Last time we talked about why you need Chinese suppliers in Film/TV broadcast industry. Today let’s move further and discuss how to choose a good Film/TV products supplier in China. These are based on my experience in the past decade.
The purpose of this article is to find a supplier that you can set up long-term cooperation with. This supplier has long-standing business dealings, provides quality products, and updates constantly in line with the market.
Why should we consider long-term cooperation?
1) To reduce financial risk. An excellent supplier with long-time business can guarantee that you will get good quality products with every payment and provide satisfying after-sales service.
2) Stable supply chain and product supply, can better serve customers and promote sales growth.
3) To capture market advantage. Think about that you know how to judge and choose a good supplier in the long term when the supplier is still growing and not well known; you will have the best opportunity to sell their products in your market and even become the sole dealer. At least one step ahead of your competitors, who might be in trouble when their suppliers are closed.
So, how to find a reliable Chinese supplier of Film/TV equipment that you can cooperate with in the long term?
Here we analyze it, including Product, People, Price, Marketing, Warranty, and Matching degree.
1. Product
It is obvious that products are the first and most important factor we need to see when choosing suppliers.
- If they have the products you are looking for?
- If they have their own design and differentiation advantage in the products?
- If they are specialized in Film/TV industry?
- If they understand and care about how the equipment is used, and what the users talk about?
Actually, many suppliers just see what kind of equipment is hot in the market and then supply products similar to others. In this context, those suppliers who design products based on users would be valuable.
2. People
When we choose a long-term supplier, it is far from enough to focus on existing products only. The key point is, people from the supplier’s company must be reliable. For a Film/TV equipment distributor, the most related people on the supplier’s side are the boss and the salesperson you directly contact.
The boss should have a personality of Integrity, be trustworthy, and be willing to focus on the Film/TV industry for a long. He/she knows well about doing business and management. It would be better if he/she could speak English. That means you can easily communicate with this person and he/she can easily understand the points that international customers really care about.
The salesperson is the window of a company. You need to contact your sales representative about each progress. A good salesperson can help your business a lot. Oppositely, an incompetent salesperson will become a barrier in your cooperation with a supplier.
The salesperson should have a personality of integrity too. He/she is optimistic and easy to communicate with, works hard, and is willing to find ways to solve various problems. In a word, you feel excellent communication with this kind of people.
3. Price policy
The supplier should make a clear list price. It is better to have a distribution price. If the price policy were a mess, there would be price competition. Dealer’s profit will be less and less. Products will not sell well in the long term.
4. Marketing policy
The supplier sells products to all customers, or just develops one or two dealers in each particular area in a planned way?
If the supplier develops E-commerce mainly by itself?
5. Warranty terms
Ask the supplier about the products’ warranty time. Usually, for LED panels, LED Fresnel, Flexible lighting, the warranty time is 12 months at least. Some suppliers provide 24 months warranty for 14.8V camera batteries V-lock(V-mount) /Gold (Anton Bauer) mount.
Ask the suppliers how they provide warranty service if there are products in faulty, and see if you can accept their warranty ways.
6. Matching degree
The last point is you would better choose a supplier matching your business. If you are a small company or start-up, big suppliers will not attach importance to cooperating with you. Accordingly, it is probably a better choice to choose a reliable trading company supplying selective products from multiple brands.
If you wish to develop your own brand and need the supplier’s OEM service, those suppliers with good marketing may not be the best choice. However, those companies with good products and weak marketing may be more conducive to your long-term cooperation.
Finally, I want to say, there is no perfect company, just like there is no perfect person. So most of the time, we just select the most suitable ones within the existing resources.
You could also contact me (fannie@eversirius.com) to pick trustworthy partners with you together. I know well about Film/TV broadcast suppliers in China. I am good at communication and negotiation.
Thank you for reading!
