John Merrell,  Merrell Consulting

Company website http://www.merrellav.com/

Tell in a ONE sentences about business with China: Mentoring potential global expansion with capable company candidates.
Who are your clients? Solid financial operations with growth in need of mentoring global, and particularly North American expansion
What is your mission? Mentor marketing, sales, regulatory compliance, and legal liaison needs
What problem do you resolve? Understanding North American business and end client / key client contractual partnerships

What kind of problems between Western companies and Chinese manufacturers do you see?

Significant lack in understanding both short term and long term partnership requirements for maintaining North American regulatory, business ethics, and QC compliance standards.

How a Western company can find a reliable Chinese supplier?

Partner with established and well recognized consulting partners.

What is necessary for TOP managers of western companies for start-up business with China?
Pre-contractual qualification process to reduce and attempt to eliminate business risks.
Could you tell us a short interesting story from your experience, which shows difference of the Chinese and Western business culture?

There is a strong need to initially train China based personnel in the «chain» between selling goods into North American markets rather than attempting to target a market simply based on how they perceive a similar product has established sales volume. I’ve often encountered months of China based team preparations being handled to carefully match actual product performance parameters without any time spent understanding the requirements necessary to sell-in such a product to North American buyers. The reverse is often true when North American buyers fail to secure a tightly composed product design ready to be sourced in Asian markets.

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