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INTERNAL PREPARATION

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

It is amazing how many companies find it natural to spend time and money on a disciplined product development program, or a domestic marketing campaign, but when it comes to going international there is very little thought given to what will be involved.

It is essential for a company to prepare itself as a vendor, whether the decision has been made to go direct or to work through a channel of some kind. International end users and potential channel partners will know right away if a company has made a commitment to its international program, and is less likely to take a vendor seriously if it is apparent that they really don't know what they are doing. So a technology vendor must establish processes and procedures to prepare itself for the challenges of selling overseas, and these can be grouped in several categories: Strategic and Policy Decisions; Internal Support; Technical Issues; and Partner Support Programs if you are going to work through a channel.

Strategic & Policy Decisions:

Initial target markets:

Which markets make the most sense and why? If you have researched your target markets you will know which countries you should go after, and in which order.

Timing:

How many markets can you reasonably support? Do you have the money and resources to successfully pursue five or ten at a time, or should you focus on one or two key markets, do them right, and expand from there?

Channel options:

How are you going to get your product to the target markets? Are you going to sell direct? Use resellers and distributors? Systems integrators? OEM partners?

Revenue objectives:

How important is your international program? Are you more interested in just being able to say that you are "international", or do you want international to be 30% or 40% of your revenues? How large are the target markets compared to your domestic market, and how much can you reasonably expect to make from each of them?

Pricing, payments and discounts:

Will your international pricing be the same as your domestic pricing? Which currency will you use? What payment methods will you accept? What discounts will you offer to channel partners? Will you offer price protection? What about credit terms? Will you be impacted by withholding taxes?

Ordering, shipping and returns:

Working with international clients and channel partners will have an impact on many of your operating procedures. Make sure they are fully developed, so that orders can be placed and processed.



Internal Support

Management buy-in:

Going international has to a priority at the top level of the company. We have seen many situations where the international push was initiated and managed by the head of marketing or sales, without widespread acceptance elsewhere in the organization. When this happens there is a real risk that other departments do not support the effort, because it is not part of their responsibilities, and if the person running the international effort leaves the company, there is no one else to take over. This will almost always lead to wasted time, money and resources.

Hiring a channel manager:

At some point an organization will need someone dedicated to managing a channel. Companies often make one of two mistakes when they hire someone for this position: they either "over-hire" or "under-hire". When they over-hire, they recruit a senior level executive from a large, established international company. This type of person will normally have been responsible for a department, with a lot of administrative support, and is usually ill-suited for the details of recruiting and managing a channel. When they under-hire, they recruit someone straight out of college, someone who speaks a few languages, and has a strong interest in all things foreign. However, they rarely have the business experience necessary to relate to resellers and distributors, independent businesspeople with day-to-day concerns and problems that have to be resolved.

Marketing support:

Most resellers and distributors are not strong marketing organizations. They are often run by technical people who happen to sell products, and do not have the skills and resources to develop a marketing kit for each product they represent. It is up to the vendor to make it as easy as possible for their partners to sell the product. The key elements of marketing support include marketing materials, a company & product profile, an ROI analysis, documentation of the sales process, a competitive matrix, and a pre-designed website that can be replicated by channel partners.

Technical Issues:
Some of the issues to be considered include:
Translation and localization:

Some products will have to be translated into the local languages in order to be successfully sold and installed. In some cases a simple translation of screen messages, drop down menus and help files will be sufficient, while some products will have to be re-built to support international standards. Double-byte character sets in Asia and compound nouns in germanyy can require significant efforts in making a product acceptable. A key consideration in deciding whether to go through translation and localization is who the end user will be. As a general rule of thumb, systems-oriented products that are used and maintained by systems administrators can be sold in English, while products that end up on a desktop will usually have to be at least translated.

Integration issues:

You product will often reside in a complex environment with multiple platforms and network protocols. To the extent the product has published APIs that facilitate integration with other technologies, the easier it will be for others to install and support.

Technical support:

How are you going to structure long distance tech support? Where will you provide the support from, and during what hours? Will it be 24/7 or during your local business hours? Will there be any remote support facilities, such as a searchable database or on-line tracking of trouble tickets?