The current economic situation has led several companies to sell abroad their products, either because they find themselves in the maturity phase of their own market, because they’ve found an opportunity overseas or because they want to diversify their sales. 

Nowadays, the access to new markets is a process that could seem relatively easy thanks to the new technologies. But even with that, to open up a new market is a complex operation, especially if we don’t know the new country’s commercial structure and organization.

What should we ensure before starting the sales process in another country?

Before setting up in a new country you have to play it safe and check if there is a need to be covered by your product or service. That is, you have to surely know that your company has a target audience. To do business in a foreign country takes willingness to see things from the perspective of someone from another culture and to adapt when required. So, once the target audience has been identified, you have to adapt your product to the new country’s requirements. Although this seems obvious at first sight, not taking it into account could lead your company to an unsuccessful business operation. Because of that, you always have to consider several basic points about the product or service that you want to internationalize:

Rules and regulations

You must look for expert advice on any rules that might affect you and do a research on the labelling and other specific regulations, as well as check the certifications that the product must receive in order to be legally in the market. The degree of complexity of the rules and regulations differs for each product, sector and market, but you always have to verify the law related to the product, regardless of its level of complexity.

Sales channels

Once the rules and regulations have been researched, you need to find out which is the most suitable sales channel for your product and then adapt your company’s sales structure to it, so that you can reach your target easily. It is also important to check the pros and cons of every possible local partner before deciding which sales structure you are going to adopt.

Price

Based on your local price policy, a product price for the new market must be fixed (wholesale and/or retail price depending on your type of costumer). When fixing the price, you have to compare your competitors’ prices and also take into account the direct and indirect exportation costs, so that you obtain both a competitive and financially feasible price.

Communication strategy

Last but not least, you should adjust your marketing message and the whole communication strategy to the new country, focusing on your target audience’s profile and their language. Even so, it is not just to translate the marketing messages properly but also to consider cultural aspects that could have influence over the way the information is perceived.

As a general conclusion, we can say that if you want to have a successful international expansion you have to understand and be familiar with the place you are planning to enter. Hence, if you want to become global you have to be also local. So, as to get the most out of the market entry operation and to guarantee satisfactory results when looking for a local presence in a new market, a country manager is by all means one of the best options, as they would know how the new market works and which would be the best way to introduce new products.

Country Manager figure

At Ferrer-Dalmau we understand the figure of Country Manager as someone that helps you to achieve your goals, set new challenges and to identify new business opportunities in the Spanish market. We are part of the team, we evolve with it and we establish close and trust relationships. We attend our partners with a personalized and immediate attention, even being thousands km far away.

In addition, we offer all the advantages of a local market presence without the corresponding structural hassles. We incorporate to the company a commercial team that concentrates all its efforts on making the product known in the market.

Thanks to more than 100 years of experience as Country Managers we have developed expertise in these sectors:

-Textile, nonwovens & composites.

-Inspection, Quality Control and NDT (Non Destructive Testing).

-Industrial equipment, components and machinery.

-Raw materials for composites.

-Extrusion, lacquering and anodizing of aluminum.

-Packaging and packing.

-Industrial cleaning.

-Sustainability and the environment.