Once one considers the global marketplace as your pool of suppliers then the boundaries for possible innovations and cost savings become pushed back much further than we would have previously thought. So too however does the number of risks multiply and without due care and diligence on the part of the seller, these risks can often put buyers off overseas procurement. This article explains how you can become more visible and ways in which you can avoid falling at the first hurdle of selection.

1. SCA Conseils France| Your Partner for Export Tenders | © 2011 For Non-Commercial Use Only
Towards Becoming Visible as an International Seller
Part of my impetus for creating SCA Conseils France was to bridge the gap between the
exacting requirements of buyers and the market offering of international suppliers. When I
was a buyer I grew weary of deals falling through time and again owing to a breakdown
in understanding, to which I was powerless to 'help' the supplier through the qualification
stages for fear of compromising my professional position.
It goes without saying that you are the experts in selling and marketing what you do and
we're not going to interfere with that. The thrust of what we do at SCA Conseils France is
to position your exported product according to how it will be bought in a local market. It
follows that in this context our starting point for this article is to consider how a buyer will
seek information that will help them to secure a better deal by venturing overseas.
Once one considers the global marketplace as your pool of suppliers then the boundaries
for possible innovations and cost savings become pushed back much further than we
would have previously thought. So too however does the number of risks multiply and
without due care and diligence on the part of the seller, these risks can often put buyers off
overseas procurement.
That the buyer is already looking is a starting point nonetheless, and it shows an intention
to work with their chosen supplier to at least attempt to outweigh these risks with cost
advantages.
In keeping with the theme of risk management, a buyer's first port of call when examining
options for an international purchase will be to search internally within their organisation
as to what previous transactions have been completed or at least entertained with
international suppliers. This search may manifest itself either formally through
interrogating one or more supplier databases, or it may be less formal by word of mouth
through work colleagues or elsewhere in the buyer's network.
The philosophy behind this internal search is to be able to transact with a supplier who
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2. SCA Conseils France| Your Partner for Export Tenders | © 2011 For Non-Commercial Use Only
has been esteemed worthy enough to negotiate with the organisation previously and thus
reduce risk vis-à-vis a supplier that is completely unknown. Unfortunately this means that
for the majority of you, having never been contacted by this organisation, you are never
likely to be, given that you have no past dealings with them.
Though often all too comfortable to remain backward looking as a means of reducing
risks, fortunately even larger organisations now realise that with such risk-averse
behaviour comes little or no reward.
All is not lost as then as the buyer will surely show initiative and intelligence to look
beyond what has already been performed in the past. So you are back in play, now what
can you do to increase your visibility?
Given the same situation as a buyer, my means of an external search today would likely be
a combination of
• Global trading sites like icomtrader.com or alibaba.com,
• Keyword searches by Google (obvious but never to be overlooked),
• Attendance at trade shows with an international outlook (plus trawling their list of
attendees), and;
• Heavy use of my LinkedIn account.
If this is a crashcourse in your communication channels for exporting, and if coincidentally
you are thinking that you probably have most of these bases already covered, do not
worry as the point of this article is more about your position and image within these
channels as a means of increasing your visibility as an international supplier and therefore
your potential to grow in the export domain.
In all likelihood, once a list of potential suppliers has been derived from these channels,
this list will be cut in size from anything up to 100 prospects down to around 10. If you do
nothing else after reading this article, note that it is likely that the following criteria will be
used as a screen for successful prospects. It pays therefore to think carefully about how
your company is presented in these channels,
• Coherence of your company description. Though unfair in many respects, it would
seem that English is the preferred business language so it is worthwhile having
your pitch checked by a translator or preferably a native English speaker. A buyer
who may also speak English as a second language will not want to complicate
proceedings by dealing with a supplier who does not appear to grasp English
particularly well.
• A concise description of the product categories to which your company caters
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3. SCA Conseils France| Your Partner for Export Tenders | © 2011 For Non-Commercial Use Only
(ironmongery, sanitaryware or joinery to cite some examples from the construction
industry).
• Clear contact details. The name of the person, their position within the organisation
and all of their contact details. It is preferable to avoid generic emails (info@ or
export@,) as the common perception is that emails sent to such addresses all too
often go unanswered.
• Details of your operations and past experience of export activity.
• A company logo if you have the option, usually gives psychological reassurance to a
buyer that your company is real.
With this checklist in mind, it should hopefully follow that you are getting the right kind
of visibility to your target buyers abroad, and that the enquiries should start rolling in.
Don't forget at this stage it is merely a question of getting on the radar of that particular
buyer and as such you should not be too impatient to conclude any transaction in too short
a space of time.
SCA Conseils France is a tender consultancy specialised in the French market. We are here to provide timely
and astute advice from the moment you receive an enquiry relating to an export project in French-speaking
markets. For more information on how we can help, please click here.
SCA Conseils France is registered in the UK. All Rights Reserved.
www.scaconseils.fr