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This section contains information on the process used to develop the profiles of potential customers for Minnesota IP soybeans, corn, and wheat in the target country markets of China, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. The topics addressed include the following:
- Development of the initial working lists of potential customers.
- Method used to collect information for the profiles of potential customers.
- Creation of the potential customer profile and database.
A. Working Lists of Potential Customers
The first task in profiling potential customers in the target country markets was to develop the working lists of potential customers.
Potential Customers
The definition of the potential customers the study was seeking to profile was as follows:
- End users of identity preserved soybeans, corn, wheat or the base commodities who purchase regular orders in container, truckload, or larger quantities.
- Alternatively, end users might be end distributors in deep distribution networks that purchase the IP or base crop in regular orders of container, truckload, or larger quantities.
The following potential customers were not targeted for profiling: large U.S. grain merchandisers and their subsidiaries, and Minnesota-based companies. The assumption was that these companies are known by and accessible to Minnesota IP suppliers.
Sources and Quality of Lists
There was no existing list of potential customers for the selected IP crops in the targeted country markets. Therefore, it was necessary to collect and build a working list of potential customers for contact based on the profiling process described below.
In developing the working list, the objective was to identify potential customers as defined above who might feasibly source from Minnesota IP suppliers and who might buy in minimum quantities of container or truckloads. The effort was to build a targeted list of potential customers for Minnesota IP farmers and local suppliers.
Collecting Lists. The first effort was to collect lists of potential customers in English from various U.S. and foreign sources. A sample of sources used included the following:
- AgroCommodities.
- American Feed Industry Association.
- American Soybean Association.
- American Turkey Association.
- Asociacion Nacional de Fabricantes.
- Association of Operative Millers.
- BeSeen Consulting.
- Business.com.
- China Feed Industry Information Net.
- China Grow.
- ChinaOnLine.
- Corporate Information.
- Cosmos.
- Directory of China’s Foreign Trade.
- FarmChina.
- Industria Directorios.
- Jalisco Agriculture Council.
- Japan Business Marketing Database
- Japan Information Network.
- Japan Small & Medium Enterprise Corporation.
- Japan Plant Protein Food Association.
- Japan Tofu Association.
- Japan Vegetable Oil Association.
- Japanese Poultry Science Association.
- JETRO.
- MarketAg.com.
- Soya & Oilseed Blue Book.
- SoyaTech.
- TradePort.
- Turkish Embassy, Tokyo.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture.
- U.S. Poultry & Egg Association.
- U.S. Soyfoods Directory.
- United Soybean Board
- University of Illinois, ACES.
Many other sources were contacted or queried for lists of potential customers, but the above were the more productive.
Building List. In order to further develop the collected list into a working list, extensive searches of the literature were conducted to identify additional viable companies to become part of the working list.
Completing and Correcting List. Once the working lists were collected and built, extensive follow-up work was required to complete and correct the information on the working list. This required completing and correcting the basic contact data for each potential customer – correct company name, mailing address, telephone, fax, email address, contact name and title. In addition, information on some of the lists had to be translated into English. In total, approximately three-quarters of the potential customers on the working list required extensive follow up work (e.g., translation of company information, research to find correct fax and telephone numbers) to obtain complete and correct basic contact data.
The corrected working list contained 1,634 potential customers as follows:
- China at 742.
- Japan at 230.
- Mexico at 308.
- United States at 354.
B. Collection of Customer Profile Information
The second task in the profiling of potential customers in the target country markets was to develop the method that would be used to collect the profile information from potential customers.
Database Information Fields
The first step was to develop an extensive list of specific information fields that might be included in the database profile of a potential customer. The initial list of information fields was honed to create two lists of information fields – the start-up information data fields, and the future follow-up information data fields. (See Appendix X in Volume 2 for a list of the start-up information data fields.)
The questionnaire introduced the potential customers to the Department’s Buyer Assistance Service, defined as follows:
- Buyer Assistance Service – a service that allows the customer to establish direct buying relationships with Minnesota farmers and local suppliers of high-quality, identity-preserved, and trait specific soybeans, corn, and wheat that will be shipped direct to the customer by the Minnesota farmer or supplier.
