Keys to internationalisation

Once your company has begun the internationalisation process, you will very likely have to make a visit to the country where you will be introducing your products or services. You may have many different purposes for making a business trip abroad: getting to know the market and your potential customers first hand, studying the competition and the possible need to make adaptations, meeting with intermediaries that may sell your products, etc. Any of these purposes may lead you to visit the country in order to guarantee the investment you are making in entering another market.

In order to make the most of the trip, prepare your visit conscientiously. It is very important to establish the objectives of the trip, which should be none other than to get to know the characteristics of the country that may affect the marketing of your product. You should adopt a humble attitude during the trip, respecting the customs of the country, taking an interest in its culture, and refraining from criticising the government in power or religious aspects.

Regardless of your objectives in making the trip, there are a series of steps you must always follow. Follow the advice of byGalicia:

1. Obtain information on the market you are visiting

Before making the trip, get to know the country well. You will need general information as well as specific details regarding your products or services. In other words, before visiting a market you should have performed a preliminary study. byGalicia reviews the things you must research.

• Marketing information systems in international markets
• Analysis and selection of foreign markets

In terms of information related to your product, you must know the volume of imports, the levels of consumption, the possible barriers to imports that may exist, and the main suppliers in the country.

Regarding general information on the country, it is important that you know its recent history, the political system in place, economic characteristics, societal structure, religion, customs, etc.

The Internet is an unlimited source of information, most of which is offered in English. Start by navigating byGalicia. You can find information on different markets and post your questions in our forums. Consult the Spanish embassy or consulate in the country that interests you. You can find useful information for your task.

Don't forget to consult the Spanish Commercial Offices Abroad at www.oficinascomerciales.es"

2. Prepare the trip

The key to success is to organise the time available in order to achieve the objectives of the visit, without running up too many expenses. Before making the trip, take into account a series of characteristics of the country that you may have overlooked:

• The preparation of the trip is closely linked to the objectives you plan to achieve. If the purpose of the trip is to conduct market research, visit points of sale for products similar to yours and analyse the competition, their prices, the brand image they project, and even their positioning on the shelf. In other words, try to extract as much information as possible from the point of sale itself. Even pay attention to the predominant colours and the most common type of packaging used.
• Make a list of the establishments you are most interested in visiting. Your time is not unlimited, so you must select your visits realistically in terms of how long they will take. It is also necessary to make a note of all the aspects you have questions about in order to ask when you get there.
• If you are looking for a commercial partner, the best way to recover the cost of the trip is to have made some sort of previous contact. Commercial Offices, Export Associations, or the network of FOEXGA (Galician Export Support Plan) grant holders can provide lists of distributors or representatives in the sectors you request. The Internet is an inexhaustible source of information. Through directories in the target country and international web pages you can locate  potential partners. Companies dealing in highly specialised products are also advised to consult professional associations to find distributors of the type of product in question.
• When locating potential distributors, partners, or any type of intermediary, you can obtain very interesting information about their activities  by visiting their web site or consulting with them directly. The first step will be to gather information enabling you to make an initial choice regarding the companies that best suit your interests. The information you obtain about the products they sell, their facilities, their after-sale service, etc. must be verified upon arrival in the country by visiting their facilities to see how they really operate.  
• Attending trade fairs is a good way to visit a market. Whether you attend as exhibitors or simply as visitors will depend on your company's capacity, your international experience, and the objectives you have established for the market in question.
• A good way to make the most of a visit to a market is to make it coincide with a trade fair. This way, in addition to looking for commercial partners or conducting market research for your products, you can analyse the sector as well.
• The best way to take full advantage of a trade fair as visitors is to prepare the visit well. Visit the web site of the organisers and get a list of exhibitors. If you come across an interesting contact, try to make an appointment or announce your visit to their stand. Trade fairs tend to be very busy and involve many conversations and contacts in a very short period of time. byGalicia suggests that you: follow up the contacts you have established. Make a note of their contact information, their activities, whether they act as importers, exporters, or intermediaries, whether you met with them personally, materials exchanged, agreements made, etc. In other words, important information that will enable you to follow up afterwards. These contacts may serve as a means of access to nascent markets, which is why it is very important to document all your exchanges for proper decision-making.  
• If you will be attending a trade fair as an exhibitor, the first thing to do is choose the fair wisely. The web page of the trade fair is an important source of information. You can also search with specialised search engines: Trade Show Resource allows you to search for fairs by country, sector, or the name of the fair itself. The UFI, which is the Association of the Exhibition Industry, also has information on events all over the world.
• Como valorar se unha feira é a que nos convén ou non? On the Internet there is a great deal of information on trade fairs held by government bodies for promotion abroad. Start with the ICEX reports.
• Attending as exhibitor involves a significant financial commitment.  For this reason, byGalicia recommends that you choose the fairs you will attend wisely. Find out the size, volume, and history of the fair. Pay attention to the number of exhibitors, both domestic and international, the volume of business generated, and the number of professional visitors. Once you've chosen a trade fair, you will need to reserve a space far enough in advance. There are usually discounts for making advance reservations.
• Commercial efforts begin before the fair. It is best to announce your presence at the event to all the parties you would like to visit. During the fair it is important to keep track of the contacts acquired. In addition to taking contact information keep track of the commitments you have made. Your potential partners or customers will not be pleased if you make an agreement with them and are not able to honour it afterwards.
• The Ministry of Innovation and Industry (Consellería de Innovación e Industria) promotes each year, through the FOEXGA Plan, the organisation of trade missions abroad. The advantage of participating in a trade mission is that it saves costs and effort, as the organisers take care of finding commercial contacts meeting your specifications. Regardless of whether they are sectoral or intersectoral, it is important that you clearly specify the type of contacts you are looking for and that you are in constant contact with the organisers regarding your agenda.
• The importance of trade fairs and missions in international commerce has given rise to a variety of aid programmes. Consult this section of byGalicia. You will find information regarding the series of grants offered annually by the Ministry of Innovation and Industry.

