Shenever we start a new project, we spend time getting to know the starting point. It is important to know the previous commercial experience: to whom it has been sold, what has been sold, how it has been sold, where it has been sold, and why it has been sold.
We do this for several reasons, but the one I want to highlight in this note is the "Where it was sold".
Why go to France, England or Germany if we have not yet developed our full potential in the domestic market?
Over the last 5 years, there are bound to have been changes in what we used to call "a familiar environment". Some competitors will have closed down and other potential customers will have emerged... And in both cases, business opportunities will present themselves to us. And where better than here, where we enjoy a reputation and tradition, where all our references are known and where we control the market for an almost guaranteed success?
To sell abroad, sometimes you have to knock on doors closer to home.
When we go abroad, one of the usual questions that arises is: What is the best way to sell abroad?
“… and you, how are you doing in Spain? What customers do you have? Do you work with my competitors? ….”
Other times, although the purchasing center is abroad, the UNE we want to contact is in one of its Spanish production plants. In these cases, experience tells us that we have to try in both places at the same time: both in Spain and in the European headquarters. And see when and how we can get a meeting, a plan or an offer request, wherever it is.
As every year, this year we have again covered thousands of kilometers in Spain, spent hundreds of hours in meetings with national clients and sent thousands of emails in perfect Spanish.
And why? .... If internationalization is our thing!
Because our business is to look for and sell wherever the opportunity is: NATIONAL IS PART OF INTERNATIONAL.
Why are we going to fly to Munich if first we can (and should) drive to Pinto to meet with the Product Manager or Senior Buyer of the product family where our part is located?
In 2015 with some machining, boilermaking, stamping or foundry customers among others, we have gone to the outskirts of Madrid, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Pamplona or Valencia to meet with potential customers, present our value proposition and try to sell. In many cases, we have sold, in others, we have understood why we have not.
In 2016, we are also sure to increase our activity in the domestic market... Although slowly, it is moving.
