November 10, 2009
Finding Global Customers
The US population is approaching 300 million people. In contrast, the world population is 6 billion. Therefore, 96 percent of the world lives outside of the United States. Yet, it is still difficult with the world becoming smaller everyday for companies to grasp the sheer magnitude of finding global customers. US companies are s-l-o-w-l-y warming up to the fact their customer base can be beyond domestic borders.
As an export/global marketing consultant, I understand getting started is quite overwhelming. There is so much information to digest that one would want to give up after reading the second page. But, it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips to get you started on the right track to finding global customers and successfully making sales. As a rule of thumb, it will take one to two years from the time you start this endeavor until the time you actually make a sale. Patience is key. Keep in mind, this list is not exhaustive nor are the steps in the exact order.
- Look for similarities
Language and culture are two that stand out the most. It is easier to get your product into a foreign market when your target audience is already familiar with it or can easily understand its attributes. Not to mention, you save money when only slight modifications (i.e. converting to metrics) need to be made to marketing materials and labels vs. translation costs and printing new materials.
If there are other countries on the US dollar (El Salvador and Panama are two that are close to home) that you think could be potential markets, look at those, too. You may have to translate materials but you don’t have to worry about currency exchange rates.
- Economics
Look into markets that have similar income levels to match your product. Keep in mind that pricing product should not include all of your domestic costs, only production, marketing and shipping the product globally.
Stable economies are necessary as well. Most companies do not think about this because the US has a stable government, whether it changes every two to four years. There are no threats of political uprisings, coup d’etats, port blockades, national strikes or nationalizing industries (well, the recent banking and auto industries in the US are the exception).
- Market Access
Once you pinpoint and narrow down some global markets, ask the next question, “does your product have market access?” If not, what is it going to take to get it? If you belong to a national trade association that has the ear of the US government, seek their guidance. They can tell you if market access of your product is a priority in gaining market access to certain countries.
On the flip side, is your product even allowed to be sold on the global market? Certain types of intellectual property, firearms/weapons, drugs and chemicals are not allowed to be transfered to other countries by the US. In some cases, export licenses must be issued by the US government.
- Market Visits
Visiting and doing research in your target markets is not only necessary but it shows your committment to servicing it. It also gives you firsthand knowledge of the customer base, culture, wants/needs, distribution system, etc.
If you have a US-based company, the US government is at your disposal. The USDA has the Foreign Agricultural Service based all over the world ready to assist US ag exporters with finding customers and locating trade shows, etc. The US Department of Commerce also assists American businesses who are non-agricultural based. You should seek the assistance of your state department of agriculture or economic development first. They can assist you with contacting US government officials. All of this is either free or of relatively no cost to your business.
Sending product overseas is becoming easier every day. Now that I have given you some resources, you’ll need to build your export team…
May 23, 2009
Global investments in wine increasing
I love wine. Even with as many headaches it may give me, I can’t help it. I’m still weeding out the “ones that cause headaches” with the wines that are “safe”. The New World wines, like California and Australia are on the “headache” list, though I love them. So, when I read a Tweet from the NY Times Dining this morning on investing in wine, it really caught my attention.
The article “Investing in Wine: Now May Be the Time” was pretty interesting. Not only did I learn that wine asset management is growing as it can now be traded as a commodity like pork bellies (or they are working towards it), but it also got me wondering…has there been a wine “bubble” or is the market just correcting itself?
Basically, wine is now like real estate. The prices of wine have decreased 20 to 40 percent on most vintages. What I found even more interesting correlates to my line of work in global marketing, emerging market populations in China, Brazil and Russia are starting to invest in wine on the open market. I know that China and Brazil produce their own wines (not sure about Russia). With the rise in incomes and lower prices, there has been an increase in investment, whether it be in real estate, wine or anything else (the capitalist way of supply and demand).
This is particularly true for my client, the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), now marketing specialty cheese globally. With the emerging markets the CMAB is currently targeting (China, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam), the rise in income brings demand of higher quality food and other products. Wine sales are also up in those countries.
Point being that we need to look outside the US, where 96 percent of the world’s population lives, in order to help pull us out of this global recession, whether they are investing in wine, pork bellies, real estate or toothbrushes. Believe it or not, the recession has not hit some countries as hard as others.
With global investments of wine increasing, this is very good news for the California cheese and wine industries!
April 26, 2009
Not everything goes smoothly sometimes…
Greetings from Vietnam!
For almost four months, I have been working on behalf of my client, the California Milk Advisory Board, to plan receptions and culinary training seminars in 5 Asian cities – Shanghai, Beijing, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and Jakarta (photos/info to be posted soon). The Shanghai, Beijing and Manila activities occurred in March, while Saigon and Jakarta are in April. Saigon was last week to be exact.
In preparation for the activity in Saigon, I made a visit here before heading to Shanghai last month. I met with the Chamber of Commerce who were on the ground helping me plan the activities by inviting guests, getting in touch with the media, language translation, etc. I also met with the hotel to go through the reception plans, as well as what we needed for cooking demonstrations for the next day. It was all spelled out in the contract, “i’s were dotted, the “t”s were crossed. Somewhere between my visit and arriving back in Saigon, something went wrong…
The hotel representative who spoke better English than I left to get married. While I’m sure she tried (ok, I hope) to do her best in turning over my file/expectations, upon arrival, nothing went right. The deck ovens we needed were really not available in the first place…the entire reason why I chose the hotel ( I requested to do the training at a culinary school, but was told it was too far away–not sure if that’s correct but I have the USDA on it). All of our expectations, wishes, etc, were negated once the file was handed over to another banquet person. Had I known the hotel rep was leaving, I would have requested her replacement be at the meeting.
The lessons:
- Culture…”Yes” does not actually mean yes
- Communication…Everything can get lost in translation
- Flexibility…It’s a given that one needs to be flexible when working in international trade, I think this time took it to the limit.
- Patience…I have even more after this visit.
The resolution:
I had a meeting with the banquet manager and calmly let her know my dissatisfaction. She agreed that this was a learning lesson in that when dealing with Western cultures, don’t tell me yes when you can’t do it, just to get the business (did I mention this is a French owned/operated hotel?). Needless to say, I was not charged for a half day’s room rental.
As Westerners, we need to learn the culture/ways of business globally. But, when a hotel promises services it cannot deliver, it doesn’t matter what hemisphere one is from when their expectations are not met. One party is not going to be satisfied. During my meeting with the hotel rep, I also informed her of the inability to present a half day’s training to our target audience gave them the impression of inadequacy and totally ruined my relationship with the hotel. I would not be using/staying there when I return, nor will I recommend the hotel to the rest of my US counterparts who will be conducting activities in the city. The look on her face said it all…she understood what I was saying.
Let’s just hope everything goes smoothly in Jakarta. So far, my chef is delayed coming in from Saigon, the cheese that was shipped from the US hasn’t been released from customs and we HOPE it has been refrigerated since its arrival. The good news…I made it through customs with the cheese I had to bring for the chef…
January 16, 2009
Welcome to the Glocal Consulting blog!
Thank you for checking out Glocal Consulting’s blog!
The blog will cover marketing and PR concepts, conducting business in global markets, local events (Atlanta, GA and Southeastern US), trips on behalf of clients, as well as small business issues. For the most part, it will be a monthly blog, but depending on how busy Glocal is, there may be increased posts.
Please feel free to look around and discuss what you see!
