. Let's see this. Let's go into this section and try to understand these points that are very important for you to note and consider.

So, for example, if I talk about export pricing, suppose if I want to talk about it, although whatever tips and techniques I'm going to talk about may not hold exactly the way I'm telling for every item of the export or any product or every product or every kind of commodity that you are exporting. It depends on industry, it depends on your product, and what kind of uh pricing you do. But these are a few things that you should get an idea of. So that you have some basis for decision-making, for example, on export pricing. So, for example, generally the pricing goal for global selling, International selling, for example, for b2c sales, why are we talking about b2c sales? Nowadays, you are also selling your goods through online sales in a very big way. B2c sales have become possible because of international digital channels like Amazon Global Selling or Itsy dot com, and Rakuten. So many International platforms are there. Even Alibaba provides such platforms.

Therefore, b2c sales have also become common for international marketing. So in such cases of b2c sales, typically the pricing goal should be at least a net profit of 100%. Just a starting point. By experience, you will exactly know what kind of margins you should keep. So that's one starting point I'm talking about. And similarly, if we talk of B2B sales business to business sales the target should be at least 50% profits to start with. You have to try it out unless the ordered quantity is substantially large. So, depending on the situation depending on case by case, how you face the situation, you have to see it, but this is a thumb rule you have to start this way. Another thing I would like to talk about when I talk of export pricing is avoiding deep cuts in pricing. Why? why I saying this? And that's the beauty of the export business.

The second thing I would like to discuss is communication with overseas buyers. What are the things to consider based on experience? What kinds of communication ideas should be in your mind? What are the things you should know when you are communicating with international buyers? First of all, there should be very professional and thorough communication.

That is required for different types of questions that come between you and the internal buyer. For example, lead time. What is the lead time between the order that has been placed and the actual shipment? This lead time has to be discussed very well, and it should be doable. You should talk in length with the overseas buyer about this lead time because this is very, very important. Because it has a lot of implications. Longer lead time may be a costly proposition for the buyer, but at the same time, if it is not practical to reduce the lead time, then you have to talk it out with your International buyer, and you have to find ways and means of reducing this lead time.

And for this, you need to communicate very effectively. And then, for example, on the question of payment terms, what should be the payment terms? These are very tricky things because you are dealing with overseas buyers who are located in a different country and under different laws of the land. So payment terms should be such that you feel comfortable depending on your relationship with the buyer. And those payment terms, whether your host country or whichever country you belong to, whether your government allows you to go for such payment terms that you should be aware of. In many countries, some of the payment terms uh are not allowed actually for certain product lines.

So generally, uh, the local governments do not allow you for safety purposes. So you have to be aware of all dimensions related to payment terms, and those should be communicated very effectively with the foreign buyers. And then similarly for the delivery terms. What are the delivery terms?

Then, concerning payment terms, we talk about some of the things that you should consider and should always have in mind. You should insist on payment through digital platform payment systems if you're selling b2c, especially. For example, if you're selling through Amazon Global Selling, payment should be through the Amazon uh platform. And if you're selling through, for example, Shopify, it should be uh through the Shopify payment system. So that is safe for both buyers as well as for you; it's a win-win for both. And your money is safe. So this should be the approach. And if you're selling B2B, for example, in such a case, you should insist on a confirmed letter of credit that should be irrevocable and should be issued by a first-class International Bank.

And if possible in B2B, also if any uh digital channel is involved, and if the digital platform is there, then you can think of payment through uh this digital platform also, if it is reputable. And you should always try to avoid direct payments if you're dealing with b2c, especially uh that is outside the digital platform uh payment system to take benefit of uh doing away with some kinds of commissions to such platform. That you should avoid that unless uh order is very large and there is a strong reason for you to avoid uh the platform payment system, and if the platform allows you. Then you should go for uh outside methods, especially through International Trade financing through a confirmed letter of credit that I mentioned to you. So this is uh very important thing that you should be keeping in your mind, and this concern should always be there in your mind at the top of your agenda.

