Common Mistakes Archives

Doing Business In Japan: A Practical Guide To Selling In Japan Using Distributors, Importers & Agents

There’s a lot of confusing information out there about doing business in Japan. 🚫 Information from college professors and government bureaucrats who have no real-world experience 🚫 Information that’s outdated and often just plain wrong 🚫 Information that only works if you’re a large multinational corporation You won’t find any of that here. Instead, you’ll discover what actually works in Japan, based on 40 years of doing business in Japan and helping more than 400 companies sell their products in …

Japanese Distributors: The Wrong Ones & The Right Ones To Approach

“Can you find the distributors that our main Japanese competitor uses in Japan and reach out to these companies for us? Our products are much better than theirs, so I’m sure these distributors will want to talk with us.” Approaching Japanese distributors that represent your Japanese competitors We’re often asked by clients to contact the distributors in Japan that their Japanese competitors use. We’re always happy to oblige, but we’ve found that this approach rarely works. This is because one …

Finding Japanese Distributors Using Government Services

Many clients come to us after unsuccessfully trying to find Japanese sales partners using the matchmaking services provided by government agencies such as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Gold Key Service, UK Department for Business and Trade, Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Austrade, German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan (AHK Japan), Business France, and Switzerland Global Enterprise. Why are these government agencies rarely successful in helping foreign companies connect with the right Japanese distributors or sales agents? I’ve talked …

Do You Need “Connections” To Find The Right Japanese Distributor?

I’m often asked by new clients if we have experience in their industry. The underlying belief here seems to be that you need “connections” to do business with Japanese companies or need to “know someone” in order for distributors in Japan to take you seriously. This is simply not true. We have cold-called thousands of Japanese distributors and I can say with great confidence that the vast majority of Japanese distributors are extremely open to hearing about new business opportunities… …

How To Evaluate Japanese Distributors, Importers & Agents

Many Japanese distributors, importers, and agents in Japan do not have English-language websites. When trying to determine if a Japanese distributor or other sales partner in Japan is the right fit for your company, it’s easy to ignore companies that don’t have much English on their websites. This is a big mistake. In our experience, there is no relationship between having an English-language site and being an effective distributor. The best distributors are focused on their customers, who are Japanese, …

Do Japanese Distributors, Importers & Agents Speak English?

Do you need a translator or an interpreter to communicate with potential Japanese distributors? Clients often ask whether they’ll have trouble communicating with potential Japanese distributors, importers, and agents, and wonder if they’ll need an interpreter or translator to do business in Japan. In our experience, the use of these language professionals isn’t necessary because distributors that are already importing and distributing foreign products almost always have employees who can speak English. For smaller companies, this is usually the president …

How to Avoid “Zombie” Japanese Distributors

In the previous article, we looked at how foreign products are distributed in the Japanese market. In this article, I’m going to talk about another common mistake that foreign companies often make in Japan. This is the mistake of going with the first distributor that shows interest in their product. Let me share with you part of an email I received from a company in Europe: XYZ has been been our rep in Japan for three years but so far …

How Japanese Distributors Of Foreign Products Operate

A common mistake many foreign companies new to Japan make is trying to sell to the large Japanese wholesalers and retailer chains in their industry. Unfortunately these companies are rarely interested in dealing directly with non-Japanese suppliers unless they have an office in Japan. So what the best way to sell your products in Japan? Simple. You go through Japanese distributors specializing in imported products. There are thousands of these distributors and they are typically nimble, highly entrepreneurial companies who …