During daily chats, many purchasers often complain that agents have bad attitudes, ignore them when they call, and get pushback when asking for samples. Dealing with them is not what they imagined. Is there any secret? As a supplier, almost everyone has this experience. Many customers call and start by asking for prices and comparing prices. Then it will be mentioned that XXX price is better…. Suppliers often lose interest when they hear this. Because, by accident, your bottom line has been leaked. You won't be a good customer for them. What you care about is the price rather than the product. If you want to do business with you in the future, you will come if the price is low today, and you will leave if the price is high tomorrow. Suppliers like a stable customer (the quantity is not the most important) rather than a wandering customer. Some customers think that their needs are large and attractive enough to agents. But everyone knows that the larger the number, the more troublesome it is. If the customer does not mention the order, there will be a considerable backlog; if the delivery is not timely, it will be customer complaints and complaints. How many times can the weather be smooth? What a dilemma.
These customers are often still on the blacklist of the original manufacturer. Even if they get such a customer, agents will not dare to register and place orders with the original manufacturer easily, because the original manufacturer will often tell them that they have been customers of XX for a long time. You don’t have to bump. How shameless! Some general components can be ordered without registering with the original manufacturer. It’s not that they don’t have good prices, it’s just because you’re not what they consider a good customer, and they don’t dare to give you good prices because they don’t have a tacit understanding with you. If you use his price to suppress other agents and let the original manufacturer know about it, you will be in big trouble. Therefore, if you are selecting products for R&D and find an agent, you should first introduce the basic situation and ask their FAE to recommend the corresponding product to you. Sales will give you a reference price (you decide it yourself, and after applying a discount, it will be the cost price you will get in the future). Then follow the steps to ask them to provide or buy samples from them. If you are purchasing, you should also introduce your situation first. If you have used original products, you must have been "registered". So you should first discuss with them the possibility of becoming their client. If it's clear beforehand, they should have many ways to get through. If possible, we will discuss the quality assurance of the product (not the focus, because the quality is mainly guaranteed by the original manufacturer), inventory and delivery, and finally the price.
This is a reasonable start, so that the agent will understand you, value you, and enter into further discussions. Understanding the agent's inventory and supply capabilities should be a top priority. Each agent has its own business policy and product focus. Do the customer's needs and their priorities align? This is important. A big agency has a big business, but what it has may not be what you want. There is also the agent’s ability to obtain goods, especially when the supply of goods is not sufficient. Placing an order early may not mean getting the goods early, it all depends on its power at the original factory. I believe many customers have tasted this taste. If the supply and delivery are guaranteed, the last thing is the price. The reason why price is discussed last is not because price is not important, but because without the previous guarantee, price is water without a source and a tree without roots. What’s the point of having a good price? The component business is usually not a one-time deal, and the future is long. The price can slowly subside in the future Cost Down, so why be anxious? (How to Cost Down will be discussed later)
Therefore, my personal opinion: The most critical thing for customer purchasing is quality, followed by delivery, and finally price. When choosing products from famous brands, first of all, the quality is guaranteed. Even if something goes wrong occasionally, there is always an explanation and there is no need for someone to shoulder the responsibility. Timely delivery is the most important. Early delivery affects inventory assessment; late delivery affects production and sales. Price is the last thing discussed. If there are problems with quality or delivery, the boss will never understand: because the price is good, this is excusable! The converse is: Who made you buy this bargain, which affected the quality, production and market of the product?
When looking for a partner, the order in which an experienced purchaser should care about the product should be: quality, delivery and price. He understands that price is not the most important thing. If the quality is questionable and delivery is spotty, what's the use of the best price? Even if there is no problem with the quality, what's the point of preparing a lot of inventory to ensure continuous production? The increased capital occupation fees and management fees may have already offset the so-called "good price". If there is a change in production, if it is used less or no longer used, the gain will outweigh the loss! Therefore, after confirming that you can become an agent's customer, you should first consider the guarantee of product quality. Of course, if you are a top brand, you don’t have to worry about these issues. The delivery issue is very important, especially for some main chips, which often have no second-brand substitutes. Once something goes wrong, it is a matter of life and death for procurement. The original factory often cannot solve this problem. Delivery is usually 8 weeks or 12 weeks, and the inventory is handled by agents. Therefore, ensuring supply has become a problem for agents.
At this time, what needs to be examined is the agent's customer base rather than the financial strength, which is considered very important. Because even an agent with strong financial strength will not prepare a large inventory for one customer. Customers should be concerned about the main products of this agent. If the products that this agent mainly promotes and sells are exactly what you need, then it is your most ideal supplier. Because they have the same customer base, they often have strong technical support capabilities in this area, and they often give you a Total Solution unexpectedly when you develop a product. Their FAE plays with these chips all day long. They know all the problems that customers usually encounter during product development and production. When you are desperate, they can often solve your urgent needs. Because they have the same customer base, agents can request more goods from the original factory and have stronger bargaining power. They can often get the best price from the original factory, which creates conditions for customers to fight for their own good prices. Because there is such a customer base, when the original manufacturer launches a new product, they must be the first thing they think of. Relying on their technical support capabilities and sales capabilities, new products are delivered to their customers first. This way your new product may be one step ahead of your competitors.
