Trade Data

      Translation: Before the Chinese New Year, we connected with a client, a Fortune 500 company ranking in the top 100. After confirming satisfactory payment terms and pricing, we sent samples for testing. The entire process from initiating contact with the client to sending samples took less than a month. The communication flowed smoothly, and the client provided positive feedback on the sample testing, without identifying any issues.

      I initially thought the client would place an order soon, but their response was that they currently do not require the products. As the year-end approached, I decided to wait until after the Chinese New Year to reconnect with the client. Recently, I reached out to the client again, and they made some inquiries. The quoted prices this time were similar to the ones previously confirmed before sending samples. However, the client provided feedback that the prices were too high and specified the percentage by which they found them elevated. Unfortunately, I cannot meet the price expectation, and currently, we are at an impasse.

     The initial quotation was based on the target price provided by the client, which actually offered a good profit margin. However, the recent feedback on the quoted prices indicates that I cannot meet the client's expectations at all. Why has this situation arisen? How should I proceed with discussing it with the client?

In simple terms, your initial conceptualization and expectations were merely intuitive judgments, while the client has been continuously monitoring the market situation. Now, the client has proposed a new target price. It's possible that, based on a substantial amount of information from the market and suppliers, the client aims to push the goal a bit lower. This creates a deviation between the client's price expectations and ours. At this point, it's essential not to remain at an impasse but to engage in a constructive discussion.

You can express that the client's target price is too low, and based on my XX years of experience in this industry, achieving this quality at that price is simply not feasible. Simultaneously, inquire about the client's market positioning.

In handling this situation, you may choose to either lower product performance or quality to approach the achievable target price and inform the client of the price you can offer (with a slight margin, but not too much to prevent further price pressure). Alternatively, you can maintain the quality, support the new client, and provide some promotional offers during the March trade promotion festival.