Old Zhou's story highlights a core issue: if a trader's only service is 'introducing buyers and sellers to each other,' then once both parties establish a relationship, the middleman naturally disappears. To avoid this fate, traders must make themselves a role clients truly cannot do without.
You can approach this from several directions: First, master the complexity that clients are unwilling to handle themselves—for example, managing quality control across multiple factories simultaneously, coordinating delivery schedules, and consolidating documents. Let the headaches you save clients far exceed your commission fee. Second, make your service 'tangible'—clients often only realize your value after problems arise or after comparing options. Show them what you do through clear communication records, quotation comparisons, and delivery tracking. Third, build advantages beyond information gaps—the internet lets factories find clients on their own, so traders need to think: what can I offer besides information? For example, market knowledge, brand packaging capabilities, and after-sales coordination are harder for direct connections to replace.