Fourth, because he has the same customer base, he will naturally prepare more inventory. The arrival of new customers will make him more confident in preparing more adequate inventory. Your delivery is naturally more guaranteed. Fifth, because you have the same customer base, it is much more convenient to change your order. At this time, agents generally won't mind the increase, decrease or even cancellation of your orders (but agents will be very concerned about you running around once you have an order.). This is very important. Don't think that you can cancel the order with just one phone call without paying. There is nothing you can do about it. If it doesn't work, I will find another agent. It should be noted that this approach has endless consequences! There are only a few dealers for your main chip. If you are famous, the original manufacturer and dealers will pay special attention to you. Even if you go with the order, other agents may not greet you with a smile, because if you are not careful, you will dig a hole for them. Market changes are often difficult to grasp, especially if the customer is not yet a leader in this market. After receiving the order today, I worked hard to order, request and chase the goods. Tomorrow the customer's order is canceled and you consider canceling the order or even returning it. Therefore, it is very important for procurement to always consider the addition and cancellation of orders, and to move forward and retreat freely.
With quality and delivery guaranteed, it's time to talk about price. Price is very sensitive, and we can only negotiate the price when everything is done. The price of ordinary chips is in the hands of agents. The prices of some key chips are usually in the hands of the original manufacturers, who will give different prices through agents according to different customer situations. How to get a good price from the original manufacturer or agent? If you are the leader in the industry, you can rely on your output and market position to get the price you expect. If you are one of those people, don’t worry. Generally, two or more branded chips are used to produce products. Whichever one has the better price, use more, and the one with the lower price, use less. This is the trump card in your hand. The original manufacturers and agents are very concerned about this kind of Share. It doesn't matter if customers use it a little, but it is definitely not okay to use it with competitors! In order to ensure and improve such Share, they will do their best to meet your requirements. Haha, the price is naturally easy to negotiate. If you are a design company (one who makes plans or sells plans), your direct purchase quantity may not be large, but your market influence and promotion power cannot be underestimated. Your trump card is that if you give me a good price, I will design your chip into my solution. If there is no good price, I will find another company. If you have administrative resources in the industry, of course you can make full use of them.
If you are nothing and have nothing, then you should have a good discussion with the agent. Let’s see if the agent can subtly change the situation and make you a wealthy person? Give you evenly distributed goods from big customers. Of course, this is not something we can talk about casually. We have to wait until the water comes out.
When looking for a partner, the more beautiful the better, the more suitable one is the best after comprehensive consideration. The same goes for finding suppliers.
The agents of Niu When I called the phone again, I answered impatiently. After saying a few words in a hurry, I hung up the phone again. It was really awesome! I'll give you business and still be indifferent. Haha, you can’t say that. Every family has sutras that are difficult to recite. Purchasing people may not realize that this is also the pressure of sales agents. Let me see if my understanding can explain the reason? What should be the sales target for a salesperson in an agency? Many people think this is something the boss slapped on his head, but I don’t think so. The critical value of sales indicators is determined by the inherent attributes of the company itself. Behind a sales are FAE, logistics, personnel, logistics, boss; office, warehouse; marketing and travel. We are accustomed to classify the expenses they incur as sales expenses. What kind of company and what kind of sales strategy it adopts will have corresponding sales expenses. Combined with the sales profit margin, it determines the minimum sales volume required by the company. Directly divided sales are the company's most basic sales targets.
Looking at the operating income and number of employees of these companies, everyone understands that they are not small agents. In these large agency companies, a direct sales engineer needs an annual turnover of about 4 million US dollars. If the value-added tax is calculated, he The required RMB sales volume is approximately 30 million yuan. That means he needs 3 million in sales per month. The daily routine work of an ordinary salesperson includes: receiving a bunch of emails, and many of them need to be responded to. Usually 2/3 is within the company and 1/3 is from customers. There are several internal meetings of the company every week; promotion of new products and new solutions (without new products, there will be no future sales); reporting recent work to the original factory; visiting regular customers, receiving orders, and placing orders with suppliers after summarizing. Adjustment (cancellation or addition), expediting, shipping, payment recovery, etc. In this way, how much time can a Sales person have to deal with a new customer every day? Please understand each other, they are also exhausted all day long. They know very well: Each Sales basically relies on two or three large customers to complete the target. In fact, agents also know that 10% or even 5% of the company's customers have completed 90% or even more of the company's targets. More customers are actually powerless.
The heavy sales task is the main reason, and it is also an objective reason. Of course, there are also subjective reasons. Some salespeople have the illusion after working for several years, because the company is big because they are big, and they think that the company is strong because they are strong. Haha, if you can do this if you start your own company, that would be awesome! This is another theory. The customer and the agent communicated back and forth on the phone, and before they knew it, the agent's Sales had completed the evaluation of a future customer. If you are not very interested, you will naturally find a way to deal with it. Since the agent is not very interested, there is no need for the customer to apply shamelessly. "If you're not a big customer, why don't you contact them?" I think that's the case. Customers and agents should also be well-matched. An agent does not mean that he has the goods you want, nor does he mean that he will sell them to you once he has the goods. Don’t think that a big company means more goods. The company is big, and what matters is the quantity rather than the variety of products. No agent would want to open a Chinese medicine store that sells everything. That is a matter for "catalog sellers." All agents hope to sell to the largest and most customers with the most concentrated varieties. Ordinary sales guys are used to it, so let them show off some special skills.