Then also, when we talk of these payment terms, local banks of the buyer's country generally must be avoided, especially if you are dealing with uh developing countries or uh least developed countries, local banks generally are not reputed banks, and uh they should be avoided. Normally, with local banks, buyers will have a better say in uh their relationship with those Banks, and you may be at the receiving end. So that's why I'm saying that local banks should be avoided. In the case of a letter of credit, payments are made in the local currency of your own country, and that should be preferred if possible, if the buyer agrees, because it will help you to avoid foreign exchange fluctuations risks. So it is always better, and it will be more convenient for you.

Then talking about the legal aspects, if you talk of legal aspects uh in uh export marketing and uh operations, you should be sure about your products' legal validity, concerning that I have discussed earlier also, patents, certification issues for sale in the buyer country, especially if you are selling your goods in large quantities in B2B format business to business format. That is very, very important. So every Dimension that uh may be legal and that may concern your product, it should be very clear, it should be discussed with the buyer. Many things you may not know. The buyer will be able to give you such information. To be safe, the choice of Law and legal jurisdiction should be of the exporter's country. As the exporter, I'm telling you that if it is not possible or if it is not acceptable to your foreign buyer, then you should insist on a choice of Law and legal jurisdiction that belongs to a third country. You should never accept the buyer's country's law and legal jurisdiction.

That should not be accepted by you, especially if you're dealing with large quantities in B2B format. It should be avoided. Then, talking about delivery terms, you should always explain the commercial terms and their explanation. So, INCOTERMS I'm talking about, for the foreign buyer. To clarify things like what the point of transfer of ownership and responsibility is, those should be very clearly mentioned. Even though International commercial terms are very clear by themselves, they still require clarification in writing between you and the buyer depending on case to case on what kind of quantities that you are dealing with. So, for example, in the case of a FOB contract, it is important to know shipping details from the buyer and whether you are required to load the goods on the ship or not.? Even though INCOTERMS says that in FOB contracts, as an exporter, you are required to load the goods.

Then, about packing details. You should be able to clarify on your standard packing detail what you generally do as standard packing for all your exports to similar regions, where your buyer is looking for goods to be delivered. Or any customization if the buyer is insisting on what is if it is required should be clarified with the buyer. So packing is a very, very sensitive thing, and uh, it has many, many implications, many dimensions are there. You should include any extra cost of customized packing in your price quote. For example, suppose you are exporting uh ready-made garments uh ladies' fashion garments, the buyer may insist on some kind of special type of retail packing uh for each dress which is being exported. So it will come with some extra cost.

These things have to be clarified. Ask for the buyer's specified marks on the boxes, shipment, export shipment that is going maybe in containers, on the export boxes, secondary boxes, or tertiary boxes, and even on primary boxes. What buyers want. But here, if you talk of the shipment marks, special shipment marks to identify the shipment for tertiary packing, what kind of uh marking is required? Shipping marks have to be clarified by the buyer so that you are on the same page. Although those shipping marks will be there on the packing list also, it is better to clarify with the buyer what he wants. how it want? what, for example, kind of color does he want?

Generally, the shipping marks are in black, but they can be in red. So these things have to be clarified. Especially when you are dealing with large quantities and uh even in smaller quantities shipments uh if it is not a b2c sale it is a B2B sale generally I'm talking about in that case also to be able to identify your products in uh a sea of goods it is very, very important to know uh what the shipping marks. So this is very uh uh this becomes a very uh critical thing to be clear about.

Then, concerning the export documentation area, there are a few things I want to share with you. These are very indicative of what you should be concerned about. For example, in the case of EX Works or EX Factory terms, ask for the exact documents required by the buyer in advance, as the customs clearance in the export country (that means the home country) will be the buyer's responsibility, and the buyer will be handling it themselves. They will only be able to tell you what documents are required, and this is very important.

The list of documents you are considering, thinking that your goods are being delivered at the factory gate, is not sufficient. That is not all, because otherwise the buyer will not be able to get the goods cleared at their home country customs. It is therefore very important to clarify this in advance.

You should always carefully study all documentary credit terms, LC terms, and other required documents needed to get the payment before accepting the letter of credit. Otherwise, later on, the buyer may not agree to make LC amendments, or even if they do, there may be extra costs involved in getting it done. It is therefore very important to check everything before accepting the LC.