3. Prepare an agenda of visits

Before preparing an agenda you must first have someone to visit. byGalicia provides you with resources: browse the links, participate in forums, and consult our experts.

We also have a network of grant holders abroad associated with the FOEXGA Plan. Their duty is to support the internationalisation of Galician companies, coordinate trade missions, and help you with the organisation of your visit. Don't hesitate to contact them. Their job is to help you. For more information, go to www.planfoexga.org.

You can consult the network of Spanish Commercial Offices abroad www.oficinascomerciales.es, where you can ask any questions regarding the possibilities for your product in the country where the commercial office is located.

You can also consult directories or lists of companies that may be interested in distributing your products. Start simple: the yellow pages of each country.

4. The visit

The business visits you plan to make must be arranged in advance with those who are interested. The objective of these visits is to analyse the possibility of the two parties doing business together. Different cultural perceptions, language difficulties (including body language), and different ways of conducting business may give rise to difficulties in the negotiation. Take every precaution. While the etiquette and culture of each country will govern all these interactions, we can mention a series of golden rules of a universal nature:

• Be punctual, and verify the time and place of the meeting with the other party shortly beforehand to avoid misunderstandings.
• Clearly explain the objective of your visit.
• Listen to the other party, take notes, and ask questions about any aspects that are not clear.
• Respect the etiquette for addressing people, keeping in mind that it varies considerably from one country to the next. For example, in some countries given names are reserved exclusively for family settings.
• Do not discriminate against anyone present at the meeting; give everyone your attention and respect.
• Avoid delicate topics (politics, religion, history, etc.) that may give rise to confrontation.

To find curious and extremely interesting information about the customs of each country, visit the web site of the author of the book “Kiss, Bow or Shake Hands”. For more information, go to www.getcustoms.com.

5. Conclude the visit in Galicia

Once your trip is over and you have come back home, you still can't consider the visit concluded. The next step in achieving the objectives of the visit will be to write up a report in which you analyse all the aspects of the trip. Analysing the information obtained and the commercial contacts established will allow you to decide whether to rule out that country as a market or develop a plan of action for introducing your products.

You must also make sure to fulfil all the promises you made on your trip: sending documents, samples, catalogues, etc. And lastly, you will evaluate whether you have achieved the objectives you set for yourself for the trip or if you will need to conduct further market research or change markets.