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Establishing a Sales Team in New Markets

Companies often start their international expansion efforts by forming a local sales presence to drive revenue as quickly as possible. But rushing into this process can backfire unless you carefully consider a host of factors, including your company’s needs, customers’ preferences, available resources and more.

Preparation

Before making any decisions about building your sales team, it’s vital to learn as much as you can about the country or region you’re expanding into. Study local business practices, customer expectations and preferences from any helpful resources that might be available.

Here are some ideas of where to start your research:

· Your existing customer base, if relevant

· Google search

· Social media platforms such as LinkedIn

· Competitor websites

· Experts within your company and professional networks

· Economic development organizations and institutes

· Industry associations and trade publications

· Analyst reports on your industry sector and target market

· Market research or surveys commissioned by your company

· Consultants such as regional experts, or import/export specialists

· Agents that act on your behalf for management, staffing, etc.

Looking for Insights

As you consult these resources, dig for valuable insights that can inform the sales function in your new market. For instance:

What is the typical decision-making process? To determine the number of sales staff and support you’ll need, try to estimate the buyer’s journey for a customer in the region, especially the length and stages of the sales cycle.

This can vary depending on the complexity of your products and services, and the business practices of the country or region. You may require engineers or technical experts to conduct demonstrations, for example, or customers may expect involvement by company executives to close a deal.

What language(s) are preferred for business? In some countries, speaking the local language is essential to a good business relationship, while in others, English is widely accepted. Some regions — like Europe — may require multilingual staff to communicate with customers in their preferred languages.

In some markets, early stages of the buying process may be conducted in English, but as the deal progresses, customers prefer to communicate in the local languages. Buyers in other markets may require all correspondence conducted in their language from day one.

Decision Time

Based on your understanding of the new market, you make some key decisions about your sales organization:

Location, location, location: If potential customers prefer face-to-face interaction and fast responses, you’ll want to invest in in-market office space. However, if they’re satisfied with remote interactions, you can choose a centralized location and have salespeople travel as needed.

Easy access to airports and major transportation routes is an important factor, as is the cost of living, options for leasing versus purchasing real estate, and the logistics of distributing or delivering products.

Hiring vs. transferring staff: Hiring local sales staff requires training them in corporate processes, products and services. Transferring employees from headquarters or another location will probably require training in the local culture, business practices and customer landscape.

Local staff may have different expectations for salaries and benefits. For instance, European employees will expect more generous benefits — such as more vacation days and paid parental leave — but will generally accept salaries that are lower than their U.S. counterparts.

It may be possible to rely on remote staff to handle some or all sales functions, but they will still need to travel for face-to-face customer interaction.

Taking the Plunge

After making key decisions about location, staffing and organization, it’s time for implementation. You can hit the ground running with an in-country sales staff right away — provided they have everything they need for their job, such as high-speed Internet, administration assistance and technical support.

If you need more time to get people on the ground, you can still establish a corporate and sales presence ahead of time.

The best way to do this is with a localized website because it:

· Establishes your brand and build awareness in a new market

· Provides resources to educate customers and support sales

· Demonstrates your commitment to local customers

· Attracts local partners and distributors

Conclusion

Expanding your company with international sales operations is a valuable investment in your global expansion efforts. To avoid costly mistakes:

· Practice due diligence

· Start small

· Be flexible

· Try new things

Above all, stay nimble, expect the unexpected and be willing to adapt to the needs of your global customers.

Electronic music artists that do THIS are winning!

Establishing a Sales Team in New Markets

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