Ask for any LC amendments only if they are necessary — for instance, if a particular document becomes difficult to procure, which you earlier thought would be easy, and the buyer agrees to make an LC amendment. Such situations can be major problems, so you should always be ready for any kind of LC amendment on genuine grounds.

Also, ask the buyer about any special documentary requirements in the host country, if any. The buyer will have a better idea and may require certain special documents for getting the goods cleared at the port of discharge, in the buyer’s country — that is, at the buyer’s customs or border control.

Additionally, ask the buyer for the exact description of the goods that should appear on all documents, especially the commercial invoice. Clarify the ITC HS classifications, as I have already discussed earlier. You should be on the same page, because there may be slight variations, especially in the 10- and 12-digit ITC HS codes. You must also know which codes are approved by the border control and customs authorities of the buyer’s country.

Accordingly, you have to decide how the documents should be prepared so as to suit both the home country and the host country.

Then, talking about the insurance terms. You should clarify with the buyer about any Transit insurance for Inland Transportation. However, depending on INCOTERMS, the Inland uh Transportation Insurance and Transit Insurance may be the responsibility of the exporter. But many times, what happens when international buyers get comprehensive door-to-door Insurance, also means from the factory gate of the exporter to the warehouse or the receiving address of the buyer? Sometimes, such kinds of insurance policies are taken by the buyer; in that case, you need to take transit Insurance. So these things are very common, and you should always clarify with the buyer who will bear the transit insurance and who will be getting it.

These were some of the things that uh, I thought from my own experience that I should be able to communicate with you and convey to you uh based on um the requirements in different aspects of international marketing and Export operations. These are a few things that I wanted to share with you. I will keep you updated with more such tips and techniques in the future, whenever it comes to my notice and uh to my remembrance in which case I will keep you posted with any additional uh tips and techniques in this regard I'm sure this section was useful to you it gave you uh some really good tips and techniques about export pricing about communication with overseas buyers about documentation with regards to uh with uh insurance about delivery terms about payment terms many different aspects of uh practical export marketing and Export operations were covered in this particular section. I'm sure this section will make you more confident in this uh export marketing and operation area.

The journey of generating trade leads encompasses multifaceted challenges, which we shall navigate together. From understanding the competitive landscape to the complexities of transforming inquiries into concrete business transactions, in the next few lectures, we'll delve into the myriad methods and strategies essential for success. We'll explore traditional approaches such as participation in trade fairs and exhibitions, alongside modern techniques like leveraging online platforms, social media marketing, and the power of networking through industry-specific associations and business networks.

Hello, friends.

Welcome back to the course.

In this section, which is a bonus section for this course, I am going to discuss some ideas for generating trade leads in the export business.

It's a very difficult process, as you already know, and most of the time of an entrepreneur is spent on generating business from all over the world, from overseas. It's a very difficult and crucial aspect of developing exports and becoming a successful exporter, actually.

Let me share with you some ideas about generating leads.

What are its characteristics?

Let's see that. Generating trade leads is very, very crucial.

As I had just mentioned to you. It is a very important step in becoming a successful exporter.

So, being so crucial, it becomes a very important thing to keep on finding ways and means of getting trade leads, finding buyers, finding partners, and finding markets all over the world for your products.

And sometimes, as I have just mentioned, it can be a very, very difficult process.

Why is it difficult? because there is so much competition. What happens?

Export is a very attractive proposition.

It is a very large market; the international market is very large, and the potential of making profits in international trade is very, very high because of this difficulty alone.

And so many people are involved in getting business in international markets.

It makes it very difficult to get the trade leads, first of all. And then convert those trade leads into business.

Converting the inquiries into business becomes the most difficult part of this process.

At times, it can be very expensive to generate trade leads.

For example, I will give you one example if you participate in international trade fairs. For example, if you are an Indian exporter and you want to participate in a three- to four-day or maybe five-day international trade fair or any overseas exhibition, typically you end up spending Indian rupees 1 million minimum for running one, uh, International European Exhibition.

These kinds of expenditures are there for attending international, uh, trade exhibitions or trade fairs.

This is one of the most expensive methods of generating trade leads.

