Kitabı oku: «Going Abroad 2014», sayfa 4

5.2 Proper documentation

Before traveling overseas, the following documents are needed:

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Passport: The passport is the most important document you have to carry with you when traveling outside your native country, as it is the proof of citizenship. If you have a current passport, you have to make sure that it remains valid for the entire duration of the trip. Some countries require a validity period of up to one year after travel to the country.

Visas: Many countries require visas. It is necessary to apply in time. It can be obtained from the embassy or consulate of the country you wish to visit. You should check visa requirements each time you travel to a country because regulations change periodically. Be aware that some governments may restrict your travel from one country to another. For example a passport containing an Israeli visa may prevent visits to certain other countries in the Middle East.

Customs: You should get to know the regulations that apply to each country that will be visited in advance, as they vary widely from country to country. Allowances for cigarettes, currency, alcohol, and certain other items have to be considered. If you plan to take product samples, you may be required to pay import duties. You should also know the items that are illegal to bring back into your country, and in case you travel with valuable items (such as foreign jewelry, watches, or a laptop), keep in mind that customs might question you upon return. You have to be able to show that it was bought in your home country, so you should carry purchasing documentation.

Copies: Photocopy all travel tickets and other essential documents such as passport, driver’s license, credit cards, and health insurance cards. Keep the copies in a separate place.

5.3 Further recommendations

Health care: Plan appropriately for prescription drugs, health insurance, vaccinations, diet, etc. Requirements for certain vaccinations differ by country. A travel agent, airline, or doctor can advise you on the various requirements.

Money: Consider the use of credit cards, traveler’s checks, currency exchange rates, and tipping standards. Carry a variety of money types including local currency, e.g. for taxis.

Due to differences in electrical currents an adapter may be needed to demonstrate company products and to use personal electrical appliances.

Consider seasonal weather conditions and take suitable clothing. Make a list of everything you pack, just in case your suitcase is lost.

You should leave phone / fax numbers and an itinerary at home so that you can be contacted in case of emergency.

All travel arrangements should be reconfirmed to be sure that there are no misunderstandings.

6 Preparation for the first meeting

People make a decision within about 30 seconds when meeting someone new. This first impression is made only once but is remembered for a long time. For this reason it is important to be particularly prepared for the first meeting.

Prepare as much as you can before the meeting and go in with self-confidence. In addition to generally educating yourself about the country and culture, have a very good knowledge of the business partner you are visiting. Browsing through the company website, speaking with colleagues and others who have similar experiences, are all good ways to educate yourself. Try to identify key values of the partner and note where you share values. Find out exactly who you will be meeting and what position he/she holds. You should also know about the needs of your business partners and what they are hoping to accomplish. Be prepared for possible questions and be able to discuss examples of previous similar solutions to certain problems. Having a prepared list of questions you wish to be answered will also make the meeting more effective.

Business cards are a good way to remember and be remembered. In fact, these cards are an essential part of business in many cultures, and not having one to present will make the meeting very awkward.

Tips on actual behavior in the meeting in regards to non-verbal language, dress code, cultural customs, etc. will be covered in detail in a later chapter.

7 Setting up a branch abroad
7.1 Representatives

Before you actively do business abroad, it would be wise to find a representative who is a native of the country. In some countries, it may even be required by law to have a representative. The representative will act as a cultural go-between, not only useful for translation but for helping to smooth the way through the maze of local rules and regulations, formal and non-formal. Representatives help you with introductions, market strategies, advertising and marketing activities, and other issues such as financing, permits, or import regulations.

Since the representative will often be working without supervision, he/she must be trustworthy. This may be a difficult position to fill, as qualified and trustworthy persons in any field are difficult to find. Checking local references is important but references from expats would be the most reliable. When writing the contract, make sure that both sides know where the responsibilities lie. When it comes down to finalizing contracts, it will help you to additionally hire a local accountant or a lawyer.

7.2 Establishing an office

After you have signed contracts and are ready to start working with your customers, it will be necessary to establish an office in that country. This will be work to be done with your representative or another specialized agent, if necessary, for your negotiations concerning space, offices, staffing, training, etc.

No matter where you go, it will not be easy to find good office space and business service. If you set up an office in industrialized countries, the infrastructure will be there to set up technical equipment, but this will be much more difficult in developing or under developed countries. If you do not want to wait years to get a phone installed, a possible shortcut would be to find offices that have just been left by another firm and take over all furniture and equipment.

In addition to equipment, business services like a secretary will be next in line. Initially, it might be sufficient to stay in a hotel offering these services, and temporary services provided by embassies and chambers of commerce will have to suffice before more permanent staff can be hired. In many countries, the labor market will be limited due to different systems of education, a lack of mobility, and a lack of educated and trained personnel. Be aware that it will be difficult and time-consuming to hire staff.

