A guide for new foreign trade professionals: how to attract overseas customers through email (with practical tool tutorials)

I am Ajie, a newbie in foreign trade. When I first entered the industry last year, I sent 200 development letters but none of them were accepted. This year, I have relied on this method to develop 20+ new customers every month. Today, from the underlying logic to the practical tools, I will share all the pitfalls I have encountered and the methods that have been proven to be effective!

1. The underlying logic of email search that novices must know

Why Email Development Still Works

1. Reach decision makers accurately : Purchasing manager’s email address = golden stepping stone, 3 times more efficient than leaving messages on social media

2. Establish an exclusive customer pool : one valid email address = potential lifelong customer, which can be activated repeatedly

3. Low cost and high return : The cost of sending 100 emails is ≈ 1 cup of milk tea, and the investment can be recovered after completing 1 order

Three truths that novices must understand :

• ❌ Don’t be superstitious about mass mailing software! Purchasing managers receive more than 50 spam emails every day, and the opening rate of ordinary development emails is less than 2%.

• ✅ Do a background check on the customer before sending the email, and the response rate will double (specific methods will be taught later)

• 💡 80% of email addresses are hidden in official websites/social media/customs data. Using the right tool can save 90% of time

2. 10 efficient and free customer email mining methods

Method 1: Official website phishing method is applicable

Scenario : Known customer company website

Instructions :

• Find the "Contact Us" page on the official website. There will usually be general email addresses such as info@ and sales@.

• Use "Ctrl+U" to view the source code of the web page and search for the "@" symbol, which often leads to technical email addresses.

• Enter "site:company domain email" in Google to directly grab hidden mailboxes

Method 2: Name and email address formula

Applicable scenario : Know the customer name and company domain name

Universal combination formula :

• European and American companies: First name. Last name@company domain name (such as john.smith@abc.com )

• Asian companies: Last name initial + First name@Company domain name (e.g. jsmith@abc.com )

Practical tools :

Use metricsparrow.com/email-permutator to automatically generate 20 possible email addresses by entering your name + domain name

Method 3: Digging for treasure in customs data

Applicable scenario : Find industry importers

Steps :

• Log in to AB customer customs data ( https://www.cnabke.com/customsData.html )

• Search product HS codes and filter out overseas companies that have recently purchased

• Record the company name + bill of lading contact person, and use method 2 to spell the email address

Method 4: LinkedIn social fear development techniques

Applicable scenario : Looking for purchasing decision makers

Operation guide :

• Search the target company name and find the purchasing manager's homepage

• Click "See more employees" to find the second-in-command/assistant (they are more likely to respond)

• Use the SellHack plugin to directly extract LinkedIn emails

Method 5: Google Search Commands

Applicable scenario : Carpet search across the entire network

Special combination punch :

• Find purchasing email: intitle:"procurement manager" + "product keywords" + email

• Dig out hidden contacts: "Company Name" filetype:pdf contact (Digging out email addresses from product manuals)

• Intercepting peer customers: "supplied by competitor company name" email

Method 6: Image Phishing

Applicable scenario : looking for small and medium-sized wholesalers

Instructions :

• Search the English name of the product on Google Images and filter out images with company watermarks

• Click "Visit Webpage" to enter the company's official website and use method 1 to dig out the email address

• Focus on capturing contact information in image descriptions

Method 7: Harvesting Customers at Exhibitions

Applicable scenarios : You can also get resources without participating in the exhibition

Operation tips :

• Search for "industry name + exhibitor list 2025" to download the exhibitor list (usually including email address)

• Use Wayback Machine to check historical exhibition pages and grab information about previous exhibitors

• Focus on developing loyal customers who have participated in the exhibition for three consecutive years

Method 8: CEO Email Direct Link

Applicable scenario : Development of startup companies

Wild way operation :

• Search for company financing news on Crunchbase.com

• Find the founder’s email address (CEO’s email address is often disclosed on the investor relations page)

• Verify the validity of the email address with verifyemailaddress.io

Method 9: Social Media Phishing Posts

Applicable scenarios : Develop Facebook/INS customer speech templates:

“Hi~ I saw your (product-related post). We just helped (a customer) solve (pain point). If you need a solution, you can send me a private message to send me the case.”

Key point: Provide a solution first and then ask for an email address, and the success rate will increase by 70%.

Method 10: Industry Report Interception

Applicable scenario : looking for industry leading customers

Steps :

• Search "industry name + market report PDF" on Google

• Download the free report and go to the "Key Players" section

• Contact the manufacturer/distributor mentioned in the report

3. Foreign trade geeks’ advanced search gameplay (nanny-level demonstration)

Before using the tool, it took 20 minutes to find an email manually. Now I share my 3x speed trick:

Game 1: Customs data + AI mailbox prediction

1. Enter the "Customs Data" module of Foreign Trade Geek and enter the product keywords

2. The system automatically lists recent buyers. Click on the company name to enter the details page.

3. Use the "Mailbox Mining" function to directly display the verified email address of the Purchasing Director

Gameplay 2: Global Search and Blast

1. Enter the company website in the "Global Search" module

2. The system automatically crawls employee business cards, website information, email information, etc.

3. Automatically verify validity

Strategy 3: Intercepting customers from competitors

1. Enter the name of the peer company in the "Competitive Product Monitoring" column

2. Set up an alert: When a competitor sends an inquiry, it will be automatically sent to the customer's email address

3. Use the template library to generate targeted development letters that are "10% cheaper than competing products"

4. A guide for beginners to avoid pitfalls when searching for mail

Summary of blood and tears lessons :

1. ❌ Don't use QQ/163 email! Use Gmail or corporate email, otherwise it will go to the trash folder

2. ❌ Don’t buy customs data! The free version of Foreign Trade Geek is enough for beginners

3. 💡 Before sending, you must use mail-tester.com to check the spam index and ensure that the score is > 8

4. 💡 Emails sent at 10am on Tuesday (customer time zone) have a 40% higher open rate than on Friday

5. Take action now!

1️⃣ Customs data exemption channel : click → https://www.cnabke.com/customsData.html

2️⃣ Google Command Complete Documentation : Follow and reply “Mailbox” to download directly

3️⃣ Development letter template library : contains 20 industry scripts, reply "template" to receive

Finally, I would like to leave you a message : Finding 100 email addresses is not as good as developing 10 customers accurately. Using good tools + continuous follow-up is the best way! For specific operation details, please send a private message to communicate~

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