Such a kind of participation.

There are many other methods and ways of generating trade leads that I will be discussing with you in this section. And generating trade leads requires concerted and continuous efforts.

The very hard part of becoming a successful exporter. It requires a lot of strenuous work, continuous work, and concerted work. And very importantly, generating trade leads requires a very complete and deeper knowledge of your products.

That's why I told you in this particular course in one of the sections, that do your homework, which means before you solicit export orders, do your homework in the form of doing complete product research.

Whether you are a manufacturer, exporter, or you are a merchant exporter, you should know everything about your product better than anybody on this planet.

You should know about your product. You should know its weaknesses. You should know its strengths.

Everything, all details, all data, all images, and all videos should be with you about your product, about your manufacturing, if you are a manufacturer, and about the machines that manufacture those products; everything should be very meticulously documented to be able to effectively generate trade leads in international markets.

Talking about different approaches and effective methods of generating trade leads.

First and foremost is your market research.

If you remember, I told you in this particular course that market research starts with desk research. Desk research is the starting point, and it will give you a lot of confidence and a strong grip on international markets as well as on your product.

Market research is required for both the front end and the back end. The front end refers to international markets with the potential to generate trade leads, while the back end focuses on supply, whether through manufacturing or trading. This kind of market research is essential.

To do this effectively, you need to conduct extensive market research to identify countries or regions with demand for your products or services. You should utilize market reports, industry publications, and databases, both online and offline, to understand market trends, consumer preferences, and to carry out competitor analysis.

This is just an introduction and a simple description of what you have to do in international market research. There are many aspects to consider. In present times, you can use AI tools — artificial intelligence tools — to carry out extensive and advanced forms of market research.

These AI tools are now easily available and within reach for everyone. By using them, the kind of international market research you can perform becomes far more effective and insightful.

Then, as I had mentioned earlier in this session, participation in trade shows and exhibitions is another approach and a very effective method. It is a traditional and long-established method of generating trade leads. For certain products, it becomes especially important and even necessary, for example, in the case of engineering goods, machinery, or industrial plants, where participation in trade shows is critical.

If your product is primarily B2B and not a consumer item, and you are targeting industrial buyers, participating in trade shows and exhibitions becomes very important.

You need to attend relevant trade shows, exhibitions, and industry events both domestically and internationally. These events provide valuable networking opportunities to connect with potential buyers, distributors, partners, and even suppliers.

Another time-tested method of generating trade leads in the present times is online marketing and social media activities.

Here, you establish a strong online presence through websites, social media platforms, and online marketplaces such as Amazon Global Selling. In Amazon Global Selling, for example, you can access different marketplaces like the North American, Japanese, UK, or Middle Eastern markets — around 13 to 14 global marketplaces where you can set up your online shop.

In this process, you need to create compelling content such as product videos, as I had mentioned earlier.

I want to share with you certain tips for effectively generating trade leads.

One of the tips I want to give you is that you should find a value proposition in your product.

So what is this value proposition?

You need to study your product.

You have to do your research, and you have to do competitor analysis or product analysis, comparing your product with competitors, what unique value it provides in terms of quality, in terms of functionality, in terms of price, in terms of uh, uh, associated, related services, uh, for the clients, international clients. What is the value proposition that you can, uh, offer and that is capable of attracting customers, international customers?

What happens to this kind of value proposition if you are confident, and if it is effective, and if it is logical, it is going to work in your favor in effectively generating trade leads.

Secondly, you should focus on landed costs for overseas buyers instead of focusing on your price.

Your price is only one component of the landed cost.

Landed costs for overseas buyers include your price, uh, sundry expenses, logistics expenses, transportation, insurance, uh, and freight charges, as well as import duties or taxes, and local taxes to the buyer.

So ultimately buyer is concerned with the landed cost,

not so much to your cost.

Your cost is just one component.

So you need to focus on landed cost to eliminate options of different markets that probably have more, uh, uh, taxes and border controls for your products.

Tariffs and non-tariff barriers are there.

You need to focus on those markets where, uh, the border controls are less, taxes are less, import duties are less.

The landed cost of your product to the buyer is less if they buy from you.

