How to launch sales on the international market and get quick results

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

In order not to waste time and money on exporting, you need to know where to start, what is required for this and whether it makes sense for you to do it at all.

What is export for?

All companies that I brought to the international market go through the same stages: preparation and collection of information → first sales → packaging of an affiliate offer → scaling → gaining market share. And unfortunately, none of them can be ruled out. Therefore, not everyone has the energy and patience to get to the stage where overseas sales start to take a permanent share in your business.

However, at a time when the Russian market falls, export sales become a lifeline.

We have been building export sales of one large machine-building plant for a long time. Sales abroad were long, less marginal, without prepayment, the equipment had to be constantly improved. In general, compared to sales in Russia, our deals were terribly problematic. But exactly until the 2008 crisis broke out.

When sales in Russia stopped and machine-building plants fell like houses of cards, many were unable to recover. It was then that the income from export sales, which came in regularly, saved the entire enterprise. In fact, the plant lived on the export proceeds for almost a year and a half, and this allowed the company to resist.

Not to mention the fact that export is also the status of an international company, and additional income that you can no longer receive on the Russian market. Another plus is product development. You start to follow the world's leading technologies and implement them in a natural way.

For whom export is contraindicated

Any company wants to increase its sales through exports. But not everyone is given this and not everyone succeeds for a number of reasons. In some cases, export is not suitable for you:

• If your product is easy to reproduce.
• If your product is cheaper to reproduce locally than to ship it from another country.
• If you do not have stable sales in the Russian Federation to support the company and invest in new projects.

• If your product does not have at least one unique property:

  • design;
  • taste;
  • service;
  • specifications;
  • manufacturability;
  • capital intensity of production.

This information can save you millions of rubles and up to three years of life.

I have seen many companies that really want to be international, spend a lot of effort and money on it, even get some sales, but in fact this is a fight against windmills. It is better to pay attention to another line of business, which will give you several times more income at a lower cost.

Those who have found themselves in this part - save this text and re-read every time it seems to you that you need to go to foreign markets.

For the rest, I'll tell you how to launch international sales.

Where to start entering the international market

I have seen many companies that take 2-3 years to enter non-CIS countries. And that's a normal result if you don't have the right tools. Experienced exporters will tell you how, in some countries, making a decision can take a long time - you visit customers and receive a request from them in a year. Another thing is that there should be many times more activity and applications.

What do you need to avoid making mistakes that will stretch your start for three years?

An experienced export manager? No. Only if you entice a person from competitors who has already exported a similar product. There are only a few such specialists in Russia for your product, their services are expensive, and companies stick to them very much. All others, even experienced managers, unfortunately, will have to make the same mistakes with your product.

Know sales tools and technologies? This is also not enough, because sales to other countries are based on other technologies. Although these tools are now available completely free of charge (one educational program of the REC is worth a lot), by themselves, without the details and nuances of their use, they just give 2-3 years.

You need export technology. And I'm talking about systemic export, which occupies a constant share in the sales structure of your company and the ability to constantly increase this share. Here's how to proceed.

1. Collect information

Everything you need to know to get started, you can find out on your own (or, if you do not speak English, seek help from someone who speaks the language and knows your product) in just a couple of weeks. And the value of this information for real export sales will be hundreds of times higher than the coolest marketing research for a million rubles.

How to collect data:

• Conduct desk research. We search the Internet for all information about markets, consumers, competitors. We choose the countries where to go first, where to go second, where to go third. "Where to go" does not mean "where to sell" yet. We will definitively define the countries of entry for ourselves much later.
• Seek advice from those already exporting in your industry. Learn a lot just by asking. Where are they selling, what are the payment terms, where are what partners.

These are the things that will get you off the ground and do not require resources.

2. Prepare marketing materials

While collecting information, create a minimal set of materials in English. You will need them to build trust in communication, at least minimal. Don't spend a lot of money on it just yet. A website, a catalog, a letter of representation - everything you need to get started.

3. Chat with current market players

Gather the contacts of everyone you come across during your desk research and try to chat. Call not to sell, but to consult. International exhibitions in one or more target countries are also well suited for this.

4. Start selling

In order to make your offer interesting to foreign clients, you need to collect 100 rejections. More precisely, be prepared that your first 100 attempts to sell will end in failure. And that's okay. In this case, you should try your best. Only then will you be able to understand what the client wants from you abroad. You will redo your proposal and start communicating more effectively.

5. Find sales partners in other countries

Remember how much you built sales and marketing in Russia before they started working as they should? Are you ready to retrace your path in every selected country? The feeling is that there is not enough life for this. And money.

Therefore, the most effective strategy for expanding into international markets is the partner network.

In every country, you need a partner who already sells products similar to yours. He knows the channels, nuances and tools that work in this country.

Types of partners:

• dealer;
• distributor;
• agent;
• marketing agency;
• local manufacturer;
• service representative;
• the head of your representative office;
• trading agent.

The right partner is the key to success in each individual market, so choosing a partner is a separate technology. You have to be extremely picky and act with a cool head. A good person does not mean a professional.

We found a partner in the Middle East - an agent, a small private company with administrative resources, which helped us win large government tenders for the supply of equipment. We participated in tenders directly, and they guided our actions and influenced decisions on the tender. The result is the supply of equipment for $ 12 million.

At the same time, we had a line of agents who find information about tenders in newspapers and offer to participate together. These are not needed. You need professionals who influence the result, but you have to look for them, they don't come by themselves.

With partners, you can launch sales in a dozen countries in a year, and this is absolutely real. This will give you quick sales and build volume. And when you have a whole affiliate network, you will be able to launch more and more new products into it and receive additional income from them. In fact, the network itself becomes a new asset.