While most businesses believe that the risks of investing in emerging markets have increased over the past decade, just as many believe that the rewards have also increased, especially in markets that seem to have become saturated with existing customers and competition. In other words, businesses by and large believe that the risk and return ratio of investing in global markets is becoming increasingly favorable.
What should companies do who are looking to traverse the waters of global expansion? They should partner with someone who has experience. These partners offer global execution expertise and can leverage their existing infrastructure to expand your global reach. Because of their current coverage, experience, and cultural integration, outsourcing your global expansion needs can mitigate your risk.
To help illustrate exactly how important it is to partner with the right company before expanding, consider the following advice on a few critical factors when expanding globally.
Identifying Target Markets and Regulatory Issues in Your Direct Sales Strategy
One of the biggest obstacles of transitioning to an international market is that the regulatory and operations requirements vary from country to country. Some are small simple adjustments, while others require extensive changes to your business model. Keeping up to speed with these regulations can be costly and demanding on your resources.
Doing your research on target markets, regulatory and compliance issues, and legal factors ensures that you understand what you’re getting yourself into. In addition to economic factors, do your homework on market potential, consumption, and reception rates before entering a market.
Outsourcing your expansion needs to an established outsource sales partner that’s familiar with a specific market can help mitigate risk and ensure successful execution. Not only do these experts reduce cost and risk, due to their established presence and processes for your target region, they also enable your direct sales team to focus on program requirements rather than local requirements.
Hiring Marketing and Sales Professionals
One of the top challenges that sales teams face during global expansions is human capital. Varying standards and requirements in employee and employer management across the world can often create areas of conflict between employees and their employer’s expectations. Local laws and customs surrounding recruiting and termination vary among countries and acquiring skilled human capital may be a challenge in certain markets, particularly if you need employees with specific technical skills and language capabilities.
That’s why it’s important to hire the right people with the right compensation and HR policies to comply with local law. Knowing the rules and regulations ensures that you are hiring the best human resources, while appealing to cultural issues.
Outsourcing your human capital needs to an experienced international partner ensures that your direct sales strategy accounts for recruiting and managing staff according to local customs. More importantly, it aligns your expectations with realistic results for the region and your new employees.
The Value of In-Country Support
Entering a foreign market requires extensive knowledge of the cultural, social, and political landscape of a country. For starters, social change may affect certain markets and the outcome of a marketing and sales program. Often companies expanding into new regions of the world get frustrated when their way of doing business doesn’t translate into sales. The reality is that business from region to region is as diverse as the people who live there.
Understanding the local market presents even more advantages than simply bridging the language gap. In many cases, having local expertise means knowing the best way to approach buyers. Many markets have different influencers, gatekeepers, and decision-makers involved. Knowing who to interface with creates a competitive advantage and ensures that your efforts are paying off.
Finally, it’s important not to limit local interaction to a direct translation. Instead, you must ensure that the integrity of your content is intact and positioned to reach your target audiences. In this regard, localization means crafting marketing messaging for each environment, mapping value propositions around local buying centers, and identifying relevant issues and concerns. Just translating the text rarely allows context to be communicated.
Having people on the ground in your target markets can greatly contribute to the success of your expansion programs. Adding outsourced sales and marketing providers to your direct sales strategy ensures that your team is best positioned to succeed. Not only do these companies advise your sales team on concerns, trends, or opportunities, they simplify global reach and ensure consistency with local management and markets.