Focusing on landed cost is very, very important. Then you should be able to optimize the cost of generating leads. Indiscriminately spending money to generate leads by giving free samples that may be very expensive, or participation in international trade fairs, or, uh, setting up a very expensive social media or digital marketing presence can be, uh, a barrier for, uh, success in export business.

So you should be able to, uh, make the right strategies to optimize the cost of generating such kind of trade leads.

Now, let me share with you some examples of online platforms and databases that are very commonly used by exporters around the world to generate trade leads.

First of all, I will talk about a portal called Alibaba.com, one of the largest online marketplaces connecting manufacturers and suppliers with buyers worldwide. This particular trade portal, Alibaba.com, covers a wide range of industries and products.

You must study this portal thoroughly. You should look at the available features and facilities, and if the portal provides online buying and selling options, you need to understand those methods, processes, deliverables, and how the system works. You must explore this portal in depth to be able to generate trade leads effectively.

Also, try to find out whether there are associated websites that maintain data on different transactions happening on Alibaba.com. For example, there is a website called JungleScout.com, which maintains data for Amazon transactions.

All transactions taking place on Amazon — whether business-to-business or business-to-consumer — are monitored and collated by this website, JungleScout.com. Similarly, there may be certain sources or websites that offer insights into the different transactions taking place on Alibaba.com.

Another website worth mentioning is GlobalSources.com. This is an online B2B marketplace that connects buyers worldwide with suppliers, especially from Asia. Its primary focus is on electronics, fashion, and gifts. If you are involved in these kinds of industries, this particular portal will be very important for you. Another portal I would like to mention is TradeKey. TradeKey is a global trade platform that connects buyers and sellers worldwide. It covers various industries, including agriculture, machinery, and textiles. If you are working in these sectors, this portal will be very useful to you. Another India-based portal is IndiaMART. This platform focuses on connecting Indian suppliers and manufacturers with global buyers. It offers a wide range of products across different industries but focuses mainly on Asia, more specifically, suppliers and exporters from India. Another valuable online and offline resource is Kompass. It is a very reputable and long-established directory, also available offline. You can find Kompass directories that provide profiles of international buyers and large importing companies in the U.S. and European countries. These directories — both offline and online — can be accessed through subscription or by visiting American Centers located in many cities.

These American Centers provide commercial information and, in many cases, free access to Kompass as well. Kompass is a global business directory that provides company information, allowing businesses to find partners, suppliers, and customers across various industries. However, the information provided is quite selective and high-quality.

Another online resource available for this purpose is called ExportHub.

Here.

I would also like to talk about some other online communities to find buyers and suppliers that can be used very cost-effectively.

Very, very useful and very well-tested, the online community portal is Facebook, which has many trade groups.

Now, if you use common tags like export, import, global trade, textile exports, or textile business, commodities trade, European trade, US trade, UK trade.

You use these tags in search, and you press groups in the Facebook sidebar.

You will find these trade groups on Facebook.

So you join these trade groups and you interact with the other members.

These trade groups have uh at times, thousands and thousands of members.

They comprise buyers; they comprise sellers. They comprise business partners and overseas customers.

So these are very useful trade groups where you can generate trade leads.

Then another portal is LinkedIn, and it has many trade groups. Uh, you can find these trade groups using common tags like China export-import or fruit exports or European trade groups, or export manager tags.

These tags, when you use you will find all these trade groups on LinkedIn.

These can be very useful to generate leads.

Friends generating trade leads internationally can be a very daunting, difficult, and expensive task.

But it remains very crucial.

And this is, uh, a positive sign that if you can, uh, generate leads, uh, for, uh, the competitors, it becomes an entry barrier for others.

And that is the reason if you can effectively generate leads and, uh, you can convert those trade inquiries into business, chances of making profits, very huge profits because of the volume involved in international trade are very, very high.

So with this note, I wish you good luck in your endeavor to generate international trade leads effectively and efficiently.

All the best.

In this upcoming series of video lectures, we'll delve into utilizing different AI models to generate trade leads, conduct market and desk research, and assist new exporters in navigating international markets. Our initial focus will be on a straightforward exercise demonstrating the utilization of AI, specifically ChatGPT, to perform desk research for a manufacturer venturing into international markets. We'll explore how a manufacturer of toners and developers for photocopiers and laser printers, based in Gujarat, India, seeks to begin exporting products globally.

