B2B lead generation for exporters: how to find overseas buyers and follow up properly.

Which channels find overseas buyers

The best channel is the one your buyers already use to find suppliers. A buyer of industrial pumps may search Google and walk a trade show; a retailer sourcing homewares may rely on an importer or a marketplace. Start from how your existing customers found you, then pick two or three channels you can run well.

Distributors deserve particular care in a new market; our guide to finding a distributor in Australia covers shortlisting and due diligence.

Outreach on LinkedIn and email

Outreach works when it targets a short list of companies that fit and each message says something specific about their business. Research the account first: what they make or sell, which standards apply in their market and who handles purchasing. A short note that refers to their product range and offers a data sheet or sample is far more likely to be read than a long company profile.

Respect each platform’s rules. LinkedIn’s User Agreement prohibits bots and other unauthorised automated methods to add contacts or send messages, and LinkedIn says accounts using such tools risk being restricted or shut down. AI can help you research and draft, but send messages yourself or through tools the platform permits. For email, use your own business domain, keep volumes modest and follow the law of the country you are writing to.

Qualify enquiries before you quote

A qualified enquiry comes from a real company, for a product you make, in a market you can serve, from someone who can buy or influence the purchase. Writing these criteria down stops sales staff spending days quoting for competitors, students and fishing requests.

• Real companyA registered business with a website, address and named contact; check the company register in their country where you can.
• Product fitThe product, specification and quantity match what you make and your MOQ.
• Market fitYou can sell into that country and meet its certification and labelling requirements.
• Timing and authorityThere is a project or purchase date, and the contact can buy or influence the decision.
• Workable termsPayment terms and Incoterms are acceptable to both sides.

Grade enquiries simply, for example A (quote now), B (needs information) and C (not a fit), and decline C enquiries politely rather than ignoring them. Our article on quote automation shows how AI can draft quotes from your price rules while a person approves each one.

Follow-up discipline and a CRM

Follow-up is where marketing spend is most often wasted: an enquiry answered three days late, or a stack of trade show cards never contacted, cost as much to win as the enquiries that became orders. A CRM (customer relationship management) system keeps every lead, quote and conversation in one place, with an owner and a next step. It does not need to be complex; it needs to be used.

1. Reply quicklyAcknowledge each enquiry within one business day in the buyer’s time zone, even if the full quote takes longer.
2. Record everythingLog source, product, quantity, market and grade in the CRM, not in personal inboxes or chat apps.
3. Set the next stepEvery open enquiry has a named owner, an action and a date.
4. Follow up on quotesContact the buyer after each quote about questions, samples and timing, on an agreed schedule.
5. Close the loopMark each lead won, lost or on hold, with a reason, so you learn which channels and products work.

If you sell through distributors or wholesale, our guide to CRM for wholesalers compares the options.

Measure cost per qualified enquiry

Judge each channel by its cost per qualified enquiry, measured against your own baseline rather than industry averages that may not fit your product or market. Add up the full cost of a channel for a period, including staff time, travel, fees and ad spend, then divide by the qualified enquiries it produced in that period.

Record your current numbers for a few months before changing anything, so you have a baseline. Then track, per channel, qualified enquiries, quotes sent, orders won and time from first contact to order. A trade show may bring fewer enquiries than paid search but more orders, and only your own records will show it. Industrial sales cycles are long, so review quarterly as well as monthly.

Australia’s rules on commercial email

If you email or text buyers in Australia, the Spam Act 2003 applies. It covers commercial electronic messages with an Australian link, which includes messages sent from overseas to an address accessed in Australia. The regulator, ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority), sums up the rules in three steps:

• Consent: have the recipient’s consent before sending marketing messages, and be able to prove it. Consent can be express, such as a sign-up form, or in narrow cases inferred; ACMA warns that an address being published online is not enough on its own.
• Identify: state your business name accurately and include your contact details.
• Unsubscribe: include a free, working unsubscribe option in every message and action requests within five working days.

Personal information about Australian contacts may also be covered by the Privacy Act, whose Australian Privacy Principles include APP 7 on direct marketing. Other countries have their own rules, so check the law in each market you contact and take legal advice if you are unsure. This is general information, not legal advice.

Our Marketing & Lead Generation service researches buyers and distributors in your target markets, runs agreed outreach and sets up follow-up in your CRM. Scope is agreed in each proposal.