8 Finances

Money is involved as soon as you start getting in touch with a business counterpart abroad. When you sign contracts and start hiring, money starts to flow. At that point, it would be too late to start thinking about the financial risk, this should already have been calculated and provisions made for the risk that is involved in starting a foreign business. Advance knowledge of the financial situation of counterparts is absolutely necessary and this homework should have been done long before setting foot on foreign soil. To receive this kind of information, you can consult your international bank that can give you advice for unusual circumstances in difficult markets. Check the credit of your potential customers. In the United Stated, for instance, you can ask at a department of commerce for an International Company Profile (ICP), which provides information for credit checks. For a fee, you can request an ICP for foreign companies in many countries. It contains financial information on the company as well as facts concerning its size, capitalization, years in business, etc. Other sources of information are banks that provide credit reports or other companies, which have financial information on foreign firms.

8.1 Attitudes toward foreigners and money

Besides getting financial information about a company, you should keep in mind some general attitudes that many countries have concerning money of foreign companies. Foreign companies are not protected in another country. When problems arise, trust, good relationships, and commitment can disappear very quickly. The company may serve as a scapegoat, a target for the frustrations of poverty and political problems. If a foreign company should become very successful, this may also be reason for discontent and new demands for a bigger share of the success may be presented. The rules of contracts and agreements taken for granted in western countries do not necessary apply in other cultures.

8.2 Financing options to think about

Payments can be made in the buyer’s, seller’s or a third agreed-upon currency, which usually is the U.S. dollar, a widely accepted international trade currency. The uncertainty of future exchange rates always brings a risk for the foreign business. An exporter, for example, can either lose or win money when the currencies change between the time the deal is concluded and payment is received. In case a client asks to make payment in a foreign currency, you should consult an international bank about foreign exchange risks.

While importers usually prefer to delay payment until they have received the goods, getting paid as quickly as possible is desirable. However, it is often necessary to offer attractive payment terms to be able to compete in your (export) market.

The following factors are important to consider when choosing one of the many financing options:

Favorable payment terms can make you and your product more competitive. If someone offers a similar product with better terms, you can lose sales.

The cost of different payment methods (interest rates, fees etc.) varies.

The riskier a transaction, the harder and more costly it will be to finance. Political and economic stability also play a role.

In case of large orders, more working capital is often needed in advance.

To find the right option, you can consult your bank or some kind of business administration office. Abroad, you can approach a commercial bank with an international department and try to start a close work relationship with them. They can help you with banking services and advice for your terms of payment.

Some basic methods of payment include cash in advance, a documentary letter of credit, an open account, and other mechanisms like consignment sales. It would be ideal for you to receive cash in advance of the shipment. Commonly used are wire transfers and payment by check. You can also accept credit cards, especially when products are sold directly to the end user. But do not insist in advance payment if you do not want to lose customers, as it might create cash flow problems for them. An open account should only be offered when the customer is well established and has a long payment record.

References

1 Chandler, Frances G (1995): Fundamentals of Business Communication; McGraw – Hill, New York , NY

2 Chaney, Lillian H.; Martin, Jeanette S.(2003): Intercultural Business Communication; Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ

3 Copeland, Lennie / Griggs, Lewis (1995): Going International: How to Make Friends and Deal Effectively in the Global Marketplace”; Plume Printing, Auburn, WA,

4 Curry, Jeffrey E. (1999): Internationale Verhandlungen planen und führen; Deutscher Wirtschaftsdienst, Köln

5 Gesteland, Richard R.(1999): Cross-Cultural Business Behavior: Marketing, Negotiating and Managing Across Cultures; Copenhagen Business School Press, Copenhagen

6 Gordon, John S./ Arnold, Jack R. (1988): Profitable Exporting: A complete guide to marketing your products abroad”; Wiley, River Street Hoboken, NJ

7 IMC Consultancy for Global Business, Retrieved Sept. 20 2012 from http://www.icmassociates.com

8 Japanese Business Cards available under http://www.japanese-business-cards.co.uk/etiket.htm

9 Katzman Jason (2011): A Basic Guide to Exporting, Skyhorse Publishing New York , also available under http://www.unzco.com/basicguide/toc.html

10 Mole, John (1999): Mind Your Manners: Managing Business Cultures in Europe”; Nicholas Brealey Publishing , London

11 Roberts Sherry J. (2011): Fundamentals of Business Communication, Tinley Park, IL

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Marketing
How to sell to foreigners?

Melanie Hildinger Bukvic, Nicole Bock, Nadja Berkowitsch, Christiane Pohl

Abstract Every day you hear it on the news, you read it in the papers or you hear people talking about it – globalization. The meaning is not always the same. On the business level, globalization means that companies decide to take part in the emerging global economy and establish themselves in foreign markets. The goals are to adapt the products or services to the final user’s requirements, which can be linguistic or cultural. But how far should companies adapt the customer’s wishes and how far will standardization make sense?

1 General principles

Standardization means to bring down costs by making one single product for every customer and using the same advertising campaigns. When a company “goes international”, it develops a kind of export strategy, which will quickly develop into a marketing concept. Many firms have tried to be successful in working with standardization, but nearly every company has stumbled.

