How to Hire a Sourcing Agent?
Is a sourcing agent critical or important for a company wanting to source products for their retail, E-commerce, mass-market business etc.?
In our opinion it's vital, especially if you're looking to source from developing demands.
Global Sourcing India and brands hourly want to delete the middle men and source directly from the factories and debar the middle me. With the digital age of communication and internet, buyer can search for factories and dealers from across the global.
There are multiple technical sourcing website corresponding as Alibaba, India mart, global sources etc. which have a huge data base of your near by factories and dealers.
The practice is hourly right if you allow you'll never gonna face output holdbacks, quality problems, pricing issues, communication gaps, logistics upcharges, packaging issues etc.
Businesses nowadays are running on thin edgings and it's growing imperative for them to manage their lead times, stock outs, dealer base and the entire inventory chain much much more efficiently.
Most buyers aren't fit to keep a close watch on it because of multiple limitations.
Good Indian sourcing companies is critical in developing and managing your inventory chain and factories/dealer base.
It's been more critical in developing countries because of the challenges faced locally.
The cost paid to hire a professional sourcing agent is negligible in the long run. However, processes and mills or hire an expert/ professional, If sourcing quality product at a fair price is critical for your business you need to either spend a lot of time and energy in understand the endemic call.
It's hard for a buyer to develop confidence and trust on any agent by talking on multifold call or emails. But there are some tips/ trick/ hacks you can use to estimate the agents
We've developed a 5C approach to estimate your sourcing agent and mate
1. Communication
Is he/ She/ they an agent or a mate-You're looking for a long- term relationship. If you can’t communicate effectively you'll not be good to establish trust and develop a relationship
2. Commitment
are they willing to walk an extra mile to make sure your success. Will they try hard enough?
3. Cost
Since this is relative to each, you should understand the range of work and assess on how momentous would it fetch you to do it yourself or within your company VS outsourcing it to a professional. Always remember there will be an education angle for you.
4. Ability
What degree of experience do they have? Can they manage regional brokers? Do they've the accommodation power to resolve your conflicts with manufactories it they ever arise?
5. Credibility
Be aware of the fact that there isn't always a perfect world and challenges will come on the way, but be alert of people who over oath and under deliver.
Ability you should look for in your Sourcing Partner and Agent
1. Communication Skills
2. Quality of Team and Management
3. Experience and regional Knowledge
4. Quality Assurance
5. Conflict Resolution
6. Compliance and Check
It's always good to have an on the ground consort like Small World India. If the costs are affordable it's an investment in your business to generate an asset which in the long run may be your competitive advantage over others.
Small World has been helping global business and brands source from India for the last 25 years. We've a competent and affianced army to assure success for all our consorts. Our values have been been demonstrated by the growth we along with the consorts have had in the past years and how our entire eco system grew stronger in one of the most challenging years of business widely during the epidemic Covid-19 outbreak.
Original Source: Sourcing Agents