Through interactions with ChatGPT, we'll witness the manufacturer's queries and the AI's responses, discover industry directories, trade associations, and online B2B marketplaces, and identify potential importers and exhibitions. As the exercise progresses, the manufacturer refines prompts to ChatGPT, seeking specific information on trade shows, importers, and competitive manufacturers worldwide.

Join us as we unravel the power of ChatGPT in aiding businesses to navigate the complexities of international trade through simple yet effective AI-powered desk research exercises. This initial exercise serves as a foundational step, paving the way for further exploration of advanced AI applications in subsequent lectures within this course.

Hello friends.

Welcome back to the course.

In this section, my goal is to apprise you of various ways in which you can use AI in its very simple form or more difficult forms, how you are going to use different possibilities that are there in using AI and AI models to generate leads, to do market research, to do desk research, to start taking off as a new exporter in the market.

To start with, I am going to take up a very simple exercise in this particular section, where I will be using the most obvious way of using AI to start doing desk research to find initial ideas about exporting your products and understanding the international market.

In this particular exercise that I'm going to take a very simple exercise, which I'm going to take up, I'll be talking about a new entry in the international market.

That means a manufacturer of certain products in India who, for the first time, wants to understand the international market for his products that he is already selling in the Indian market very successfully.

I will take up this example of a manufacturer of toners and developers for photocopiers and laser printers.

This manufacturer has its manufacturing plant in Gujarat and wants to start exporting as a new exporter in the Indian market.

How he starts using, uh, I in the form of ChatGPT and how he starts the research.

Let's see this exercise.

Very simple exercise.

In this very simple exercise, manufacturers start writing about their products and company to ChatGPT, saying that I am a manufacturer of toners and developers for photocopiers and laser printers, having the latest machinery bought from Switzerland under a basic license from the plant supplier.

I am presently supplying my products in the domestic market for certain fast-selling copiers and printers as replacement and consumable ink.

It is also called for using products in loose form as well as in plastic cartridges.

I supply both wholesale and retail packs, my products, which are also known as dry ink.

I now wish to export my products to the international market, as I feel that my product quality is world-class, having all international quality checks and certificates.

I also feel that the cost of manufacturing my products is internationally competitive, and therefore, I can supply my products internationally at competitive prices.

Names of large importers of these products and in which countries they are located.

Now ChatGPT starts giving the ideas initial ideas, but it does not tell you the names of the importers or the countries.

It simply tells you to start with what you should do.

Do not worry, this is just the start of the exercise, and you will understand that.

How ChatGPT will respond to different questions.

It talks about industry directories and associations, or trade shows and exhibitions. It talks about online B2B marketplaces. It talks about, for example, industry directories and trade associations like JIRA or Imaging Supplies

Coalition, ISC, or it talks about the International Imaging Technology Council, which is an international ITC.

So it is giving you some ideas in the form of like trade shows for printing and imaging technology, or office supplies, also.

Because I like ChatGPT.

They need to be prompted in a way that gives you better answers.

So here he is, trying some more questions that probably will give the manufacturer better answers.

It says that it writes that.

Can you suggest to me the names of important trade shows and exhibitions for showcasing my other products?

Now, this question has come from the initial ideas given by ChatGPT.

So here, by asking that, can you suggest to me the names of important trade shows and exhibitions for showcasing my product?

ChatGPT is now telling the names of such trade shows and exhibitions.

So it talks about things like Drupa, which is held in Germany, or it talks about Remax World, which is held in China.

It talks about the paper world that is held in Frankfurt, Germany. It talks about Photokina, which is held in Cologne, Cologne.

And it also talks about Gitex Technology Week.

It also talks about the Consumer Electronics Show or the CES, it uh, talks about uh, this particular show in the context of consumer electronics, including printing technology, or it talks about print and digital Expo. It talks about, uh, this particular expo that is held in South Africa, which is focusing on the packaging and signage industry. It talks about Graphics Canada, which is held in Toronto, Canada. It has now started giving some better ideas for the initial disclosures.

