svtms.diffworlds.com
|
svtms.diffworlds.com
|
|
TADASHI EHARAINTERNATIONAL SALES & MARKETING MANAGEMENT
REGIONSIncluding, but not limited to:
SCENARIOYou are vice president of sales for a growing start-up. You have been successful domestically so it is time to expand the market overseas. Initial regions are Asia and Europe. The first target country is Japan. You target at least three potential partners in the country. To get these target partners, you ask people you know for suggestions, search the Web, look at competitors' Websites, etc. You start contacting the potential partners to gauge their potential and interest. Once you have at least three interested companies, you start setting up appointments to meet them. In general, you should plan to be there at least two whole days. Each visit to a potential partner should be at least a half day, including lunch or dinner with the new relations. Potential partners may already have potential customers that they would like you to meet during your visit. To prepare for the visit, you prepare a slide show to present to your potential partners and customers, and prepare marketing collateral to leave with them. From the west coast, flight leave around noon and arrive in Tokyo late afternoon. Two whole days! If this is your first flight across an ocean, it is recommended that you allocate one day to recover from the jetlag. For this strategy, you might consider leaving on Friday, arriving on Saturday, resting on Sunday, and start your meetings on Monday. Return flights start leaving Tokyo in the late afternoon and arrive in the west coast early morning of the same day. You should plan on spending the rest of the day recovering from the jetlag. Since you are going to lose essentially three days crossing the Pacific, it would be productive to visit other countries in the region near Japan. These include South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Singapore. Once you complete one trip, you realize that it took one whole week out of your normal schedule, and that you cannot do this on a regular basis. To visit each country in Asia will require at least two weeklong trips. The same for Europe. South America will require at least one. This is five trips. Depending on sales volume, you should visit Japan four times a year and other countries twice. This is at least ten trips, or almost one a month. Time to hire a vice president of international sales. |
|