The first problem could be mistakes in language translation. Company slogans are sometimes translated into foreign languages that could be difficult to understand or even worse, embarrassing. The company “Parker” has a slogan that says, “Prevent embarrassment – use Parker Ink”. This is in reference to stains left on our clothes by a pen that leaks ink. Unfortunately, the translation in Spanish for “embarrassment”–“Embarazo”, means pregnancy in the Spanish language, so the slogan became a joke as a pen that is used as birth control. Another good example is the Braniff Airlines’ advertising campaign, which wanted to promote its plush leather seats with the slogan “Fly on Leather”. Unfortunately, due to bad translation, this meant for Hispanics and Latin Americans that they had to “fly naked”.

Brand names can also be tricky. It is hard to create a worldwide brand name that has the positive meaning or significance that was originally intended. For example, Ford’s “Fiera” (produced 1972-1984 in the Philippines) means “ugly old woman” in Spanish, and “Pinto” (1971-1980) in Portuguese is slang for a small male organ.

These examples show that you need a cultural translator, somebody who translates not only literally but can transpose the meaning accurately. This is such an important topic for every advertising campaign, because the first impression given by slogans is most decisive for the customer in their decision to buy the product or not.

Another important transfer of culture is the adaptation of products to meet the local market’s needs. “Barbie” dolls, which sold very well in Germany, were not accepted or even liked by the Japanese at first. The Barbie had to be assimilated to the Japanese taste – it had to be made to look younger, whereas Europeans like a sophisticated Barbie in haute couture. Italians like their tomato soup creamy whereas others like it spicy. It is no secret that the universally liked Coca-Cola has a different formula for different countries.

The country’s government also plays a big role on how goods are marketed. In de-centralization systems, as in China or Hungary the end-consumers have more to say in product selection. In centralized systems, it is much more important to have a good marketing strategy because fewer people decide about buying your products and they usually buy in quantity.

Globalization may be unstoppable but when it comes to successful marketing, a country’s need to preserve its identity must be recognized. National identity can also be called the “sense” of a given culture to recognize and identify with its unique characteristics. United Technologies developed a campaign for France, Germany and Great Britain where local scientists were portrayed for ads in these three different countries. The campaign was a huge success, as consumers felt national pride and somehow adopted the company as their own.

Adaptation is a key concept in international marketing. This accommodation concept, “different but equal” is more than just tolerance. Flexibility, interest in new things and increase in the level of tolerance and knowledge of the country are essential skills. More importantly, the ability to really “get under the skin” of the consumers you are selling to is the key to international marketing success. Special training must be provided to your marketing team to enable them to develop cultural sensitivity. However, no matter how well a marketer is prepared when entering a foreign culture, there will always be culture shock. Flexibility and tolerance will greatly reduce hardships.

The following sections will look at the four ingredients in the promotion of goods:

1 Personal selling

2 Advertising

3 Promotional campaigns

4 Trade fairs and exhibitions

2 Personal selling

There are millions of salespeople throughout the world. The sale of goods and services contributes not only to the survival of business, but also to the health and survival of the economy as a whole. The stimulation of demand by promotional activities – indeed selling – is an important and proven method of reducing unemployment and improving a nation’s standard of living. Firms are heavily dependent on salespeople to keep orders coming in. Furthermore, the sales force is of primary importance to the success of most organizations and to our economy in general.

The term “personal selling” describes the process of developing customer relationships, discovering customer needs, fitting the appropriate products with these needs and communicating benefits through informing, reminding, and / or persuading. Consequently, it is an important form of customer service. Success in selling depends much on the salesperson’s ability to develop, manage and maintain personal relations with the customer. People seldom buy products or services from someone they dislike or distrust. Most customers are more apt to openly discuss their needs and wants with a salesperson with whom they feel comfortable.

The world is rapidly becoming a one-world economy and market place. Companies that never ventured abroad until recently are now seeking foreign markets. International marketing is the performance of business activities that manage the flow of a company’s good and services to customers or users in more than one nation for a profit. The difference between domestic and international marketing is the uniqueness of foreign marketing. There are unfamiliar problems to solve, a variety of strategies to choose from, different cultural influences and their potential impact in successful international marketing to discover. The difficulty facing the sales personnel in adjusting to the culture lies in recognizing their impact and power. Generally, people are unaware of the various cultural influences that fill their environment and that are simply a part of our history. International personal selling, therefore, signifies the ability of a tough salesperson to deal with these problems in a foreign country.

There are different types of international salespeople:

The expatriate - When products are highly technical and the demand is for good knowledge of the company and products, an expatriate sales force is the best choice. The chief disadvantage of expatriates is the huge cost of relocation. If the location is not attractive, finding personnel willing to go abroad will be a challenge, no matter how good the financial package.

Foreign nationals - They do not have any issues with cultural and legal barriers and their salaries and expenses are considerably less than for expatriates. The disadvantage is not only that they are “outsiders”, they may also be more loyal to their own interest.

Internationals - They come from a pool of people whose experience is international and bring with them an open mind and ability to be flexible. Skills and motivations must match the needs of the company, and they are still confronted by cultural barriers.