Hi-Fella Insights

Menu
Sign In
Sign In

Case Study: From Cold Leads to Real Deals Using Hi-Fella's Buyer Database

June 1, 2025
Case Study: From Cold Leads to Real Deals Using Hi-Fella's Buyer Database

In the world of global trade, the difference between a cold lead and a closed deal can mean weeks of chasing emails, attending expos that cost more than they convert, and sifting through supplier directories that haven’t been updated since the Obama administration. But what if there were a smarter way—one that brings verified, data-backed opportunities directly to your inbox?

This is exactly what happened to a mid-sized manufacturer in Southeast Asia who used Hi-Fella’s Buyer Database to go from ice-cold international prospects to confirmed trade deals—without boarding a single flight.

This case study breaks down the transformation step-by-step, showing how modern export-import players can turn chaos into clarity using smart data, digital matchmaking, and zero BS.

The Business: Who’s the Player?

Let’s start with our subject—a growing but struggling furniture manufacturer in Jepara, Indonesia.

Company: PT. Cipta Kayu Abadi
Product: Sustainably sourced teakwood furniture
Capacity: 20 containers/month
Problem: Strong product, weak export network

For 8 years, the company relied on word-of-mouth, occasional trade expos, and personal contacts to find overseas buyers. They landed a few one-time shipments to Dubai and South Korea but lacked consistent volume or repeat contracts. The biggest pain points?

  • Cold emailing 100+ importers with no replies
  • No idea which buyers were still active post-pandemic
  • Zero visibility into what markets wanted their style of product

This is where Hi-Fella came in.

Step 1: Signing Up and Getting Verified

In late 2023, PT. Cipta Kayu Abadi signed up for Hi-Fella’s verified supplier access.

To qualify, they submitted:

  • Business license (SIUP)
  • Product certifications (FSC-certified wood)
  • Photos and videos of production facility
  • Export history (via freight and customs data)

They passed the verification within 3 days.

🧠 Why this matters: Verified suppliers are prioritised by Hi-Fella’s matchmaking system, improving searchability and credibility to global buyers.

Step 2: Market Research via Hi-Fella’s Insights

Before they even connected with a buyer, they used Hi-Fella’s Market Intelligence Dashboard to identify three hot markets with rising demand for teakwood furniture:

  • Germany (eco-conscious, premium buyers)
  • UAE (bulk orders for hotels and villas)
  • Japan (minimalist style, smaller SKUs)

They discovered that in the past 12 months:

  • Germany had increased teakwood furniture imports by 18% YoY (UN Comtrade, 2023)
  • UAE buyers were sourcing from India but had shown interest in Indonesian alternatives post-COVID
  • Japanese importers were searching for modular designs with compact packaging

🎯 Real-time data gave PT. Cipta Kayu a strategic edge—it wasn’t about guessing anymore. It was about positioning.

Step 3: Smart Match Made the First Move

Hi-Fella’s Smart Match feature kicked in.

Instead of PT. Cipta Kayu sending blind outreach emails, Smart Match:

  • Analyzed their company profile
  • Scanned the buyer database of 60,000+ companies
  • Delivered curated buyer matches across target countries

Top leads included:

  • A hotel furnishing wholesaler in Dubai looking for sustainable luxury pieces
  • A German interior designer network looking for exclusive contract manufacturing
  • A Japanese online retailer focused on minimalist storage benches

Hi-Fella scored each lead based on:

  • Buyer activity (past 60 days)
  • Product alignment
  • Purchasing power
  • Past supplier reviews

PT. Cipta Kayu picked the top 5 and started outreach.

Step 4: Messaging Inside the Platform (with Translation!)

The manufacturer reached out to the matched buyers via Hi-Fella’s built-in messaging tool. The conversation flow was smooth, and here’s why:

  • Instant auto-translation (Bahasa to German, Japanese, and Arabic)
  • Pre-loaded product catalogue with pricing
  • Sample shipment options integrated into the chat

No separate email chains. No PDFs lost in translation. Just streamlined negotiations with proper documentation.

