Fazley Rabbi"Our factory makes good products, but almost every order comes through one buying house or a few old buyers. We want direct buyers abroad, but we don't know where to find them, and the emails we send get no answer." Many exporters of garments, leather goods, jute products and agro products in Bangladesh say something like this. The answer is not a bigger email list. It is a narrower target, a short list of real buyers, and a first message that gives them a reason to reply.
Decide who you are looking for
Before you search, write down on one page:
- What you sell and can deliver: products, minimum order quantity, monthly capacity, lead times, and which certifications and audits you already hold.
- Which buyer type fits you: brands, importers, wholesalers, retail chains and distributors buy very differently. A small leather workshop and a large knitwear factory should not chase the same buyers.
- One or two target countries to start: where your product, certifications and pricing already make sense.
Everything after this depends on that page. If you can't fill it in, finding buyers will be guesswork.
Where real buyers can be found
- Trade fairs. Exhibitor and visitor lists from fairs in your sector, at home and abroad, show who is active in your category.
- Importers' own websites. Look at what they sell, where they source and who handles purchasing.
- LinkedIn. Search for sourcing, buying and category managers at the companies on your list. Read their profiles before you write.
- Trade data services. Some paid services show which companies import which products. They help you see who actually buys, but check the details before you rely on them.
- Embassies and chambers. The commercial wing of your embassy in the buyer's country, and chambers of commerce there, can sometimes point you to importers.
Build the list by hand at first. Twenty or thirty well-chosen companies, each with a named person, will do more than thousands of addresses from a bought list. Bought lists also damage your email domain and may break the rules in the buyer's country.
Writing the first message
- Say who you are, where your factory is and what you make, in one or two lines.
- Explain why you are writing to this company: a product line of theirs that matches yours.
- Give proof they can check: certifications, photos of your production floor, the markets you already ship to in general terms.
- Ask one easy question, such as whether they are open to new suppliers for that product.
- Include your full name, company and website, and a simple line saying they can ask you to stop writing.
Don't attach a heavy catalogue to the first email; offer to send it. If there is no reply, follow up once or twice over the next few weeks with something useful, such as a new sample photo, and then stop. When they do respond, reply quickly and keep their time zone in mind.
Common mistakes
- Opening with "We are a leading manufacturer" and nothing concrete.
- Quoting prices or lead times you can't hold once the order is real.
- A website that looks abandoned or does not match what the email claims.
- Sending the same message to every buyer in every country.
- Giving up after one email, or the opposite: writing every two days.
What you do yourself, and where help is useful
You and your team know the product, the samples, the costing and the factory. That knowledge must come from you, and replies to serious buyers should come from someone who can answer technical questions. An outside team helps with research, building and verifying the contact list, setting up a separate sending domain, planning follow-ups and tracking every conversation in one place. If you are still deciding which country to enter, see the export market entry plan.
Where to start this week
Pick one product, one country and one buyer type. Find ten companies that clearly sell something like yours, note one named buyer at each, and write ten personal emails this week. What you learn from the replies will shape everything after. If you'd like help turning this into a steady routine, see lead generation and B2B outreach or get in touch.