What is a semiconductor? When dealing with agents, you will inevitably have to negotiate the price in the end. Before negotiating the price, you might as well learn more about what a semiconductor is. It will be helpful when negotiating the price! What is a semiconductor? Teachers in middle school taught us that "the substance (or material) between a conductor and an insulator is a semiconductor. In layman's terms, a voltage is applied to both ends of an object. If there is current flowing through the middle, it is a conductor, and if there is no current flowing through it, it is an insulator. . The one between the two is the semiconductor. We know that the one between the tall and the short is the medium, and the one between the hot and the cold is the warm water. But what is the one between the current and the no current? ? It’s so vague! If it’s there, it’s there, and if it’s not, it’s not! Now that there’s a gap, I immediately felt that semiconductors were very mysterious. Maybe the teacher thought that our basic knowledge was not enough at that time, or something else. I hesitated and didn't give an explanation. When I entered the university, the teacher didn't mention it. Maybe I thought this question was too simple. I wanted to ask it in class, but I was afraid that the question would be too childish and I would be laughed at. The teacher in class was nowhere to be seen, so the problem remained.
After working for several years, one day my brain suddenly enlightened me. Damn it, I’ve been fooled! There is actually no "semi" conductor in the world. In fact, the so-called "semiconductor" material is also a conductor. If you don't believe it, try applying a voltage to both ends of a piece of monocrystalline silicon or polycrystalline silicon. There will still be current flowing through the middle, but it is definitely not Between the two, there is something there and there is nothing there. In fact, the real characteristics of this material are shown when their surfaces are treated: one surface "extracts" some electrons and leaves some "holes" to show positive polarity (positive), and the other surface injects some electrons to make them positive. It has negative polarity, and then the two treated surfaces are closely contacted to form a "junction", which is the so-called PN junction. This knot is wonderful and shows its unique personality. When a positive voltage is applied to this junction, its resistance is very small and it seems to be a good conductor; when a negative voltage is applied, its resistance is very large and it seems to be an "insulator". It may be for this reason that the term "semiconductor" comes into being. The forward direction is a conductor, and the reverse direction seems to be an insulator. At the same time, their current and voltage characteristics no longer comply with Ohm's law regardless of whether positive voltage or negative voltage is applied. Its resistance value is no longer a constant value, but changes with changes in current and voltage. Adding wires to both ends of it is what is called a diode.
Subdividing the characteristics of this junction leads to many types of diodes. Those that utilize forward characteristics include rectifier diodes, reference diodes, switching diodes, damping diodes, Schottky diodes, photosensitive diodes, etc. Of course, the most popular and fashionable ones are It's a light-emitting diode (LED). The most common ones that utilize reverse characteristics are zener diodes, isolation (protection) diodes, etc. If this junction is made small, it is the so-called "small signal diode", and if it is made large, it is the so-called "power diode". Connect the two knots end to end or foot to foot, and connect a wire at the connection to become a triode. Note: If the head and pin are connected, it means nothing, it is just two diodes connected in series. The characteristics of transistors are more complex, and their applications are even more diverse. Combining these diodes, transistors, etc. according to different needs is an integrated circuit, commonly known as: IC. At the beginning, the American scientists who invented the semiconductor actually used this method in the laboratory. One was made into a flat surface, and the other was made into a probe shape and pressed tightly against the surface of the other to form a PN junction. The subsequent post-industrial production did not use this method at all.Just finding a piece of metal with surface treatment and connecting them together will not produce this phenomenon. Likewise, plastic and other insulators will not work, nor will other materials. It is currently generally believed that only three materials in the world have this property, silicon, germanium, and a compound called gallium arsenide. These are so-called semiconductor materials. Among them, silicon is the most commonly used, because its performance is more in line with universal requirements, and the process of making products with it is simpler and lower cost. So so far there is only "Silicon Valley" but not "Germanium Valley" and "Gallium Arsenide Valley". Where does silicon come from? sand! So the semiconductor industry is literally turning sand into gold. However, I still have a question that I have not yet figured out. The life of semiconductor products is "semi-infinite". What does this mean? Theoretically speaking, it is of course between finite and infinite, but who knows what is in between?
- Cost of IC When dealing with agents, price negotiation is inevitable in the end. Now that we have understood semiconductors, we might as well understand the cost formation of semiconductor products, which will be helpful when negotiating prices! IC manufacturing mainly includes: product development, production and processing. Product development is to design corresponding products according to market needs, and production and processing is to turn the designed products into real products. Production and processing are usually divided into front and back processes. The so-called front-end is manufacturing chips; the so-called back-end is packaging, testing, and packaging of chips into final products. Development costs include: process development costs and product development costs. For example, the production of IC is a bit like making steamed buns. Some chefs specialize in making various kinds of buns with different fillings, shapes, sizes, and colors according to customer tastes (market demand). Some chefs only steam buns, and design different temperatures, times, and steam amounts according to the requirements of different buns to make the steamed buns just right. The former master is like IC product development, and the latter master is equivalent to IC process development. Since IC manufacturing foundry services are now in the ascendant, process development is often undertaken by these foundries. They develop standard process flows, so that IC companies only need to focus on product development.
In this way, the usual development costs are also the product development costs. This part of the cost and investment risks are extremely high. These risks often come not from the technology itself but from the market, that is, whether the product you develop is accepted by the market. If the developed product is accepted by the market. Development expenses divided by total sales are often negligible. But if it is not accepted by the market, then these investments are like being thrown into the water. There is a strange phenomenon. Products that use many new technologies may not be popular with customers, and those products that are accepted by the market are often technically criticized by some experts. Examples of this are common. Material costs are mainly composed of chip manufacturing costs and packaging costs. Chip processing is somewhat similar to steaming buns. If the capacity is to steam 50 buns at a time, then whether you steam one bun at a time or steam 50 buns, the cost is basically the same. The key is that the depreciation expense of equipment is a function of time and has nothing to do with output. The depreciation for producing 10,000 units and 100,000 units in the same period of time is the same, but the amortization ratio is 10 times different. If other factors are equal, the cost will differ by a factor of 10. The usual depreciation period for IC equipment is 4 years (or 5 years), and the cost is extremely expensive. IC costs are equal to capacity utilization.
