Renewed export interest

After business meetings with numerous companies in both countries visited, I can sum up the trip in two words: "increased opportunity" for those U.S. companies with the courage to press on in the export arena.

All the companies we visited expressed both sympathy for what America is going through and a transformed respect for the commitment of those U.S. export sales reps and marketing executives who are going abroad to do their export promotion in spite of the "event" of last month.

True, we won't see business as in the past; however, those who venture forth will surely be rewarded for their fortitude. The reception of companies visited reminds me of the late 1960s and early 1970s when American marketing executives and technical salespeople were welcomed and respected by our trading partners.

I had the occasion on this mission to speak to several business travelers from Norway, Sweden, Germany and England. They felt Americans have an increased opportunity to export our products and technology as well as our culture as a way to negate the terrorist ethos currently plaguing the global economy.

In this first of what I hope will be a meaningful series of many articles on the marketing/sales techniques of exporting, the current message is clear. The benefits of exporting are needed more than ever, and the window of opportunity has expanded. Let's trade, not fade.

Those who take their export marketing activities seriously are creating a stronger American economy. Expanding exports not only creates new jobs, it sustains the good jobs we already have.

Just as our country is forming new political and military alliances against terrorism, savvy U.S. companies now have a new venue to form new business alliances and partnerships.

Future articles will focus on patterns of export marketing and promotional challenges that I have viewed over the past 30 years and highlight solutions and techniques for successfully penetrating and expanding sales in the field of global commerce.

When I initially meet a company whether new or a traditional exporter, I always ask the following four questions:

(1) Where are you now?
(2) What are your targets?
(3) What are your difficulties?
(4) What are your needs?

We will address these questions in further detail in future articles.

Other areas or patterns of marketing importance involve sales negotiating, representation, product adaptation, market research, literature, balancing sales offers and contracts with export documents and compliance and how to effectively find and utilize multipliers and allies.

Joe Robinson has 34 years experience in international commerce. He is the International Trade Manager for Virginia Economic Development Partnership, formerly the Governor's office, providing export counseling to many large and small firms. He created and is the trainer of the highly successful Export Documentation, Procedures and Compliance workshop utilizing the nation's #1 shipping software program. In the past 18 months he has trained more than 300 individuals in 150 companies.

Export sales can cure a company's revenue woes during this economic downturn

New website helps small and medium-sized businesses compete internationally

As the U.S. economy slips into recession, more and more companies are looking at international customers to replace lost revenue. While large, multinational corporations usually get all the attention, the real export success stories are found among small and medium-size companies, defined by the U.S. Census Bureau as having 500 or fewer employees.

According to the U.S. Exporter Database, the number of U.S. firms involved in exporting tripled over a 10-year period. Small and medium-sized businesses accounted for almost 97 percent (223,681 businesses) of all exporters in 1999. And very small companies—those with fewer than 20 employees—made up 69 percent of all U.S. export firms in 1999.

While small and medium-sized companies represent a significant percentage of U.S. exporters, the number of resources devoted specifically to their needs is practically nonexistent.

“There’s a wealth of information related to import-export requirements, regulations and statistics published by a variety of U.S., state and local government agencies, but tracking down and interpreting the information that is relevant to you and your company is nearly impossible,” says David Noah, president of InterMart, Inc.

“Large companies have the legal and logistics staff to locate and monitor the information internally, or they can afford to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to consulting firms that interpret the data for them. Small and mid-sized companies don’t have that luxury.”

To meet the information needs of those companies, InterMart has launched the International Business Training (IBT) web site (www.i-b-t.net) that provides a wealth of information for import-export novices and professionals. Among the many free services at the website, international traders will find:

• How-to articles written by experienced educators and consultants on a variety of topics including international marketing and sales, import procedures, export documentation, and letters of credit and other financial instruments.

• A collection of international trade tools ranging from simple tools like currency and measurement converters to export compliance tools that help locate correct commodity classifications or screen companies’ customers against the U.S. prohibited and denied parties lists.

• An import-export email discussion list that allows participants to post questions and monitor answers related to the mechanics of international trade. The list has over 1,000 participants located in more than two dozen countries.

• A catalog of U.S. government and private company web links organized in a way to make it easy to find information such as trade regulations, country statistics and global business news.

In addition to these free services, the IBT web site allows visitors to register for or purchase a variety of import-export seminars, reference books, and self-study classes targeted specifically at small and mid-sized companies. These seminars, books and self-study classes cover topics ranging from export marketing and sales to letters of credit to export documentation and procedures.