Find clients and sell your products in Singapore

Finding clients abroad is always a challenge, and business development in Singapore is not different. You need the right contacts and once you reach the decision maker, you need the right sales pitch.

A lot of companies that want to enter the market in Singapore do this with their general sales pitch. However, if you don't know the local regulations, pricing levels and your competition's product, sales meetings may be difficult to conclude successfully.

How to sell your product or service in Singapore?

Singapore, a city-state in Southeast Asia, is a global financial hub with a multicultural population of about 5.7 million as of 2023. It is renowned for its economic prowess, strict laws, and efficient urban planning.

With a high GDP per capita of approximately $65,000 USD in 2023, Singapore’s economy is driven by finance, trading, and manufacturing, especially in electronics and biomedical sciences. The port of Singapore is one of the busiest in the world.

Singapore business culture

English is one of the official languages in Singapore, the others being Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. Singapore is a highly organised and structured country. Punctuality, accuracy, and efficiency are of most value in all business dealings.

Business culture is similar to the western business style. Decisions are taken at the top level and then disseminated down the chain of command. Singapore is a performance based society. Deals are sealed mostly based on perceived performance and value that you bring to the table.

Negotiation tactics in Singapore

The following guidelines will help project your business favourably to your Singapore Customers:

Establish the reputation of your business as best as you can. This is elemental and vital to your business prospects.
Adopt a serious and refined business tone.
Singaporeans do not refuse or say no openly, instead watch out for non-verbal communications or indirect hints.
Given their vast experience in international trade, Singapore business persons can be approached directly.
When someone older or higher up the hierarchy enters the room, it is customary to stand up.
Singaporean customers spend a lot of time gathering information resulting in slower decision making.
Expect some shrewd bargaining and haggling.

VAlidate the HS-codes you use for shipping

Almost every country or trade block in the world has its own detailing on the international HS-code list. With our report you strongly reduce the risk on misclassifications, delays and higher custom duties than expected.

Tell us what you want to ship and where to and we ask you all relevant questions to get to the most likely code.

Translate your website and check your SEO

Even if your business is really international, it may be wise to set up local website translations and check whether your text aligns with the culture.

This also counts for Singapore and its inhabitants. People prefer reading in their own language and also search most of the time in their own language. Therefore you need to include the relevant keywords in your texts, and these may not be a direct translation.

With regards to content, my personal experience is that if you have a successful blog topic in one language, it is likely to do well also in other languages. Don’t reinvent the wheel, just make a proper translation.

Shipping your products

If you sell physical products, you need them to get delivered into Singapore. Depending on the country you are in, this may be a challenge.

First of all you may have to pay import duties or settle VAT. This can be complex if you don’t have your own legal entity in the country.

There may also be non-financial bariers, like certifications or approvals to be obtained. Especially for food, cosmetics or medicine this may be the case. Check this in advance, even before you invest in your marketing.