At the same time, ICs are made on silicon wafers. Under the same silicon chip area, the smaller the area of a single IC, the greater the number of ICs contained on the silicon chip. Silicon wafers of the same size are designed with different line widths, and the quantities vary greatly. The processing cost of each silicon wafer is the same. The greater the number, the lower the cost of each IC. This is why the line width of ICs is desperately declining, and there seems to be no end in sight. Cost reduction is the most powerful driving force. The cost of IC is the line width. Similarly, if the diameter of the silicon wafer increases, its area increases squarely, the number of ICs on the silicon wafer increases nearly squarely, and the chip pass rate increases at the same time. This is why the area of silicon wafers has continued to increase over the years: 5 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, 12 inches... IC cost reduction is to reduce the size of silicon wafers. Reducing the package size is also a move, which not only caters to the requirements of electronic products becoming smaller and lighter, but also greatly reduces the packaging cost, especially for power devices. Due to the large packaging volume, the packaging cost accounts for A large part of the cost of the entire product. After all, materials are money, and these are not ordinary materials.
Reducing line width and volume are of positive significance to digital ICs. While reducing the size and weight of electronic products, it also increases the operating frequency of the circuit and reduces power consumption. But this is not the case for power ICs. Have you found that the reliability of the current 7805 is not as good as before? Yes, except that its maximum output current has dropped from the original 1.5A to the current 1A, the original power margin for internal control has been almost lost as the chip area shrinks. In addition, its initial packaging was all-metal TO-3, and later it was plastic + metal TO-220. Now most of them are all-plastic TO-220F, which reduces weight, size, and cost. It will immediately fail once it is overloaded. Therefore, if you still design products according to your original habits, it will be easier to run into problems. Almost all power devices, including ICs, transistors (MOSFETs, bipolar transistors, diodes), etc., have such problems. In the past, the manufacturer gave you an indicator and left some margin for it. Now it gives you a real indicator. There is no margin. You need to keep the margin yourself! Otherwise you choose xxxxA, or better xxxxB. Of course, prices have also gone up. Positive word: pioneering and innovative; negative word: cutting corners!
- Product Selection Many people think that procurement is the main force in controlling costs and bargaining, but I don’t think so. In fact, the basis of cost control is not in the hands of the purchaser. When the BOM is in the hands of the purchaser, it has already been cooked, and it is a sure thing. The intelligence of the purchasers is only the icing on the cake at best. The key to price control lies in R&D. If you need to develop or update products, what products (parts) should you choose and from whom? Determines the cost of future finished products. I think product selection should try to rely on products with large production volumes and fully competitive prices on the market. Power supplies, microcontrollers, interface circuits, even relays, sensors, etc. can all be used for reference, including televisions, computers, tablets, air conditioners, induction cookers, remote controls, electric bicycles, vacuum cleaners, electricity meters, water meters, wireless routers, computer monitors, printers And some digital products and so on. What components are they using? If these components can make do, you should choose these without hesitation.Why? Because these products are produced in large quantities, they are extremely price sensitive. If the cost performance is not high and the quality is not reliable enough, they will not be so widely used. In this case, of course there is no need for us to find another way. Although we may not be able to get the same price from these manufacturers, the comprehensive cost of these varieties must be the most competitive. At the same time, because of the large quantity, there will be many original manufacturers providing the same or compatible products, so won’t the supply and price be more guaranteed in the future? Once you have the target chip, it’s a question of who to choose from. Don’t underestimate who to choose from. Who to choose from will determine who to buy products from in the future. Since the original factory usually implements a registration system for the management of agents, that is, once a customer and an agent reach an agreement, the customer is registered as a customer of the agent. At this time, other agents can no longer provide services and products to this customer without special circumstances. Likewise, this customer cannot find another agent that can provide products and services. In short, once both parties confirm their intention to cooperate, the customer becomes a customer of a certain agency. Therefore, you should be careful about whom you choose a product from. It is best to leave this issue to procurement. Generally, they know better than R&D engineers, and it is also their responsibility.
Be careful: What does reaching a consensus mean? Sometimes you think that I just consulted the FAE of this agency on some technical issues, and that the information I requested was within the scope of communication but did not confirm future cooperation. How come I was registered as a customer of this agency? But the agent may not see it this way. He has provided you with services, and you are not a customer of other agents. Of course, you are his customer, and future orders can only be placed here. Therefore, sometimes both parties should pay attention and try to explain things in advance to avoid ambiguity and make everyone unhappy in the future. The customer has a good attitude. When he has not decided which agent to cooperate with in the future, the communication should not be too in-depth to avoid misunderstanding. Of course, some agents also need to be more generous. If it's not particularly excessive, don't worry about it. Customers can contact the original manufacturer directly, but if it is not a big enough customer, the original manufacturer usually introduces the customer to their agent. Think about it, let the original manufacturer recommend an agent, or find it yourself directly? Dayuan Factory often has a long list of agents. They have offices and branches almost all over the country. Who should I look for? The situation of each agent is different, and the sales methods and strategies are also very different.Some are very wealthy, turning their hands into clouds and rain, and are keen on making big deals and making big deals. Some are keen to focus on certain specific fields, hoping to become the leader in this field and occupy this three-thirds of an acre. If future orders are large, the financial strength of the agent will also be tested. If there is no such problem, you should consider an agent with more dedicated and professional products and technical support. Professional agents are often better able to give professional advice. For example: some high-power devices are cheaper than low-power devices. why? Because he has many customers for this model and has a large quantity of goods, the price is actually better. Sometimes, agents will consciously guide some low-power customers to use his high-power devices. For users, why not choose higher power devices at the same or lower price? The price is advantageous, the reliability is high, and the inventory management is also simple. For the agent, this way his advantage in getting goods can be further strengthened, and at the same time, the inventory risk can be reduced (the fewer varieties, the lower the inventory risk).
