Over the past twenty years, we have helped hundreds of parties achieve international success. We handle all commercial activities: we assist with sales, create marketing materials, focus on inbound marketing and take care of channel development. Before we can do all that, however, we must first answer a different question: what does it take to find the right proposition for the intended market?
For things to work, a few conditions have to be met:
- we must understand the technology and the solution that the vendor offers
- we must know parties who might be interested
- there must be ample revenue potential
If these three conditions are met, we are happy and eager to start working together as soon as possible. In order to find the right proposition for the intended market, we will first look at how the technology is sold and marketed in other markets, e.g. the domestic market. Based on the results of this assessment, we can determine if and how the marketing policy must be adapted to the new market(s).
More than a simple translation
This process involves more than simply translating the existing software, manuals and marketing materials. Think of the USPs, for example: they have to be relevant for the new market. For example, privacy and personal data protection are hot topics in most European countries, but nowhere more so than in Germany. On the other hand, the Scandinavian markets are known for their large degree of transparency. In France, it is of paramount importance that a product and all relevant information are available in French.
These and other characteristics have a major impact on the way in which a solution is marketed and which of its properties and benefits are emphasised (or not). In some cases, a solution or service may ultimately prove to be more suitable for a different market segment than the one the vendor targets in other markets. We examine a vendor’s entire marketing policy (price, product, place and promotion) and then determine the optimal mix per geography and per segment.
Going to market
Once we have gathered all the information we need, we will get to work on updating and translating a vendor’s existing marketing and sales materials. Of course, we will create new materials if necessary. Then it is finally time to go to market! In most cases, the aforementioned research and the localisation process that follows can take quite a long time. Innovations happen at a dizzying pace, however, which means today’s ground-breaking new product might already be old news in a few months’ time. We therefore opt for a more pragmatic approach: instead of writing an in-depth report, only for it to end up at the bottom of a drawer, never to be read again, we will conduct our assessment in just three to four weeks.
Once that is done, we will quickly get to work on actual reachouts. In doing so, we operate in a highly flexible and agile manner: we determine what approach works best and then go all in on that. If we are not achieving the desired results, we will make the necessary adjustments on the fly. We will continue to do so at every stage of our collaboration in order to facilitate continuous improvement with regard to sales and marketing as well. This enables our partners to enter new suitable markets quickly, in a cost-efficient manner and armed with the right proposition.