One of the major uses of the U.S. Customs data that Zepol provides is lead generation. Traditionally, transportation services providers (NVOs, freight forwarders, customs brokers, and 3PLs) use our product, TradeIQ, to find what companies are importing products in their sales territories. They then use the information provided on the manifest data to develop lists of leads for their sales representatives. In addition, their account executives will use the information to educate themselves on all aspects of prospects’ supply chains.

In a twist on traditional lead generation using trade data, several of our customers, who are importers of commodities rather than companies facilitating trade, are using trade data to find other importers who are only importing small amounts of product. They are able to offer these companies several advantages over importing the products themselves, including:

• Lower prices because they are working with much larger economies of scale.
• Less internal overhead costs because they no longer need to shoulder the burden of doing customs clearance or working with transportation providers.
• Lead time advantages through ordering from a domestic supplier rather an international firm with a 6 to 12 week lag.

In the end, these companies are using trade data to create win-win scenarios with their customers. Customers save time and money by not importing one or two containers of product a year and the importer grows revenue by finding a new customer. I imagine that these relationships, once developed, can last for years and be beneficial for both parties.

We recently added a video on how to find lists of importers on our video demonstrations page. This video focuses on finding lists of importers by a region (i.e. consignees located in a city or state), but the concept is the same for importers that want to grow sales. Check it out here.

I have written about the uses of trade data and other topics that touch our industry like Competitive Intelligence, Importing, and Brand Protection, but this post is about something a little different. Every day I hear from our customers that one of the things that separates Zepol from other vendors is that we provide excellent customer support.

While I am very proud of the support we provide, our customer service philosophy comes down to what I learned at my very first job as a teenager: if you treat every one of your customers with the same level of respect and appreciation as you do for your biggest client, then they will reward you with continued loyalty.

Zepol does not do anything revolutionary. We simply provide our customers with things that we want when working with other companies:

• Timely, thorough responses
• Professionalism
• Simple proactive measures to enhance the user experience
• Kept promises
• Personalized support for each customer

As basic as these concepts are to provide, there are far too many companies that struggle to execute consistently good support. In our industry, users utilize the data differently, so if support is not tailored to a user’s situation, then it is not as valuable. This also requires Zepol to provide support in a number of ways in order to allow users to access help in the manner they want.

Your customers should want to work with you. They should feel that if they call your support line, it will be answered. If they leave a message, it will be returned as soon as possible. Support personnel should have the training and authority to fully help a customer without having to ask a manager. Above all, they must act professionally and be experts in the subject they work in every day.

By providing the kind of support we do, our customers realize additional value beyond raw information. Trade data raises many questions that are above simple 'how-to-use-the-tool' inquires; diving deeper into issues about how to build value from the data and our tool, TradeIQ™. With the focus we have put on support and product usability, our customers add hundreds or thousands of dollars worth of value to their subscriptions that our competitors cannot match.

Every so often, one of our partners or customers puts on a trade event that we like to inform our readers about. Below is a description of an event that Neville Peterson LLP will be hosting in Washington, D.C. in late February.

Click here to download the event brochure

International Trade and Corporate Counsel Seminar

Neville Peterson LLP is an international law firm. They are sponsoring this event to focus on new and proposed governmental import/export regulations and requirements, discuss the establishment/maintenance of a trade compliance program, and provide tools that you can use to prepare an internal assessment of your compliance risks/opportunities.

As a leading trade data provider to trade compliance and legal industries, Zepol will be attending this event to meet with our customers, demonstrate our tools to prospects, and learn more about the latest information for the compliance industry. If you would like to request a demonstration while at this event, please click here.

Dates: February 25, 2009 to February 26, 2009
Location: The Resources and Conservation Center, Washington, DC
Website: www.npwtradelaw.com