Within 2 weeks:

✅ The Japanese buyer requested samples and agreed to a trial container of mixed SKUs.
✅ The Dubai buyer scheduled a video tour of the factory.
✅ The German distributor proposed a white-label manufacturing contract.

Step 5: From Lead to Deal (and Scaling It)

By March 2024, PT. Cipta Kayu had converted all three leads into active deals:

  1. Dubai – Recurring monthly container shipments for hotel chains. Value: $150,000/month
  2. Germany – Exclusive OEM agreement for modular office furniture. Value: $95,000/month
  3. Japan – Trial order turned into seasonal campaign partnership. Value: $60,000/quarter

They didn’t just win sales—they built strategic global relationships.

According to PT. Cipta Kayu’s export manager:

“We used to spend $10,000 per year on trade shows and cold prospecting with less ROI. With Hi-Fella, the data did the heavy lifting. We just had to show up and close.”

What Made It Work?

This case wasn’t luck. It was structured acceleration. Here’s what Hi-Fella did differently:

✅ Verified Buyer Database

No more fake buyers or inactive contacts. Every lead had a digital footprint, trade data, and real purchase behavior.

✅ AI-Powered Matching

The system used machine learning to understand compatibility—not just product-wise, but market-readiness, volume match, and B2B behavior.

✅ Cross-Cultural Communication Tools

Built-in messaging with translation and catalog sharing eliminated friction and delays.

✅ Market Intelligence

Having insight into where demand was rising, and what competitors were doing, helped the company focus its efforts sharply.

Lessons for Other Exporters

If you’re an SME or mid-sized exporter stuck in cold lead purgatory, here’s what this case proves:

  • Manual prospecting is outdated. Data-driven outreach is faster and smarter.
  • Market fit matters more than volume. Hi-Fella helped find the right buyers, not just many.
  • Being verified pays off. Trust is currency in global trade.
  • It’s not just a database—it’s a bridge between ambition and action.

Global trade in 2025 is fast, digital, and data-first. Hi-Fella understands this. It doesn’t try to be everything. It focuses on what actually moves the needle: connecting serious players with verified opportunities.

For PT. Cipta Kayu Abadi, the transformation wasn’t just in sales volume. It was in clarity. Knowing which doors to knock on—and which ones to skip.

And that’s something every exporter deserves.

Join Hi-Fella Today!

Turning cold leads into real, revenue-generating deals is every export-import business’s goal — and Hi-Fella proves it’s more than possible. As shown in the case study, leveraging Hi-Fella’s verified buyer database can drastically cut down prospecting time and connect you with serious, ready-to-trade partners. No more wasted effort on unreliable contacts or dead ends.

With Hi-Fella, you’re tapping into a network built for results, backed by data you can trust. If you’re ready to transform your outreach into real opportunities, it’s time to make Hi-Fella part of your global trade strategy.

Join Hi-Fella!