Encouraged by this answer, the manufacturer starts writing more prompts to ChatGPT, and it writes to ChatGPT.

So, increased by such responses from ChatGPT manufacturers start prompting in a more refined way, and ask which countries are the trading centers and world hubs for office consumables and office supplies.

Such questions are now coming from the manufacturer to ChatGPT.

Very simple exercise you can see here.

In this case, the answer to ChatGPT is in two formats.

The difference is that in these two different answers, some common countries are suggested, but one country that is not mentioned in the first one is the UAE, and that is much more relevant to Indian exporters.

The obvious choice of the manufacturer would be the second choice of the ChatGPT answer, which includes

Singapore and the UAE, because they are near India and are known trading centers.

It talks about the United States.

Also, it talks about other countries like China or Germany, which focus on high-quality office supplies, or Japan, which again focuses on high-quality stationery and writing instruments, or the UK, which is the trading center for office supplies in Europe, South Korea is known for its technological advancement, or Singapore, acting as a regional hub in Southeast Asia.

And it also talks about the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai in particular serves as a major trading center in the Middle East.

This is a very interesting response from ChatGPT that gives not only the list of countries but also gives some extra information.

Also very hard to find information that otherwise is very, very difficult.

Now the manufacturer is getting much more impressed with these responses and starts prompting in more innovative ways.

Now the manufacturer is getting much more encouraged by these responses and starts prompting in more innovative ways. He now asks ChatGPT, “Can you suggest names of some large importers or dealers of office supplies and consumables in the UAE?” If he had written “Dubai,” it would have been even better, but he has written “UAE.”

ChatGPT responds by giving names of possible importers such as OfficeRock.com, a major online platform in the UAE specializing in office supplies, stationery, and consumables for businesses; Al Masam Stationery and Office Supplies, involved in supplying a wide range of office products; Office One LLC, which offers a comprehensive range; AAB Tools; Altimus Office Supplies; and Speedex Group.

Now ChatGPT is revealing names that are very useful for the manufacturer to start with and take off in the international market. The manufacturer, feeling encouraged by these responses, becomes more innovative with his prompts and asks, “Can you suggest names of some large importers or dealers of office supplies and consumables in Singapore?”

He understands that for Indian exporters, the UAE and Singapore are obvious choices. ChatGPT responds to this question by giving names of some large importers in Singapore, including Office World Supply, a prominent importer and distributor of office supplies, stationery, and consumables in Singapore; Stamford Office Supplies, specializing in a wide range of office products including consumables; AOS Online, a supplier of office products; RubberStamp.com.sg; Singapore Office Supplies; and TecoBuy Singapore.

It also provides additional details beyond just names. ChatGPT is now revealing highly useful information for the manufacturer.

The manufacturer then asks a similar question, but for the United Kingdom, seeking names of large importers and dealers of office supplies and consumables there. ChatGPT responds with a list that includes Viking Direct, Office Depot UK, Lyreco, EuroOffice, Amazon Business UK, Staples UK, and Ryman.

This list comes from ChatGPT based on its refined prompts. As the manufacturer fine-tunes his questions, the AI engine (the LLM assistant ChatGPT) becomes more conversant with his business context. He continues to ask more questions, such as, “What are the online trading platforms where I can set up an e-commerce portal to sell my products in different parts of the world, both in B2B and B2C formats?”

ChatGPT responds with names like Amazon, eBay, Alibaba, Shopify, Magento, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, Global Sources, TradeIndia, and Made-in-China.com. It explains that these are platforms the manufacturer can explore and try his luck on. Additional information is also available — if he wants to focus on any of these platforms individually, he can prompt ChatGPT to give specific details, such as the cost of setting up an online store on those platforms.

In this exercise, the manufacturer then asks ChatGPT, “How much does it cost to participate in a typical international trade show like Paperworld for an exporter from India?” Since he is an Indian manufacturer, he wants to understand what it would cost for his company to participate in Paperworld.

ChatGPT responds not by giving an exact figure, but by listing the different cost heads involved, allowing him to make a rough estimate. It explains the cost breakdown — booth space rental, booth design and construction, travel and accommodation, shipping and logistics, marketing and promotional materials, staffing and manpower, additional services, insurance, and miscellaneous expenses.

