Concoa’s Daniel Cruz looks at practical issues for those targeting world markets.
Export sales can be an attractive method to grow business and to expand markets. With local economies often experiencing wild swings, concentrating on building export sales can help a company to even out some of the more severe peaks and valleys.
Although global interdependency has caused upturns or downturns in one country to affect other regions’ economies, the effect may not be uniform. During the downturn in the United States and Europe in the last two years, certain Latin America and Far East markets were better able to maintain their relative positions and to bounce back more quickly.
The first concern in expanding export sales may well be in locating suitable overseas customers or distributors. One way to make these contacts is to participate in international, regional or local trade shows or conferences. Embassies or state delegations of some countries sponsor contact booths or catalog shows to facilitate liaisons between local companies and suppliers in their own countries. Advertising in your industry’s specialized trade publications can be an effective avenue to quickly make contacts. If the intention is to grow your business internationally, publications with extensive international readership will be best. Another option is booking travel for face-to-face meetings with potential customers.
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