My first time visiting an expo in China
Hi Tron fans!I have prepared an extraordinary blog entry just for you – all about my experiences at the Pro Light and Sound Expo in China. I think this story can be quite interesting for everyone who involved in this business and anyone who would like to learn a thing or two on how to do business in China. Hope you enjoy reading all about my adventure, sending greetings, Richie ?.
What have I learned from the expo?
Whenever we talk of any expo or exhibition, we usually think about those that happen in Europe – we’ve been to a whole bunch and it’s quite obvious what you can expect (at least from my perspective). Within Europe most countries have similar cultures, similar habits, similar markets – it’s usually just the venue that can surprise you. The expo in China was really different, at least for me it was quite an experience. This was maybe especially because it was my first time ever visiting there, and I have to say the way they do business is very different from us.
What are the main differences?
- Language Barriers = in China it’s very hard to communicate in English. Only very few people speak anything other than Chinese. We needed to hire an interpreter after the first day at the expo, because it was otherwise virtually impossible to explain details about our LED suits or other products our company offers.
- Communication in general = In China, they don’t use the usual means of communication like emails, WhatsApp, Skype, or basically any of the commonly used western platforms that we generally use for keeping in touch with our customers in Europe/USA. Instead, in China they have their own equivalent – the WeChat. It’s an application for chatting, social media, it has a translate function, and can even be used for money transactions, all in one app. All Chinese networking is built around this app.
- Payment methods = In China, they hardly ever use cash or credit cards. Of course, in most places you can still pay with cash, but all the locals pay via WeChat.
- Knowing Geography = after the first day we decided to print the world map, just to show where Slovakia is and how far away it is from China. I have never really expected the Chinese to know where Slovakia is, but I was really surprised when many people didn’t even know where Europe is.
- Safety measures = In China they don’t have lot of laws for workplace safety like we do in Europe. They don’t need any certificate or license for laser installations and it’s pretty normal that laser beams hit your eye. Never mind that you could be blinded for the rest of your live. It’s no big deal …
- Price tag = Everybody knows that China is the factory of the world. They can produce things very cheaply due to a well-built supplier chain and skilled workers that are paid very little in comparison with, say, Europe. The problem with this is that our product is made in Slovakia and we have got much stricter laws (and better paid work force), so we can’t match the local prices. We focus on quality and aim for high-end products, we never sell anything that would be low quality. It’s quite hard to explain that our, comparatively higher, price includes many extra things that the local manufacturers wouldn’t offer – like online support, warranty, tutorial videos, and high-quality software.
Conclusion: Was it worth going to the expo in China?
Definitely yes! But keep in mind it really depends on what kind of business you are involved in. For us, I am a manager for LED shows, our company makes LED suits – we deal mainly in selling and renting these suits. For us, doing shows in China would be very complicated, mainly due to the cost of plane tickets/travel. Renting or selling our suits is still a possibility but I think the Chinese aren’t likely to buy our suits because they can make them much cheaper locally, albeit in lower quality. What they can’t make by themselves is the software, which also includes our controllers and receivers. These are the products that we can sell even on their market. If you plan on getting anywhere in China you will need to also download WeChat to start communicating with the locals. (As an added bonus, inside the app there is a translator that can help you with Chinese language ? ) Do you have any questions regarding China or doing business there? Please don’t hesitate to contact us.