Gaining international clientale

[StallionComms]

Would like to hear from others who provide international services as to how they go about gaining business in a country not their own especially when their business is just a couple years old. Our reputation within our own country is easily proven but how do you guys go about doing it when your offering a service in a country that you may not have an "official" office in but have only agents who are your go between?

We currently do work in a couple countries with various businesses but are hoping to branch out into USA and canada as well. So hearing from members who have marketed in those countries would be great.

Thanks again.

 

[Toni Anicic]

The strategy of entering new markets will vary extremely depending on what you do.

In our case it was pretty simple since we sell IT services that can be done remotely and people pretty much don't care where you are from (unless you're from a country with bad reputation in the niche).

 

[StallionComms]

The strategy of entering new markets will vary extremely depending on what you do.

In our case it was pretty simple since we sell IT services that can be done remotely and people pretty much don't care where you are from (unless you're from a country with bad reputation in the niche).

Our services such as outsourcing/call centre/data entry etc can obviously be done remotely. Do you have some tips or suggestions on how you gained overseas clients? What marketing strategies did you use? Did you do cold-selling techniques? emails? Any suggestions you might have would greately appreciate. Oh and we are located in the UK so I don't think that should be an issue but you never know I guess lol

 

[Toni Anicic]

Our services such as outsourcing/call centre/data entry etc can obviously be done remotely. Do you have some tips or suggestions on how you gained overseas clients? What marketing strategies did you use? Did you do cold-selling techniques? emails? Any suggestions you might have would greately appreciate. Oh and we are located in the UK so I don't think that should be an issue but you never know I guess lol

Cold calling - no. E-mails, direct contact, any way of interruption marketing - no.

Everything we did was completely inbound, meaning good keyword research, SEO, SEM, SMM, content marketing.

This approach is a lot of work and takes an awful lot of time, knowledge and experience but in the end, you are left with a long lasting stream of leads that come to you instead of you trying to find them.

Basically, in the long run, it's much more ROI effective.

 

[Psl]

Would like to hear from others who provide international services as to how they go about gaining business in a country not their own especially when their business is just a couple years old. Our reputation within our own country is easily proven but how do you guys go about doing it when your offering a service in a country that you may not have an "official" office in but have only agents who are your go between?

We currently do work in a couple countries with various businesses but are hoping to branch out into USA and canada as well. So hearing from members who have marketed in those countries would be great.

Thanks again.

Through UKTI you can get access to the British Embassies, High Commissions and consulates in many countries. By access I mean you can actually hire the place for what the UKTI call a 'show and tell'. You choose the country and the embassy, HC or consulate in that country, they will contact you directly and discuss with you what you want to achieve. The staff will then contact a number of companies in the specfic country, based on on your profile of the client you require and invite them to the 'show and tell'. The potential client gets an official gold edged 8x5 invitation from the British Embassy etc inviting them to the 'show and tell'.Once you have all these companies in the room you pitch your product and/or service to them.
You can provide a buffet or not, and for a few quid more you can get the Ambassador to meet and greet your potential clients
PM if you want more details.

 

[StallionComms]

Through UKTI you can get access to the British Embassies, High Commissions and consulates in many countries. By access I mean you can actually hire the place for what the UKTI call a 'show and tell'. You choose the country and the embassy, HC or consulate in that country, they will contact you directly and discuss with you what you want to achieve. The staff will then contact a number of companies in the specfic country, based on on your profile of the client you require and invite them to the 'show and tell'. The potential client gets an official gold edged 8x5 invitation from the British Embassy etc inviting them to the 'show and tell'.Once you have all these companies in the room you pitch your product and/or service to them.
You can provide a buffet or not, and for a few quid more you can get the Ambassador to meet and greet your potential clients
PM if you want more details.

Thanks to everyone who replied. All of your suggestions are great. I will definitely be sharing them with my team and seeing what we can come up with.

 

[hagrid han]

Well,you can directly contact customer overseas by email.I usually do that way.Email,is good tool to send informations to your customers.But,the social association,fairs can mean a lot to businesses.I am also a sales man of massagers,and I would like to communicate about these.Thank you!

 

[StallionComms]

Thanks for the suggestions but aren't emails also like flyers? People just delete them without ever even opening them. Are there any sites where one can read up on how to write a good email or catchy phrases for titles where people dont just "click delete" without ever opening it?

 

[Powermark LED Lighting]

I have the same problem as you.In order to explore clients,I started to send emails everyday since July,but the reply rate is extremly low,around 1%.Sometimes I get frustrated when I receive zero reponse after hundreds of emails sent out.It seems people are born to resist "spams"(actually I do not think they are spams),they will click the mouse and delete it without taking a look upon seeing a strange sender or promotional subject,it is nothing to do with how well written your email is.
Currently I have stopped sending email randomly,I turn to make phone calls.I will search my potential clients on google or yellow page or B2B platform,verify their infomation and decide which ones worth my call,finally I will give them a call,this is much more efficient up to now.Besides,we are about to make advertisements on professional magazine in our business field,and I am quite expecting the feedback.