The primary questions to be asked of potential customers beyond contact names and other basic information were as follows:
- Does your company purchase soybeans, corn, or wheat?
- Is your company interested in purchasing identity preserved soybeans, corn, or wheat?
- Is your company interested in establishing direct buying relationships with Minnesota farmers and suppliers for the purchase of soybeans, corn, or wheat?
- What specific identity preserved soybeans, corn, or wheat is your company interested in purchasing?
Other information requested included the following: Buyer name and contact information. Managing director name and contact information. Products produced by the company. Background information on number of employees and year company founded. Interest in joining the Minnesota Shippers’ Association.
Materials & Contact Methods
A questionnaire was designed to collect the start-up profile information. The questionnaire was translated and adjusted for the Japanese, Mexican, and Chinese markets. (See Appendix B in Volume 2 for copies of the questionnaires).
The primary initial contact method was by fax. When working fax numbers were not available, the questionnaires were communicated by email or postal mail.
Non-responding contacts were sent up to four follow-up faxes.
When potential customers did not respond, a priority list of contacts was developed from this list of customers for each target country market, and those contacts were called and the information was collected in telephone interviews. This required native-speaking interviewing personnel in China, Japan, and Mexico.
Database and Software Development
Software was installed to accommodate the mass faxing of questionnaires.
The questionnaires were prepared in Word, and the contact information from the working list was entered into an Excel spreadsheet. A merge program was used to merge the contact information into individualized documents and fax the documents.
The information on the completed questionnaires was entered into an Excel spreadsheet.
C. Profiles of Potential Customers
The final task in the profiling of potential customers in the target country markets was to create a potential customer profile and database for delivery to the Department.
Profiles of Potential Customers
The questionnaire was communicated to 1,634 potential customer contacts by fax, email, or postal mail. Approximately 900 non-responding companies were called in order to make an attempt at completing the questionnaire with a personal interview.
Profile information was collected on 551 potential customers representing 34 percent of the companies contacted. A total of 291 current high-potential customers, or 18 percent of all companies contacted, expressed interest in the Department’s Buyer Assistance Service.
A summary of the results of the contact with potential customers follows.
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ITEM
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CHINA
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JAPAN
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MEXICO
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USA
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TOTAL
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Contacts
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742
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230
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308
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354
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1,634
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Responses
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85
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59
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148
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259
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551
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Buying Interest
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36
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27
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110
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118
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291
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IP Interest
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24
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41
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44
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78
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187
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See the Appendices in Volume 2 for a complete list of the contacts, responses, and customer profiles.
Responding companies expressing an interest in the Buyer Assistance Service may have a current need for the service, plan to use the service in the future, or were interested in keeping informed about the program in case they had a future need for the program’s services.
Current High-Potential Customers. The responding companies expressing an interest in the Department’s Buyer Assistance Services may be viewed as:
- A targeted list of 291 high-potential customers.
- Located In four high-potential target country markets.
- Having a current or future interest in purchasing Minnesota IP soybeans, corn, and wheat.
- Interested in purchasing directly from Minnesota farmers and local suppliers.
Future Potential Customers. Those companies that did not express a current interest in the Department Buyer Assistance program represent a group of companies for future marketing efforts.
Profiles of Service Organizations
While gathering profiling information on potential customers, a start-up profile of various public and private service organizations that may be of assistance to Minnesota IP suppliers was also compiled. The profiles of these organizations can be found in the Appendices in Volume 2.
Updating Customer Profiles
The newly created start-up profiles of potential customers have a relatively brief life cycle in that the information in the profiles is constantly changing. Unless the profiles are updated on a regular basis, much of the information will become outdated. Once information becomes outdated, both sellers and potential customers can become disenchanted with use of and participation in the profile database.
The information in the start-up profile can be extended to include other important marketing information during periodic update and regular service contacts. By updating and expanding the information, the usefulness of the profile database will continue to increase for sellers and customers as well as the Department.
Expanding Customer Profile Database
As the Department establishes new contacts with potential customers, profile information can be systematically collected and entered into the database. This will expand the database and provide potential new opportunities to growers and local suppliers on a regular basis.
The profile database can also be expanded by initiating profiling projects similar to this one in the existing target markets, in new high-potential markets, or for additional targeted IP crops.
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