Khalid started working with Alibaba.com over 14 years ago in 2007 as a general manager. But he later decided to start iTech, the largest channel partner of Alibaba.com based out of India. He started the company with 18 members — and now leads a team of 150 employees who manage more than 3,000 Alibaba.com seller accounts. See why Khalid enjoys helping Alibaba.com sellers succeed.

What’s your role, and how do you work with Alibaba.com?

I started working with Alibaba.com over 14 years ago. But even before that, I was fascinated by ecommerce and companies like Alibaba.com. This is because I would work with customers and they would always talk about Alibaba.com and how the return on investment was great. It made me curious about Alibaba.com and its mission.

Now, looking at my current role, I run iTech — the largest channel partner of Alibaba.com. This means I handle sales and customer service in India and the US. I’m responsible for training Alibaba.com sellers and helping them be successful on the platform.

How do you help Alibaba.com sellers succeed?

You can think of Alibaba.com as a “do it yourself” platform. You have to invest a lot of time to see results. But once you do, you realize it’s not rocket science. There’s a set pattern. If you perform well on various indicators, then you start getting business. If you follow the process, you’ll come out with a good result. Don’t wait for the buyers — generate them for yourself using our different tools.

But, because this can take a lot of time, the iTech team offers value added services. If sellers don’t have the time to spend on Alibaba.com because they’re busy with other parts of their business, they can hire us for a small fee. We get permission from the seller to run their account.

We then help sellers on a few things like getting star rated, optimizing their Keyword Advertising, and taking advantage of the RFQ tool. We upload their product postings, and make them high performing. We respond to inquiries from buyers in the first 24 hours. If they’re doing well on all of these things, their company will be more competitive and their products will appear higher in search. This way, we help Alibaba.com sellers get the maximum benefit from the platform.

What are some of the main questions sellers have for you?

“Can I skip that step?” “Is there an alternative?” These are some of the most common questions I get from sellers. But the answer is no — there’s no substitute for the necessary steps to win new business. We also get quite a few questions about Alibaba.com vs other platforms. What makes Alibaba.com the best? And in my opinion, it’s that Alibaba.com is the world’s largest wholesale marketplace. Wherever you are based, you have the chance to connect with millions of buyers around the world. You just have to follow the right steps.

What’s the best piece of advice you can offer Alibaba.com sellers?

Business is taking a different shape because of COVID-19. And Alibaba.com is a platform like no other where you have the chance to go global. Every seller should view it as an opportunity. If you’re trying to export products, this is one of the best opportunities out there.

What do you find most rewarding about your role?

My team serves more than 3,000 Alibaba.com sellers around the globe, and we’ve helped more than 10,000 sellers since I started iTech. Just like Alibaba.com, the customer always comes first. And if you help customers succeed in their business, then you’ll always succeed in business.