About Author

Zhafran Tsany

Zhafran Tsany

Leave a Reply

Other Article

The Intersection of Religion and International Business: Understanding Pope Leo's Influence
Insights
The Intersection of Religion and International Business: Understanding Pope Leo's Influence
June 2, 2025
Zhafran Tsany
In today’s global marketplace, business decisions are shaped by a complex web of economic, political,...
Read More
Pope Leo’s Emphasis on Social Justice: Implications for Corporate Governance and ESG Reporting Pope Leo XIII might not be the first name that comes to mind when thinking about supply chains, board structures, or ESG metrics—but perhaps he should be. In 1891, with the encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII became one of the earliest modern figures to articulate a systematic philosophy of social justice grounded in dignity, fairness, and responsibility within economic life. Over a century later, his message is finding surprising resonance in boardrooms, compliance frameworks, and ESG reports. As global businesses, particularly those operating across borders in the export-import arena, face mounting scrutiny over how they treat workers, engage communities, and protect the environment, the principles championed by Pope Leo offer more than ethical guidance. They offer a blueprint for long-term, resilient corporate governance. Revisiting Rerum Novarum: The Origins of Modern Social Doctrine Issued in response to the harsh conditions of the industrial revolution, Rerum Novarum—Latin for “Of New Things”—was Pope Leo XIII’s response to capitalism’s rapid evolution. The encyclical didn’t condemn free markets outright but warned against the dehumanisation of labour and unchecked industrial power. Its key tenets included: The right to private property, balanced by the obligation to use it responsibly. The dignity of labour and the necessity of a living wage. The importance of trade unions and collective bargaining. The role of the state in protecting vulnerable populations. A critique of both unregulated capitalism and radical socialism. In effect, Leo XIII laid out a social framework that prioritised human dignity over profit maximisation. And while this doctrine was originally written for a 19th-century Europe grappling with mechanisation and urban poverty, its philosophical architecture is highly relevant to today’s conversations on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards. From Papal Doctrine to ESG Standards: The Bridge ESG has become the de facto language for expressing how corporations manage risks and opportunities beyond traditional financial metrics. But at its core, ESG is about values translated into systems: how we treat people, how we steward resources, and how we design institutions to be accountable. In this context, Pope Leo’s teachings become not only compatible with ESG but foundational to it. Consider the thematic overlap: Social justice aligns with Social (S) in ESG, covering labour conditions, employee wellbeing, and equitable supply chains. Ethical use of property aligns with Governance (G), touching on shareholder responsibility, executive accountability, and ethical decision-making. Concern for the common good parallels Environmental (E) imperatives, especially the long-term view of sustainability and stewardship. This is particularly relevant for multinational export-import players who straddle jurisdictions, labour regimes, and supply chains that often include both highly regulated markets and vulnerable geographies. Corporate Governance: A New Moral Imperative Corporate governance is no longer just about fiduciary responsibility and compliance checklists. Boards are now expected to think critically about systemic risks—climate, inequality, supply chain fragility—and to embed values into business models. This is where Pope Leo’s influence becomes strategically significant. His emphasis on subsidiarity, a principle later elaborated in Catholic social teaching, holds that decisions should be made at the lowest competent level. Applied to corporate governance, this suggests empowering local suppliers, decentralising certain ESG strategies, and trusting community-rooted partners rather than imposing top-down mandates. For export-import firms, especially those operating in developing economies, this governance model encourages: Partnering with local stakeholders on environmental and social policies. Ensuring board diversity includes voices with on-the-ground operational or social insight. Establishing ethical trade committees that go beyond legal compliance into moral accountability. A good example comes from Unilever, which embedded sustainability goals directly into board oversight mechanisms, giving ESG performance equal weight to traditional financial KPIs. This approach reflects not just smart governance but the moral sensibility that Leo XIII envisioned—a business accountable not only to shareholders but to society at large. Social Justice in Supply Chains: From Ethics to Action One of Pope Leo’s most striking contributions was his insistence on a “living wage”—a concept that remains radical in many parts of the world. Today, the globalised supply chain continues to struggle with this legacy. From textile factories in Bangladesh to cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo, millions of workers form the backbone of export-import networks, yet live on precarious wages with minimal protections. ESG reporting frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) now require disclosure of workforce conditions, safety, gender pay gaps, and forced labour risk. These aren’t just regulatory pressures—they're extensions of the same