Of course, there is another point for agents. Where else can you get such a device and such a price besides me? I will just hold on to this one-third of an acre of land. Benefit others and yourself, everyone is happy! (Sorry, now it is usually called "win-win") In order to keep this three-acre land, the agent also worked hard and spent enough money. Sufficient and professional FAE is often their main means. Of course, this is an advantage for customers. Professional FAE can provide professional free technical services for product improvement and development. From reference designs to Total Solutions. If there are any problems in production, we are always on call and can solve them quickly. How could you be more picky about such a level of service? Because of the concentrated variety, these agents are well stocked. They often place orders not based on customer orders from the original factory, but based on customer demand forecasts. Sometimes, they will also take advantage of the good price to get a bunch of goods based on the supply and demand situation of the original factory. In this way, customers' requests for goods are guaranteed at any time. Guaranteed supply and timely delivery are sometimes more important to me than price. The same experience exists with microcontrollers (MCUs) (be careful, today's 8-bit machines tend to be cheaper than 4-bit machines).
Agents provide chips that are currently commonly used in home appliances. You can choose one or two chips with large memory and relatively many interfaces to handle all products. Arrange a unified PCB and rewrite different programs for different products. If you also need an A/D conversion interface, the price of a microcontroller with an A/D interface is completely different. what to do? Fortunately, if the accuracy of the conversion is not high, the agent's FAE will recommend a small circuit that can simulate an A/D interface with three parts, and this problem will be solved. What should I do if the product is special and I can’t find a reference product for a while? There is a principle: when selecting a product, try to adapt to the product instead of letting the product adapt to me. What's the meaning? When selecting models, you can contact several agents and listen to their FAE and Sales introductions. If you want to choose a MOSFET, you can find out what are the mainstream and commonly used models within the required application range? If the main parameters meet the application requirements but some parameters are not ideal, can you think of ways to make some changes? For example: if the leakage current is large and the on-resistance is large, first see if it can be overcome? Is it possible to adjust the circuit to suit this target device? In the long product series of the original factory, there are actually many devices that are targeted at certain foreign markets and specific customers. They are not recommended in the Chinese market and are rarely used by customers.
If you just think it is very convenient for your application and choose this model, you will often have endless troubles. It may take several weeks to apply for samples. Because the original manufacturer does not recommend it, it is not available in the sample library and FAE does not have it on hand. PP orders are more troublesome. If the minimum order quantity (MOQ) is not reached, will the agent handle the extra quantity or will you keep it? If the PP does not go well and another PP is needed but the original extra quantity is still missing, it will be even more difficult. Well, PP has finally passed, and the MP problem has arisen. The Forecast must be accurate and the PO cannot be changed. It is difficult for current customers to do this. Okay, even if you do it. If there is any problem with the original factory's delivery, then it will be a cry for no response every day, and a cry for failure! Where can I find sources of goods and substitutes? Who can help you? If you wait until the end of the year to negotiate prices, how can you negotiate for procurement? It’s a huge shame for the agent to maintain the original price, because they themselves have already been burned! When the goods arrive, customers don’t pick them up on time; when the inventory happens to be gone, customers scream and complain. Who can bear it? Therefore, R&D component selection is very important when improving and developing products. Choosing "trend" products will get twice the result with half the effort. Once you have selected the model, you will be able to make future purchases with ease; otherwise, it will be difficult to get off.
If anyone thinks that cost reduction is just about delaying payment through procurement and playing tricks, then they will really be looked down upon. It's really better to be so far-sighted, benefit yourself, and be respected by others.
Cost and price of general products When dealing with agents, it is inevitable to negotiate price in the end. Now that we have understood semiconductor products and their cost composition, let’s get back to business. We understand that the price of a product is determined by the market rather than the so-called cost (except for individual special products). Even if we understand the cost of this product and have an idea of it, there is no need to mention it when discussing the price, because the cost is the opponent's business and has nothing to do with you! You said it, but the other party was not happy. The market price of a product is 1 yuan. Even if the cost is only 1 cent, he will not sell it to you for 9 cents. On the other hand, if his cost is 2 yuan, you would not place an order for him at 2 yuan foolishly. The reason is simple, the market determines the price and has nothing to do with cost. Who should we buy a product with a market price of 1 yuan, an agent? Trader? For a product whose market price is 1 yuan, can we strive for a price of 9 cents 8, 9 cents 5, or even lower?
