Tales from the Real World...meeting the foreign market

For many years a mfg of hand tools tried to increase overseas sales. The product should have attracted business everywhere. To Meet the Market they changed specs to metrics and translated all written mat'l. from the English. Due to high production costs, they went overseas to maintain competitive pricing. All sales & mktg. was conducted in foreign languages. Sales training was handled at the U.S. plant as well as in the field to gain brand recognition.

Regional sales meetings in locations overseas in major distribution areas were held. Markets were segmented within countries for max. penetration. This resulted in reaching out to customers in their own peculiar ethnic practices. Customers now could relate completely to the product line. Pricing was variable depending on competitive lines and "what the market would bear".

Mfg. over there resulted in a shorter shipping chain, closer to market with less expensive freight. The key step in this blueprint is NOT trying to deal with foreign sales on our platform, instead "doing it THEIR way".

Modification & Rules of the Road

1 ALL pkgs. to be multi-lingual to the territory. In the western hemisphere - Eng., Span. & Fr. On ALL boxes, cartons, etc
2 ALL owner instructions to be in FR, Span, Germ. Eng AND whatever territory goods are destined for: Ex; Far East -
Japanese, Chinese, etc. Middle East - Arabic, etc. Obviously the ideal is to have ALL languages.
3 ALL packing & packaging restructured for max. density & lightest weight. Density for surface (ocean) shipment and
lightness for Air Frt. Shipping chgs, for surface are calculated by cubic feet; Air by gross weight.
4 ALL risk insurance. From the shipping point to the customer's warehouse. Full coverage agains all perils.
5 ALL communications conducted in English. Do NOT correspond in any foreign language as nuance of meaning can
destroy a business
6 ALL sales quoted in USD. Never sell in foreign currency as it puts you in danger of exchange rate differences.
7 ALL disputes to be settled ONLY in U.S. courts. NEVER litigate overseas - you will lose!
8 ALL customer requests for credit sales other then CIA (Cash in Advance) or L/C (Letter of Credit) to be undertaken ONLY
after due diligence. Credit info avail. through Dun & Bradstreet Int'l.

Hank Samuel, Certified SCORE consultant
Chapter 412 Boca Raton

visit us at www.scoresouthflorida.net