Yes means No and No means Yes.

You’ve head it before, Chinese (Asians in general) don’t like to say “no.” It’s a face issue for them to not be able to give you what you want or for them to not be able to do something that you think they should be able to do. You can claim that Asians are not unique in this; that Westerns won’t say “no” to avoid uncomfortable social situations or close sales deals, but that’s another blog for another site. In Asia, it’s more than just uncomfortable social situations or sales. And for Westerners doing business it means money, time and confidence.There is probably nothing more exciting while on a factory-qualifying trip than to have the factory tell you “yes, we can do that. No problem.” This is exactly what you have come to China for—to find and qualify a factory. But hearing exactly what you want to hear is often dangerous—especially if you are heading back home soon and leaving production or mold tooling in the hands of someone that you’ve just met.One thing that we found is that being told “no” is actually a great indicator of factory capabilities and character. Two of our “best” factories tell us “no” on a regular basis. Why is that good? Because it means that we can trust them to only take projects that they are confident they can actually do. For them to tell us “no, we can’t do that” means that they are comfortable with our relationship, they are knowledgeable about their own capabilities and they are willing to admit limitations and provide real service rather than just be a “yes-man.” That is invaluable anywhere but especially in eager-to-please-you China!The good kind of “no” is more than just the typical “We don’t want to customize this for your because that means we have to work harder than usual.” That kind of “no” is certainly bad. So how do you tell the difference? Usually it’s process vs. pieces. You want a “no” when process can’t be duplicated due to a lack of expertise or insufficient technology. If your original (Western) supplier can manufacture you widget in 6 weeks and your Chinese supplier, with the same machinery is telling you they can do it in 3 weeks—you know that you would rather have a “no” now because you’re going to get crap later. By pieces we mean individual products, for example molded items, that a factory could make or outsource but tells you they don’t want to. That’s the bad kind of no. If you know your product and the manufacturing process you’ll be able to discern between the two.Bottom line: if your factory is telling you they can do it for ½ the price in ½ the time—that’s a “yes” that really means “no.” Likewise, if they understand your product and are still telling you “no” they can’t do it—you know that they are honest or at least not reckless and you should keep in touch for future projects.