How do I get a lot of sales abroad quickly, long-term and without hassle?
Many entrepreneurs I talk to have a desire to start acquiring customers abroad. Or they already have some sales there but want to expand that significantly. But how do you do that? What is the fastest way and how do you make sure you do not make any mistakes regarding laws, regulations or other issues? Here are 6 tips:
1. Target Countries
Have you thought logically about which countries are the best fit for your product or service. Where is the biggest market, the least competition and the most demand for your product? Or what are the factors that are important in your industry? I often notice that companies start exporting based on a chance contact by email or at a trade show, instead of strategically deciding where to spend your precious time and money. Because you can be open to customers from all over the world, but to do marketing and sales in all those countries, make sure you have customer service in all those languages and arrange any necessary certification is too much work for most companies all at once.
2. Laws and regulations
Make sure you know what the laws and regulations are for your product or service in the country in question. Many entrepreneurs do not know what risks they are running or let themselves be unnecessarily restrained for fear that they might do something wrong when often it is not that bad. If you are exporting glasses to Belgium, it is not so bad, but if you want to ship potatoes to the United Kingdom, you need a phytosanitary certificate, among other things. And think carefully about your intellectual property rights, how you are going to protect them.
3. Language and culture
Every country is different in terms of doing business, you notice that even when you go to Germany. There the business culture is much more hierarchical and you really have to do business with the highest boss. Also, good preparation and really showing up on time are seen as more important there than in the Netherlands. I once had a Dutch customer whose German salesman didn’t want to go out because the quotations and invoices still contained spelling mistakes in German. That was really unacceptable to him. Make sure you understand the culture there and that your website and all other documentation is really in order. And that your people in e.g. sales, customer service and technical support also understand the language of the customer. Only half-baked English will not get you there. Even in Flanders you can run into language differences. Do you have a webshop that sells clothing? Then don’t advertise on the word “dress”. There it is called a dress.
4. Own branch or not
How you get customers in the Netherlands may be very different from how you get them abroad. Because distances are short here, it may be fine to sell directly to consumers or business customers. But abroad, it may be more convenient to work with an agent or distributor. Especially if it otherwise gets complicated with things like goods storage or technical service or installation of the product. Setting up your own branch office abroad or doing pure sales from the Netherlands are also all options, but what is the best choice depends very much on the country or, your product or service and how much financial risk you want to run.
5. Obtain sales
Make sure you have a clear plan for how you are going to do your sales and marketing. Whether you’re going to make some sales through Google Adwords or with a booth at a local trade show, without a plan it won’t work. And in Qatar you sell very differently than in Sweden, much more on the relationship. So your sales and marketing plan will also have to be tailored accordingly. If you choose to sell through an agent or distributor, you cannot trust that they will automatically bring in the desired sales. This may sound like an open door, but in practice I still encounter many companies where this goes wrong. So make sure that you also make very clear agreements with such a party about who is going to do what and what results that will yield.
6. Enlist help
You can reinvent the wheel yourself, but take advantage of someone who already has experience in this area. In the ten years I have worked as an international sales and marketing manager for both manufacturing companies and service providers, I have learned many things and experienced many mistakes that I save my clients today. An advisor can also point you to grants and other help available from local and national government. This will get you there faster, cheaper and with less hassle afterwards. Good luck!
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