Any client who works with me, if they later purchase goods, their first choice should be me, even if my price isn’t the cheapest. Why?
1: When sending bills of lading, I always send them separately. Of course, I pay for this myself. The reason is very simple: I’m afraid of losing. To pick up the goods, only one original bill of lading is needed. The three originals are sent in two shipments. If one is lost, the client can still pick up the goods with the remaining original bill of lading, and not all goods will be lost at once! Although I have never encountered lost cargo so far, clients appreciate our care and professionalism.
2: Whether the client requests it or not, I always apply for free demurrage and detention for clients. After applying, I will inform the client how many days of free demurrage and detention I applied for, in case they cannot handle the port fees. Even if the goods have arrived at the ports and the cost is not related to us, we are attentive to clients. Therefore, clients are very satisfied and feel our attentiveness!
3: Many foreign clients also request letters of credit. For example, clients from Korea and Thailand have short delivery schedules. Maybe the goods have arrived at the ports, but our documents might not be ready yet. After completing the document delivery, they will be sent to the issuing bank. After the issuing bank’s review, contacting the issuer will take a lot of time or even delay the usage period, and I will take the initiative to offer clients a delivery service. Many clients don’t even know they have this option. They are very happy to learn they can receive the goods early, so they appreciate our enthusiasm and professionalism.
4. When a client suggests using a sight letter of credit for transactions, we advise clients to use a usance letter of credit. The usance term is for the beneficiary on-site, the credit is extended, which reduces financial pressure. Many clients who didn’t know they had this option would be very curious to go to the bank and ask. When they learned this option really exists, they were very pleased. Their impression of us gets better and better, and they become convinced of our qualified business and work.
5: I take the initiative to check on clients. I previously had an 81-year-old buyer from Hong Kong, a 78-year-old client from Korea, a 76-year-old client from Thailand, who are still making purchases but always miss something and don’t admit they forgot, thinking it’s the people selling the goods who forgot and delayed their matters. But after working with me, such things never happen because I carefully consider every detail. For example, when they forget to ask me to split the receipts, I remind them; sometimes they do CFR but forget to get insurance, I call to inform them not to forget to buy insurance. I am accepted not as a seller, but as a considerate person. Therefore, cooperation comes naturally!
6: After signing the contract, I often update clients on the product delivery progress, take photos of the warehouse, tell clients about our booking progress, etc. And we stay in touch constantly. If for any reason it’s truly impossible to book a flight, we promptly notify the client and share the news that we booked the next flight, so clients have a real-time understanding of the goods’ delivery progress. This is also an embodiment of professionalism!
7: During the goods packing and shipping process, I ask workers to photograph all stages: empty boxes, half-full boxes, full boxes, reinforcement, sealing, seals, and then send them to the clients. The reasons I do this are to inform the client that the goods have been physically shipped, as clients have the right to know all this, which shows we are professional and responsible.
8: Even if it’s not on board, we provide clients with the existing bill of lading number and the shipping company’s website so they can accurately understand the latest status of their goods. I always pay attention to this, I will inform clients until the goods are on board. And I ask operations to issue the packing list the first time, so the client can check if any contents need to be changed.
9: For clients using letters of credit, even if the delivery period isn’t specified there (usually 21 days), I require our operator to produce the receipts as soon as possible. On one hand, we can collect money sooner. On the other hand, we can let clients get the documents quickly and handle related matters.
There are more details than I mentioned. In short, details