I think we can first divide the components that need to be purchased into two categories: general-purpose and special-purpose. The so-called universal refers to some products produced by many manufacturers that can be universal and compatible. Such as: 78xx series, 74xxxx logic series, and some operational amplifiers, voltage comparators, MOSFETs, diodes, transistors, etc. The characteristics of these products are: low value, strong versatility, and many manufacturers. For the purchase of these products, I think it is better to purchase from dealers. The dealers referred to here refer to companies with a certain scale, a large amount of spot inventory, and after-sales guarantee, the same below. (Some traders are currently small in scale and have basically no spot inventory and often look for goods based on customer orders. The existence of these companies must have their rationality and value. How can I use their strengths to my advantage? We will discuss it later.) You can try to find an agent with an order of 7805 1kk and see if they welcome you with a smile. Why? Because even if this business can be successfully launched, 1KK will only cost about 100K per month on average. Even if the unit price is $0.10, it is a business of 10,000 US dollars. If there is a 5% gross profit, it will only cost 3,000 RMB
Let’s take a look at this agent again. First, they have to make Forecasts for the original manufacturers. For these products that have no technical content, low value, and do not “make” money, the original manufacturers often allocate them. Forecasts made by agents are often blocked. One knife; I finally managed to convert it to PO, and the original factory will not confirm the delivery time for you. Anyway, when you find it in the system, you will be ready to issue the certificate and pick up the goods; if it is delayed in the system, you don’t have to rush it. Even if you urge me, no one will pay attention to you. So, if you arrive early, you have to carry it and put it in the warehouse. This thing is heavy and takes up space. When I arrive late, customers come to remind me every day and threaten me from time to time. It's finally possible to ship the goods, but the customer wants you to send a courier because the production line is too late. Oh my god, how can this thing be shipped by express delivery? But there is no other way, who is going to be late? Finally, when it reaches the customer, there are still 30 and 60 days of monthly settlement waiting. During this long period, prices will also change. If the market price rises, customers will say, "There is a contract first, and we will do it according to the contract." If the price drops, customers will say, "Our leader said, now the price is low, what should I do?" Can I settle the bill at the original price? After this round, if you can still get 10 or 8 yuan out of 3,000 yuan, you will be lucky without losing money.Sometimes if things don't go well, they'll just forget about the loss and often end up having a lot of trouble with customers. Although the agents have worked hard, they have delayed production, and if the leaders blame them, will the customers look good on them? If you don't even get to be friends in the end, it's even more of a loss than a gain. Who can bear this torment? For these general products, agents are more willing to deal with dealers and traders. At the beginning of the year, I first made a Forecast of xxxKK and waited for the original manufacturer to step in and then transfer it to PO. If the goods were not available, the traders would not rush me. Anyway, they had stocks or other brands available. When the goods arrive, just give me a call and they will arrange to pick them up, and the money will be cleared. Come with one hand and go with the other, even one or two points will make money. If an end customer finds an agent, they are more willing to introduce the customer to their dealers and traders, and everyone is happy. For the original factory, why continue to produce if it doesn't make money? I think the main reason is that some customers who use their main chips and large chips need these chips. Stopping the supply of these auxiliary chips may lose these customers; but the most fundamental reason is: the production of semiconductor products needs "balance", that is, There is a fixed monthly output.
And market demand has certain seasonality, which is the so-called off-season and peak season. Once production orders are insufficient, the original factory will need these versatile and large-volume products to fill them. This is why these products are often ordered without knowing the exact delivery time. For dealers and traders, they can carry 3, 4 or even more brands at the same time. These products are widely available and can be used by every household. They are not afraid of backlogs, and at most the turnover days are longer. Whichever time period and whichever store is cheaper, I will buy whichever brand. So they have the most inventory and often the best prices. Of course, when purchasing, you can find several different traders to compare prices. You will not suffer any loss by shopping around. Even the same trader can check whether there are differences in prices of different brands? Why worry about not getting the best price? However, I personally feel that it is meaningless to compare purely on price, because they are definitely similar. It’s enough to look at the service and the reputation of the company and target one or two companies. Long-term cooperation makes everyone relaxed and happy. Price matters. You can't do whatever you want. After all, this is a reflection of your own work level and ability, as well as the trust of your boss and leaders. But don’t get too carried away. If there are problems with the supplier’s quality or delivery, the small profits you made will have been wiped out without a trace. It hurts yourself and is not good for the company either.
- Cost and Price of Special Purpose Products What do I mean by a dedicated product (IC)? In fact, I don’t know how to define it myself. Of course, their uses are usually relatively specific, such as: LCD TV chips, tablet computer chips, set-top box chips, etc. But this is not absolute. For example, some microcontrollers and DSP chips have many application fields, but we usually classify them as special-purpose chips. Agents will not quote some chips without clearing up the customer's ins and outs. Users of these chips will not give them to agents without confirmation from the original manufacturer. I feel that these should be the special chips we often mention. The cost of integrated circuits is generally divided into manufacturing costs, development costs and sales costs, but in fact these are all confusing accounts. Anyway, what accounts are reported on different occasions. If the integrated circuit is manufactured by the manufacturer itself, equipment depreciation accounts for the majority of the manufacturing cost. But this equipment does not only produce this product. How to reasonably allocate this part of the cost? In addition to silicon wafers, other water, electricity, and gas are also shared. If the production capacity is at full capacity, it's okay. If the production capacity is surplus, who will bear the cost of the remaining part? Haha, this is not a small amount of money.