By reading this, the manufacturer gets very good initial guidance for preparing his cost estimates.

As ChatGPT continues to understand its context, it becomes even more responsive. The manufacturer then asks specific questions like, “I know that the Indian Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) provides affordable booths for Indian exporters to participate in several trade shows and exhibitions worldwide. Does this organization — ITPO — participate in any of the trade shows or exhibitions we have discussed in this chat?”

ChatGPT responds by saying it does not have a specific list but mentions the possibility of ITPO participating in these trade shows — particularly highlighting Paperworld, which is a famous and relevant trade show for manufacturers of office supplies, stationery, and paper products. It suggests visiting the ITPO website to find the latest list of trade shows in which ITPO is participating. It also mentions that exporters can reduce costs by booking subsidized booths within the Indian Pavilion managed by ITPO, which is a large pavilion subdivided into smaller booths.

Now ChatGPT is providing valuable, hard-to-find information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. The manufacturer becomes very excited, realizing he is getting much better responses than expected as an initial desk researcher.

He further asks ChatGPT, “Can you tell me which companies are very active in manufacturing and selling products similar to mine? Are there any international competitors, and which countries do they belong to?”

ChatGPT responds with names like HP, Canon, Epson, Brother, Xerox Corporation, Ricoh, Kyocera, and Samsung — all multinational companies that are very active in this sector. It also provides additional information about them.

The manufacturer, using his own industry knowledge, understands that these companies cannot possibly manufacture all their photocopier toners, developers, and consumables by themselves. They must be sourcing some of them as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) supplies. This means these companies are also potential buyers for his products.

Through this simple exercise, I have tried to demonstrate, using this small case study based on real situations from my experience, how ChatGPT — even in its simplest form — can provide valuable, hard-to-find information. You can start your desk research in this way.

This was the demonstration I wanted to share with you. In later sessions, I will discuss the use of AI and AI models in more advanced ways and for more specific tasks in this area.

Friends, remember the opening case study of this course, where we began by discussing Indian brands as examples. Should we now try to answer the questions that were raised in that opening case study?

Now that we have covered a reasonably good amount of material in this course on practical export marketing skills and trade leads, let us take those questions one by one.

The first subject of the question was about the market penetration strategies of these companies. Are there some standard formulas?

We can now say there is no single formula. From everything we have learned in this course, it is very clear that not all brands use the same strategy. Even though they were Indian, operating in the same environment and with similar advantages, their methods differed.

These Indian brands leveraged their unique cultural heritage, population diversity, and cost-effective manufacturing capabilities to their advantage to penetrate international markets. This much is certain. However, it cannot be said with certainty that anyone possessing these advantages will automatically succeed in global market penetration.

Practical marketing skills include many of the aspects we have discussed in this course. For instance, the course illustrates successful strategies from various examples where companies were able to differentiate their products globally.

How did they differentiate their products globally? There is no single formula for that either. The course discusses how different strategies used by these companies or brands resonated with consumers seeking authentic and culturally rich products, especially in the context of Indian brands. This likely aided their market penetration, but it cannot be said that these same strategies will work for every brand. The course makes that very clear.

The second question referred to digitalization and its connection with the global presence of these brands. This is very clear — the course extensively covered the impact of digital technologies on international marketing.

As students, you must have explored how brands from many countries, including the Indian brands discussed in the opening case study, utilize social media, e-commerce platforms, and digital marketing to reach global audiences.

For example, real-world cases such as Infosys expanding its IT services to over 50 countries demonstrate the power of digital platforms in expanding global outreach and diversifying customer bases. Many other small and medium-sized companies are using the same approach successfully, demonstrating the effectiveness of digital platforms.

In this course, we discussed many such platforms that can be used by these companies, and this particular question is clearly answered: digitalization works for most companies.

The third question referred to sustainability and competitive edge. What is the connection between adopting sustainable practices and gaining a competitive edge in international markets? Is it workable?

The course emphasizes the growing importance of sustainability in the manufacturing process for export-driven companies. This is certain.