Navigating Growth And Development At CPG, A Leader In China Sourcing – Exclusive Interview With Laura Dow
- Brainz Magazine
- Dec 28, 2023
- 6 min read
Laura Dow, Business Director at CPG, manages growth and its key components: business development, marketing, client success, and finance. In her role, Laura establishes company growth objectives, designs and executes strategies and protocols to enhance overall performance, and oversees budgets and financial activities. Laura began working in China in 2006 as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sichuan province. She holds a Master’s in International Affairs and Chinese Studies from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Ms. Dow speaks English and Mandarin fluently.
Laura Dow, Business Director
Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.
I'm a curious explorer with diverse passions that bring me fulfillment.
At CPG, I am responsible for growth and development. We achieve this by helping global companies improve their China operations and increase profitability. Having grown up in a small town in Maine, I'm keenly interested in understanding our international clients – their unique business models, vision, and goals – and exploring ways in which we can contribute to their success.
Outside of CPG, I'm a part-time personal trainer, something I do for fun and simply because I love health and wellness. I firmly believe that once you optimize your physical health, everything else in life becomes easier. Through coaching, I have also learned that I enjoy caring for others in a hands-on, tangible way.
Service is also a core value for me. I first learned about the power of altruism through volunteering with Kiwanis International and later in the Peace Corps. Currently, I sponsor a 28-year-old woman from Ukraine. She is a strong, kind, wonderful woman who reinforces my belief that every person can make a positive impact, and by helping others, everyone benefits.
Could you provide an overview of your business - CPG and its core products or services?
CPG offers a tremendous advantage to importers who seek low costs, reliable quality, and timely deliveries from China. Serious and experienced buyers know they need robust on-site support when dealing directly with Chinese suppliers.
With over 45 years of hands-on China sourcing experience, CPG provides a complete suite of services to meet the experienced importer's sourcing goals. These include supplier vetting and audits, product development, price benchmarking, contract negotiation, quality assurance, and logistics management.
Our USA base complements our China office and adds value to our client’s sourcing programs by enhancing communications and deepening interaction to optimize mid to long-term objectives.
We developed a cost-effective and transparent pricing model that gives our clients complete control over their sourcing objectives without the cost and burden of a proprietary sourcing office.
What inspired you to start this business, and what is its mission or vision?
CPG’s CEO and founder, Michael De Clercq, shared the following information about why he decided to start CPG.
"In the late 1970s, embarking on business endeavors in China presented a vast and untapped opportunity. The process of establishing a presence there was an exhilarating and challenging adventure. As China's exports surged, the demand for support services for our Western clients grew exponentially, becoming increasingly urgent and valuable.
Our mission is to empower our clients to optimize their potential in China sourcing. This involves not only technical expertise in sourcing management but also a profound cultural understanding of both our clients and their suppliers. By aligning our interests with their vision, we ensure our clients navigate the complexities of the Chinese market with confidence and success.“
Can you tell me about your target audience and the market you serve?
Our target audience is seasoned global companies that import substantial and consistent volumes from mainland China (annual imports of $1 million or more) directly from Chinese suppliers.
Our clients rely on Chinese supplies to grow their business and outperform their competition. They are highly focused on profitability and understand both the unique challenges of China sourcing and the opportunities. They recognize that having an on-site support team is a necessity, not a luxury.
What sets your business apart from competitors in your industry?
We have the longest history in this business. We opened our Beijing office in 1978 and developed an extensive China sourcing and supply chain management experience. What further distinguishes us from our competitors:
The China Sourcing Solution™ is a unique product that offers all the advantages of a complete and professional China sourcing office without the management burden and cost.
Decades of practice of clear communication and stringent management practices to deliver predictable and reliable results.
Alignment of interests with our clients. Ethical behavior and absolute transparency are integral aspects of our business model. What matters to us is our client’s success. If they grow, we grow.
Laser focus on the “Three Essentials”: pricing, quality, and on-time delivery.
Incorporation of a Western-style management structure to support your overseas sourcing with support in Beijing and the US.
How do you handle customer support and satisfaction?
Satisfaction depends on managing expectations and having clear communications. Support means understanding the client’s vision and being present, willing, and able to address their concerns. Early focus on these two issues helps with customer satisfaction.
Furthermore:
CPG has an exceptional team of approximately 60 employees in Beijing, with many boasting a decade or more of dedicated service with us. Additionally, our U.S.-based Client Success Manager ensures a clear understanding of client vision and seamless coordination on all projects in real time.
The China Sourcing Solution™ provides each client with a dedicated CPG Sourcing team comprising at least three professionals (two in China and one in the US) committed to safeguarding our client's interests in China while being highly responsive to their needs.
Tell us about your greatest career achievement so far.
It is easy to get caught up in the idea of a career, perhaps one you were drawn to as a child, even if you didn’t fully understand what it entailed. For me, these "dream jobs" were finance and later international affairs and working for an organization like the United Nations.
After working in these fields, I was surprised to learn they were not rewarding for various reasons. I also came to the realization that my career choices were subconsciously driven by a desire to make other people proud, which is not a healthy or sustainable motivator.
I now find enjoyment in a role and industry I was never interested in. Sourcing and supply chain management sounds dry and boring to many people, and yet, working at CPG is the opposite: it’s exciting, challenging, and fun.
Something special about CPG is our focus on personal development alongside professional development, which has been unique in my career. So while we all work hard to grow the company and to create something great for our clients and ourselves, we understand that this cannot be done without cultivating individual growth.
One example of this is our weekly book clubs. Despite the full schedule of every CPG employee, we still make time each week to better the company and ourselves by reading a chapter from a book and participating in an engaging discussion about it.
It’s not easy to find a career that is fulfilling and aligns with your core values, alongside people who share the same values. I have found this at CPG, which is my greatest career achievement to date.
Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.
Joining the Peace Corps in 2006 and dedicating two years to volunteer as a University English teacher in Sichuan, China, put me on my current path. After the Peace Corps, I went to graduate school in Nanjing. These four years in China were humbling and challenging, and also some of the most rewarding and indelible years of my life.
In China, I learned about culture, language (Mandarin), history, and so much more, all of which have carried over to my current role. However, the greatest lesson was the importance of focusing on people above all else. Despite a world marked by diverse customs, religious beliefs, political ideologies, and governance, people everywhere want the same basic things: to provide for themselves and their loved ones, to feel safe, to have opportunities and choices, to pursue happiness, etc.
While this may seem simple, remembering that business is about people has helped me time and time again when interacting with individuals and businesses around the world, especially with the ongoing buzz and concern about geopolitics and U.S.-China relations.
At CPG, we intentionally avoid politics, focusing our efforts on the core of our business – China sourcing. Though we navigate the impact of external factors like tariffs and regulations, our primary mission is connecting international buyers with Chinese suppliers that can meet their unique needs. These collaborations invariably rely on listening to, connecting with, and dealing with people – underscoring the pivotal role of human interaction.
Thus, the experience that changed the trajectory of my life and put me on the path to where I am today was living in China for four years. However, the lesson that changed the trajectory of my life was remembering to focus on people and human connection.