Of course, if the chip and package are outsourced, then the calculation of the manufacturing cost is relatively simple. Anyway, the processing price of others is the manufacturing cost of the IC. Development costs are the worst thing to say. The simplest question is, are the salaries of the chairman and CEO considered development costs? Anyway, this basket can contain whatever you want. Going deeper, if the development cost is a relatively fixed fee, then how much is the cost shared by each IC? Product development comes first, and sales comes later. This is of course hard to say. If there is a target quantity when the product is developed, but in the life cycle from the beginning of sales to the final elimination of the product, the actual number of sales will be several years later (of course, sometimes it is several months), and the magnitude of this quantity deviation is too big. The difference between 1 million and 10 million is 10 times. Therefore, if a supplier discusses the price with you and boasts about how much their development costs are, your mind can wander and think of the classic lyrics: laugh it off. It’s not too late to come to your senses when the price is negotiated.
Sales costs are also a large part, including pre-sales and after-sales. In the past, IC applications were relatively simple, and manufacturers' application engineers could often handle them themselves. Nowadays, ICs are developing towards the system level. In addition to hardware, they are also closely related to software and even third-party software. Customers are no longer satisfied with simple reference designs but require a complete set of application solutions. This is completely beyond the capabilities of the IC manufacturers themselves. They have to cooperate with professional third-party design companies to meet customer needs, and even need to purchase relevant third-party software to provide it to customers for free. After-sales service is also costly. If customers have problems after using the product, no matter what the reason, the IC manufacturer is often the first to be contacted. They thought the original factory could handle it. In fact, this is not the case. Since testing is often outsourced (at least testing software is outsourced), product failure analysis is not easy. Because factory product testing often only determines whether it is qualified or unqualified, no one knows what specific parameters are unqualified. If there are system problems involved, the manufacturer itself will never be able to solve them, and extra expenses will be incurred.
Although the investment for each IC product from development to final entry into the market is huge, no matter what, we continue to emphasize that only the price of market monopoly products is related to "cost", such as: gasoline, electricity, tap water, etc. Only every time they "adjust" prices it's because "costs" go up. There is no relationship between fully marketed product prices and costs. Material prices have increased, energy prices have increased, and labor prices have increased. Have you seen the prices of televisions, computers, washing machines and refrigerators increase? The vast majority of semiconductor products (excluding: various transportation cards, medical cards, and various cards necessary for life, work, and business) are fully marketed products. The price of semiconductor products can only be increased by speculation, not by any increase. Where does the price of IC come from? The price of general products is often determined by the market; the price of specialized products is usually determined by competitors. For example: IGBT modules for inverter air conditioners are basically provided by two companies, and they are competitors. The sales prices of the products will be basically consistent with each other's reference.
You can pay attention, there are countless examples around. It's important to understand this! The ultimate goal of negotiating costs and prices is to cut prices. Find out the right way and start cutting slowly. Some friends think that the price of general products is easier to negotiate and cut. Because there are many suppliers and fierce competition, it is easier for the fishermen to profit. Special product suppliers are often just one or two. They have a tacit understanding with each other and there is no need to negotiate the price! However, my feeling is exactly the opposite.
Becoming a professional agent of famous brand IC is the pursuit of many IC sales practitioners, establishing a good business image of the company (operations, finance, etc.); ensuring stable business and profits; recruiting better sales elites, etc. The benefits speak for themselves. How can you become such an agent as soon as possible? I'm not deliberately teasing. In fact, I don't know. I don't have an answer to this question. If I told you, I must be lying to you, otherwise I would have...
In the bookstore in the airport terminal, the demo TV often plays a loop of someone lecturing on business management and management. The sound and emotion are mixed, and it is very touching to listen to it. But when I got on the plane and calmed down and thought about it, it seemed that this was not the case at all. They often name them as lecturers, but rarely as entrepreneurs. The reason is as simple as that. First, entrepreneurs don’t have the spare time. Second, entrepreneurs don’t have time to get money. How can they have time to think about making money? Of course, there are also entrepreneurs who publish books and give speeches. However, do you believe their success stories and experiences? I don’t believe it anyway! Recently, I met the operator of an original European factory and talked about the Chinese market. His thoughts, understanding, and requirements seemed to inspire us. This is a well-established European audio technology company that not only licenses patented technologies but also manufactures ICs. It is mainly used for frequency division, transmission, amplification, etc. of pre-audio, and is used in microphones, mixers, and preamplifiers. They could no longer hold back the huge Chinese market. They originally used an overseas agent to promote and sell in the mainland, but they realized that the other party was already beyond their capabilities, and they gradually understood: There are people who speak Chinese and can do Chinese things. Overseas Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, mainlanders, etc. all have their own business methods, and mainlanders should be more relevant to mainland customers.
As a result, they began to think about looking for "professional" agents in mainland China. What are their blind date standards? The agent cannot be too big. After all, this IC is quite professional and the application market is limited. An agent that is too big cannot take care of such a small business. Of course, it cannot be too small. After all, certain staffing and financial security are still necessary. . Among them, the one that never slips away is the best. At present, we must operate in this application field and have professional application support. If you can develop or co-develop applications, that would be the icing on the cake. Their reason is also very clear, that is, through partners, they can immediately understand the market: What is the capacity of this industry? Who are the main actors (suppliers, customers)? What is the customer's main focus, quality, price, technical service? Which solution is the easiest to enter, and how to expand after entering? Can there be on-site sales channels to immediately help expand the market for the product?
