With over 20 million active business buyers on Alibaba.com, finding the right ones for you and your business can seem like a daunting task. That’s why you have access to a suite of tools built specifically for B2B trade to help you connect with buyers. And one of these tools is RFQ, a key way Alibaba.com works to build successful relationships between buyers and sellers.

What is RFQ?

RFQ stands for Request for Quotation. It operates similarly to inquiries but not quite the same. An RFQ means a buyer comes to Alibaba.com with a product in mind — but no seller. They submit a post to our seller base, describing the product they want made, and you have the option to reach out and provide a quote.

You can search on the marketplace for RFQs, but when a seller takes the time to customize the RFQs they’re looking for, we’ll tailor a list that only shows the most relevant ones.

How to customize RFQs

You can subscribe to up to five categories and 24 keywords. Try to choose the most relevant categories and high-converting keywords within your catalog or elsewhere. This is because the most popular keywords will have the most RFQs coming in.

To show up on your personalized list, the RFQ will have the keyword you selected. Let’s say you’re looking for apples and simply subscribe to the keyword “apples.” You’ll receive any RFQ containing that exact keyword. But let’s say you’re looking for red apples, or an Apple Watch, you’ll need to subscribe to the full phrase to get relevant RFQs.

Once you subscribe to all 24 keywords and five categories, your RFQ list will change. It becomes more tailored to your specific preferences while pulling in the most recent RFQs on the marketplace.

BRAH Electric, a California-based electrical products manufacturing company, is a great example of an Alibaba.com seller that takes advantage of the RFQ tool. The team customizes the RFQs they want to receive and now attract new business from around the world. According to Scott Vaughn, Founder of BRAH Electric, “It’s incredible that we [receive] so many RFQs...I’m excited to continue expanding my business on Alibaba.com.”

Finding the the most relevant RFQs

There’s few things to keep an eye out for to ensure sellers respond to the highest quality RFQs:

• Location of buyer: you’ll see the listed country of the buyer who posted the RFQ. Be sure it’s in a market you serve.
• Title of RFQ: be sure the keyword you subscribed to appears in the RFQ. It will either be in the title, or in the RFQ description.
• Stars: buyer RFQs are scored similarly to star rating. Stars that appear next to certain RFQs denote that the buyer is actively using the feature and consistently uses the RFQ tool for business opportunities.
• Popularity of the RFQ: the number of sellers who have responded to each RFQ will be displayed. If there are only 2 slots out of 10 left, this could be a good sign that the RFQ is high quality.

RFQ messaging

So, you’ve gone through your RFQs and found a lead. Now what? Open up the RFQ and get the exact product specifications. All the different details will be displayed on the left hand side of the screen. In the center, you can write out a message stating all of your unique selling points.

You’ll want to write out everything that makes you unique in this section. Tell the buyer how quickly you can ship, how much you have in stock, if it’s made in the US, and so on. The more detail you give the better. Remember, it’s still a competition with other sellers.

You can send one of your product listings to the buyer so they can take a look at just the relevant part of your catalog — or you can send your entire catalog so they can review all of your products.

Now that you know more about RFQs, finding buyers on Alibaba.com shouldn’t feel as daunting. This powerful tool gives you more exposure and can help you win new business you may not have otherwise found.

This week's #B2BTuesday Tip:

When responding to an RFQ, make sure to include as much detail and information as possible about your products. You want to stand out from the other sellers competing for this buyer’s business.