Over the years, working with different markets, including aluminium, slowly changed the way I look at products.
When something doesn’t sell in a new market, the first reaction is usually the same: We look at the product. We start thinking that there must be something wrong with it.
Maybe the quality is not enough.
Maybe the specifications are not right.
Maybe the design needs to change.
So, we focus our energy on fixing the product. But most of the time, the product is not the real problem.
Why do we blame the product first?
Blaming the product feels safe. It is something we know well and something we feel we can control. We can measure it, improve it, change it and explain it. It gives us a clear direction for action.
Demand is different. Demand means understanding people in another country. How they work, how they buy, how they make decisions and what they actually care about in their daily business. That part takes time, patience and a lot of listening. Because it is harder and slower, we often skip it and go back to the product instead.
The product often already works somewhere else
What really starts to change your thinking is seeing the same product work perfectly well in another market. The same factory, the same machines, the same quality and the same people behind it. In one country, orders come in naturally. In another, nothing moves.
At that point, the question is no longer “Is this a bad product?” The question becomes “Is this product solving a real problem here?”
Demand is more than interest
Sometimes people say, “They are interested, but they don’t buy.” That sentence is more important than it sounds. Interest is not demand.
Demand, including all aluminium products, is about very practical things: Who needs this product regularly, when they need it, how they use it and what they are using instead today. If we don’t have clear answers to these questions, we are not working with demand; we are guessing.
A situation many of us recognise
This situation is very common.
A seller says, “Our quality is high, but customers don’t respond.”
A buyer says, “The product looks okay, but it doesn’t fit us.”
Both sides feel frustrated and both think the other side doesn’t understand.
Usually, the real issue is that nobody asked enough simple questions. Not about price or volume, but about daily use and real working conditions.
Demand lives in daily routines
Demand is shaped by small habits. How people place orders, how often they reorder, how much stock they are comfortable holding, how much risk they accept and how flexible they are in their planning. These routines vary by country. If you ignore them, even a good product can feel wrong for the market.
Also read: What lessons do I learn from a GLOBAL aluminium SUPPLY CHAIN?
How to understand demand simply?
If you can, talk to people not to sell, but just to listen.
Simple questions like “What is difficult for you today?” or “What usually goes wrong?” often work.
If direct contact is not possible, reading online comments, bad reviews and complaints helps a lot. People are usually very honest when they complain.
Experience slowly changes your thinking
After some time in trade, your questions change naturally. You stop asking how to change the product and start asking whether the product is really needed in this market, whether the timing is right and whether the process fits how people actually work. This change alone saves a lot of energy.
I’ve come to believe that the product comes after demand, of course, with sufficient quality as a given. First comes understanding demand. Then you adjust. Sometimes it’s the product, sometimes the packaging, sometimes the delivery and sometimes just the communication. Mostly, the change is small, but the impact is big.
If we stop blaming the product and start paying attention to daily needs, trade becomes clearer, less stressful and much more realistic.