The standard was simple and not high, but the actual difficulty exceeded their expectations. There are a lot of self-recommendations, but such "professional" agents and sellers are really rare. There should be, but they haven't found it yet. After some exchanges, I seemed to have some insights. yes! How many of our friends unconsciously want to open their own companies as "Chinese medicine shops" that have everything they need and can take orders, so-called "one-stop" service. I'm afraid that if I can't handle all the customers, I'll look for other customers, and in the end, even what I can do will be taken away by other companies. Or they are worried that customers will think that they have insufficient supporting facilities and weak capabilities, and will not be able to receive large orders in the future. In this way, I am getting further and further away from "professional". Some friends will buy a product line as long as they can. As long as the product can be an agent, I will meet all conditions. When the two parties communicate, they often ask how much sales I have, how many sales points I have, how many product lines I have, how many salespeople and engineers I have. What is my best sales area? Think about what foreigners think, it is very realistic. He would not want to train an agent by himself. He would definitely need a partner who has made achievements in this specific market and is comfortable with it, and can help him reach customers and markets directly as quickly as possible. I produce products and you have channels, which is the win-win they always talk about.
There is a gap between foreigners' ideas and our current situation. No wonder we can't find what we want and what we want to do can't be done. Coincidentally, she recalled that she met a friend from a top IC manufacturer at the beginning of the year, and she also talked about agents. Their sales mainly rely on a few super agents. But they pay more attention to the expansion of new products and new fields, which are obviously not the interests of those super agents. Not to mention her personally, even their original factory headquarters found it difficult to push these super agents to cooperate to a certain extent. These agents have long been accustomed to getting original products and big customers, and then rely on their huge funds to make sales. But how easy is it to rely solely on the sales and FAE of the original factory? They also thought of looking for cooperation with some third-party design companies and sales companies in a certain field. Start by specifying supplies through agents, and eventually hope to stand out and become their agents. We haven’t contacted each other for a long time. They should have done everything they wanted to do, right? Yes, it seems that very few people really care about and insist on being "professional", although many people among them often flaunt themselves as "professional".
- Be an agent! Taking the opportunity of Christmas and New Year greetings, the original manager of the Pre-audio IC factory I mentioned above talked to me about his search for a mainland agent two days ago. "It's been so long, I thought it was done already!" This was beyond my expectation. I could only agree casually: "Okay, I'll keep an eye on it for you, and I'll recommend something good to you." My English level was not enough to fully understand his confusion. It seems to me that our IC distribution practitioners are too reserved or don't have enough confidence in themselves or have other secrets? My curiosity led me to speculate on these IC distribution practitioners. It may be that this fast-paced competition has made many people more concerned about making quick money and staying away from long-term business. The prospect is wonderful, but I must ensure that I can live to the day when the prospect is realized! Realistic issues must be considered, so we often end up busy with the seemingly bustling business every day. I have always been surprised that many of my friends spend their whole day either inquiring about where to find cheap purchase channels, or wondering which original factory or agent sales they can get. The gross profit of those businesses is often not measured in % but in cents or even cents. But they were very busy and enjoying themselves.
Sometimes after dinner, they lament that business is difficult and they have to work part-time for the original factory, agents, couriers, and purchasers. From time to time, I ask where there are good channels and ways to make big money and do big business. I am ashamed to discuss these issues because I have not made a lot of money, and of course there is no good solution. I can only talk about it in vain. However, if I talk about my feelings in private, I prefer businesses that are time-consuming and labor-intensive. It’s not that I’m born to be hardworking and have the courage to face challenges, but I feel that such businesses are more worth the effort. An easy business often starts with purchasing, as long as you spend enough energy and material resources to get an order. Easy business often starts with price and billing period. Try to find ways to make your price lower than others, and the billing period can be longer than others. Of course, the profit of such a business can only be measured in cents and cents. In the end, it will either become useless or wake up the next day to find that it has been robbed by others again. As the saying goes, they come in a hurry and go in a hurry. Since business can be easily snatched from others, it is not surprising that others will snatch it away in a matter of minutes. It is not low-carbon, not energy-saving, not environmentally friendly, and has no scientific outlook on development.
On the other hand, look at businesses that have difficulties and challenges. It starts with Souring, sending samples, making prototypes, and finally Total Solution. Not only does it help with hardware development, it also helps with software development. Sometimes we even have to help customers plan the “selling points” of their products. Because the customer has said that you are most familiar with the performance of your product, and you know best how to demonstrate these good performance to our customers. Sometimes I will feel resentful, "What have I become? Without me, what do you need the R&D and marketing departments to do? You still boss around all day long. This is not right, that is not good." That's all: "A big responsibility comes from heaven." Yusi people,..." The results of such efforts are also uncertain. Once a fatal error occurs in some link of R&D, production, and sales, all previous efforts will be lost. However, the probability of this is not high. After all, it is a huge investment for customers to develop a new product and put it into the market, and they will not rush into it without careful consideration. The worst result is that the customer finds that the final product cannot meet expectations and has to be abandoned after it is put on the market. But the orders completed during this cycle can generally help at least tie the knot, and usually there is still a balance. Of course, if the market feedback is good, the gains will be self-evident. This kind of harvest is not only stable and long-term, but also difficult to be snatched away by others.
If others want to grab this business, of course they have to do the same thing. Otherwise, how can they be competitive enough to grab such a business? He must be able to bear such a "big responsibility". As for trying to "pick peaches" by getting a certain person or 1 or 2 people, that is not easy. Sourcing, R&D, quality control, purchasing, marketing, leadership, would you like to try all these aspects? What's more, if such a supplier is dumped, who guarantees that the new one will do better? Few customers are willing to risk such a gamble. Not to mention the feelings that came along the way. What kind of agent do you want to be?