ethical imperative Leo XIII articulated: the dignity of work and the rights of workers. For global firms, this means: Auditing suppliers for not only compliance but dignity—ensuring workers have safe conditions, fair pay, and voice mechanisms. Moving from reactive CSR donations to proactive value-chain transformation. Embracing long-term contracts with suppliers that reward ethical practices over lowest-cost bids. Apple, for instance, began publishing annual supply chain responsibility reports in the 2010s, and while not perfect, the move to public accountability mirrors the moral transparency that Pope Leo would consider essential in any economic structure. ESG Reporting: The Shift From Optics to Substance Pope Leo XIII warned against philanthropy as a substitute for justice. Today, businesses are often accused of “greenwashing” or “social-washing”—presenting ESG initiatives as branding exercises rather than embedded values. This is where his legacy offers a potent corrective. True ESG alignment demands that social impact is not confined to a side office in marketing, but woven into procurement strategies, capital allocation, and product development. To do this effectively, companies must move beyond disclosure to deliberation: What ethical lens do we use when selecting markets or partners? How are decisions about automation, relocation, or workforce reduction made—and who benefits? Does our ESG data reflect lived realities, or merely pass the materiality test? The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), set to impact over 50,000 companies by 2026, moves toward this deeper integration by requiring not just narrative sustainability reports, but auditable, standardised ESG data. Firms that fail to build internal ESG data systems now will face reputational and regulatory penalties soon. Investor Sentiment and Catholic Social Ethics Interestingly, investor behaviour is also converging with Leo XIII’s ethics. Impact investing, faith-based investing, and ESG screening are no longer niche. According to the Global Sustainable Investment Review, global sustainable investment reached $35.3 trillion in 2020, accounting for more than a third of total assets under management. Faith-aligned investment groups, including Catholic institutions managing multi-billion-dollar endowments, increasingly exclude companies that violate labour rights, degrade ecosystems, or operate in high-conflict zones. Pope Leo’s social vision now directly influences capital flows. Export-import players hoping to attract institutional investors must demonstrate more than quarterly earnings—they must articulate how their operations align with justice, stewardship, and human dignity. These are not soft values; they are becoming capital differentiators. The Strategic Advantage of Moral Clarity It’s tempting to see ESG as a chore, an imposition from regulators and activist investors. But Leo XIII saw something deeper: that systems built without moral clarity eventually become unstable. Whether it’s collapsing supply chains during a pandemic, extreme weather disrupting logistics, or social unrest in response to inequality, businesses today are paying the price for ignoring the societal context in which they operate. For those in export-import—where interdependence, visibility, and velocity define competitive advantage—moral clarity is not just a compass. It’s a risk management tool. Embracing the social justice principles articulated by Pope Leo XIII is not about religious observance. It’s about recognising that every contract, every shipment, and every business decision takes place in a moral landscape. Companies that map that terrain wisely will build trust, attract capital, and sustain value in a turbulent century. Final Thought: The Long View Matters Pope Leo XIII understood that economic systems shape souls, not just markets. As ESG matures from a trend to a global standard, his insistence on dignity, justice, and moral economy becomes increasingly relevant. Businesses that embrace this long view—treating social responsibility as governance, not charity—will not only report better metrics. They’ll build more enduring, ethical, and ultimately profitable operations. Join Hi-Fella Today! As Pope Leo’s enduring emphasis on social justice gains renewed relevance in today’s ESG-driven business landscape, export-import companies must rise to the challenge of aligning profit with purpose. Hi-Fella supports this shift by connecting you with ethically aligned partners, offering transparency tools to enhance ESG reporting, and enabling responsible sourcing across global markets. Whether you're aiming to meet new governance standards or build a supply chain that reflects your values, Hi-Fella empowers you to trade responsibly while staying competitive in a world where ethics and economics go hand in hand.
Insights
Pope Leo’s Emphasis on Social Justice: Implications for Corporate Governance and ESG Reporting
June 2, 2025
Zhafran Tsany
Pope Leo XIII might not be the first name that comes to mind when thinking about supply chains, board...
Read More
UK Wildfires Highlight Climate Risks: What Businesses Should Consider
Insights
UK Wildfires Highlight Climate Risks: What Businesses Should Consider
June 2, 2025
Zhafran Tsany
Wildfires in the United Kingdom were once a statistical rarity, relegated to the heathlands and moorlands...
Philippines 2025 Elections: Implications for Foreign Investors and Trade Policies
Asia Insights
Philippines 2025 Elections: Implications for Foreign Investors and Trade Policies
June 2, 2025
Zhafran Tsany
In May 2025, the Philippines will hold its midterm elections—a political event that may not grab global...