An export buyers list comes from one of five places: trade offices and embassies, export councils and chambers, trade fairs, directories and marketplaces, or customs data. Each list tells you something different, and none of them tells you who will buy your product this year. The value is in checking the list: keeping the companies that really sell or use what you make, and finding who decides there.
Where lists come from and what they contain
| Source | What the list really is | Typical problem |
|---|---|---|
| Trade offices and embassies | Importers and distributors known to the commercial section | Age varies; few named contacts |
| Export councils and chambers | Members, delegation visitors, trade enquiries | Shared with every member exporter |
| Trade fair lists | Exhibitors, sometimes visitors | Most exhibitors are sellers, not buyers |
| Directories and marketplaces | Companies that registered or posted a request | A listing is not a purchase; many are traders |
| Customs data | Consignees on past shipments | Past, not present; the consignee is often a forwarder; many countries do not publish names |
A 10-minute check per company
- Open the website. No website, or one that has not changed in years, is a warning.
- Does it sell or use your product? Look at product pages and categories, not the "about" text.
- Does it buy from abroad? Foreign brands, origin labels and supplier pages are clues.
- Is it the right size? A one-shop retailer and a national chain need different offers.
- Who decides? Find the purchasing or category manager; write to a person, not info@.
Ten minutes a company is two days for a list of a hundred. That is the part Outfound automates: it reads each candidate's website, keeps the ones that fit with the reason and a source, finds the decision-maker and writes the first email in the buyer's language.
Build the list around your product, not the other way round
Most lists are built by product code or keyword, so they bring back everyone connected to the word: producers, fairs, machinery sellers, restaurants. Start instead from a description of who buys: "importers and wholesalers of stainless kitchen equipment supplying hotel projects in Germany" finds a different, shorter and better list than "HS 7323".
What a good first list looks like
- One or two countries, chosen with trade statistics.
- Forty to a hundred companies, each checked on its website.
- A named person at each, with a verified email.
- A first email written for each company; how to find buyers for export covers the rest of the process.
Last updated: · By: Tolga Tatar