Improve Your Supplier Communications on Alibaba
By: Colin Cito
Tags: Alibaba, Manufacturing, Ecommerce, Supply Chain, Communication

Recently, Stencil Stop started sourcing industrial materials through the world’s largest B2B exchange — Alibaba. Because of Alibaba’s less-than-ideal supplier messaging interface, I created a Google spreadsheet in an attempt to track the various statuses of correspondence, sample shipments, and quotes. Below, I’ll share the methods I used to balance the communication and logistics of sourcing products from Alibaba as well as some things to consider when dealing with suppliers.

If you don’t want the deets and just want the sheet, your wish is my command, you lazy bum:

Alibaba Correspondence Tracker

Create a communication script.

I encountered different units of measurement and unfamiliar product specification language with almost every supplier because I did not initially browse listings and draft a specific script. (Insert obligatory bitching about the imperial measurement system here.) I was trying to order samples of and get quotes on plastic film, which comes in myriad thicknesses, materials, forms, colors, sizes, and quantities, so nailing down the exact language I needed to use simply to receive helpful responses took much trial and error.

Create a uniform script that properly references the exact product you want quoted (or want to order) from suppliers using their units of measurement and their specification descriptions to minimize questions and increase communication speed. If you need to convert out of their units of measurement, make a conversion table in your tracker spreadsheet and do all the converting on the back end. Our sheet includes an example in the tab “example conversion tables.”

I used some form of the following script, adjusting it accordingly for supplier minimums and/or capabilities:

“Please quote the following with shipping included:

quantity = 500, 12 x 12 inches, 6 mil / .150 mm / 150 micron

quantity = 500, 6 x 6 inches, 6 mil / .150 mm / 150 micron

quantity = 500, 12 x 9 inches, 6 mil / .150 mm / 150 micron”

Although I included various forms of thickness measurements that I saw used across different listings (6 mil = .150 mm = 150 micron), some suppliers were still confused by seeing all three units of measurement. In hindsight, it’s probably best to tailor the details of each quote request to match the language used in that supplier’s listing.

Remember, you want to make it easy for them to help you.

Alibaba’s messaging interface sucks. Track accordingly.

Nothing on Alibaba’s platform is immediately apparent or easy to track. After contacting about 20 initial suppliers, it usually took an average of 5 clicks and 3 new tabs to get to the “Message Center.” Here’s the easiest way to get to your message center: https://message.alibaba.com. Love this link, nurture this link, and, most importantly, bookmark this link.

Here’s an overview of what Alibaba’s Message Center looks like:

Alibaba’s Message Center. Hopefully, it won’t look like this for too much longer!

As you can see, the primary conversation you’ve selected is shown on the right, while an overview of each conversation you’ve begun is shown on the left.

When I started contacting suppliers, I put only the name of each company I contacted into my spreadsheet, thinking that this was the information I needed to track. However, the message previews on the left side of the message center don’t show the company names! They only show the name of the customer service representative who is messaging you. If you’re only tracking company names, you’ll need to click on each individual message to identify the company you’ve messaged.

Our spreadsheet allows you to input both of these identifiers, which will improve your ability to navigate this interface.

Track the status of every supplier, as well as other relevant information.

Using the “correspondence” tab, I took note of each supplier I messaged. Suppliers who messaged back got assigned a “supplier number” — this made it easy to mark the sample packages I received with a number, rather than a long, complicated foreign business name. I know the difference between 1, 2, and 3. I do NOT know the difference between Nanjing Guanyi Electronic Technology Co., Nanyang Qicai Digital Technology Co., and Nanyang Jiuding Material Technology Co.

(Story time: I’m a big fan of reading books about successful people. One of the most OG success stories I’ve ever heard is that of Soichiro Honda, who founded — you guessed it — Honda. I immediately took an L when reading a book about him because it was utterly impossible for me to distinguish the super Japanese names of all the characters in the story.)

We’ll also want to track additional information that helps you reach your particular goal on Alibaba. In this case, my goal was to order and test samples, so I tracked information relevant to my sample orders, such as the cost and tracking number.

Ordering samples on Alibaba can be… strange.

Although Alibaba has its own platform on which payments can be made, many suppliers will request payment through PayPal, especially when ordering samples. My first experience with this was in 2015 — since, I’ve ordered probably 50 samples of all different types of products, many of which were paid for through PayPal.

I asked my main Alibaba contact, about whom you’ll learn more in a minute, about this payment discrepancy. Although she mentioned that Alibaba works for her, she said that for other suppliers, PayPal may be simpler to deal with.

For now, just realize that many suppliers will ask you pay for samples via PayPal. Technically, you probably won’t be able to get your money back if they don’t send you anything, but as I mentioned, I haven’t had issues before. So, when someone asks you send $50 to 288061922341@qq.com for a product sample, don’t let it sketch you out.

Don’t be a dick.

OK, that’s probably self-explanatory, but I’ll explain anyway. The following advice comes courtesy of my guy Rhodes, CEO of Tekli:

“Suppliers in China would much rather do business with their friend Colin than their customer Colin. Meaning, a supplier would rather help you out, provide discounts, information, advice, whatever, because they’re friends with you, not because they’re trying to simply make a sale for their company. And for this reason it’s good to establish some rapport and attempt to build a relationship over a long period of time, rather than just quickly getting quotes.”

I can attest to this. Check out this message string I had with one supplier prospect:

My favorite supplier tucking me in at night.

“Good night, dear.”

Do they have Tinder for industrial product suppliers?

Work late.

Unfortunately, right about when you’re ready to finish up the work day, your friends in Asia are just getting started. If you don’t want to wait an entire day for a response, spend a few hours in the evening (or night, depending on your time zone) messaging suppliers.

Don’t be lazy. It’s not that hard. If you can do it your underwear or while drinking a beer, you’re not allowed to complain about it.