Understanding What People Buy
As an entrepreneur in your domestic marketplace, you’re selling products or services that solve a customer’s problem while simultaneously bolstering your bottom line, different goals but each meets the “business” needs of both the customer and seller.
After the purchase/sale, your product and service solution to the customer’s problem produces a better living standard or business outcome for both the customer and your business.
The problem with selling any product or service solution sold domestically, for that matter, internationally, is that your customer can’t experience your solution until he buys and uses the product or service you are selling. As a result, the customer potentially slows your sales cycle and you risk losing the sale.
So, how can we create a system that will achieve the same level of bottom-line results as those world-class international entrepreneurs you so often read about?
The answer is taking the initiative. International sales are all about taking international prospects through key decision points in a buying cycle suited to the norms and values of a different culture. Let’s refresh our understanding of the customer buying cycle.
Your Customer’s Buying Cycle (Your Sales Cycle)
The customer’s buying cycle, your sales cycle, is a process every consumer completes as he becomes aware, educates himself on solutions, and moves toward finalizing his purchase decision. After making that decision he confronts the question of repeating his purchase. Realize the online buying cycle is no different except for its occurrence over the Internet.
The cycle consists of five stages:
1) Awareness or realizing a problem requires a solution, the first decision. Absent this decision a prospective will make no purchase and your company will make no sale. With the right marketing strategies and campaigns, you and your competitor companies may reach the customers you target.
2) Consideration – the prospective customer considers his options after obtaining detailed information that products and services are available to solve his problem.
3) Intent –the stage in which the prospective customer determines the best solution for his needs. After reviewing product/service ratings and assessing affordability, the prospective customer decides to buy.
4) Purchase – the prospective customer buys the best solution that meets his needs, and
5) Repurchase of the product or service. The prospective customer, after satisfying himself with the use of the product or service, determines repurchase and continued use of the solution is worthwhile.
Most entrepreneurs clinging to their domestic markets don’t consider sales opportunities beyond their country’s borders. They and you don’t have to be world-class international entrepreneurs immediately. Your becoming world-class begins with the first step, a sound financial analysis of the start-up costs of your entry into an international market.
What to Take into Account
Most entrepreneurs open to entering international markets fail the due-diligence phase. Due diligence, specifically your financial analysis, needs to gauge returns on minimal risk where the cost of market entry fits the target budget without being so rigid that responding to market changes becomes difficult if not impossible.
This means understanding the target market’s unique requirements as well as the form of market entry, from tax laws to employment contracts to local business customs to truly understand the cost ramifications. To do otherwise makes the task of accurately estimating the cost of establishing and operating in a new market impossible. There is no substitute for a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.
Most companies approaching expansion presume their target international market operates the same way their domestic marketplace operates. No problem. Right? They typically develop a list of common domestic expenses that might include employer social security contributions, corporate income taxes, and office operating expenses, and then make adjustments to account for target country tax laws, real estate costs, and other expenses. The reality is that each country, operates according to its own set of complex, constantly changing laws governing how a business operates. If you are unfamiliar with a target country’s business laws, customs, and practices you will expose your business to significant hidden costs and risks. To offset that risk you might consider partnering with a local institution and/or retaining outside expertise.
If you are going “international,” make sure you invest sufficient time and effort in identifying all the costs of operating overseas.
After the purchase/sale, your product and service solution to the customer’s problem produces a better living standard or business outcome for both the customer and your business.
The problem with selling any product or service solution sold domestically, for that matter, internationally, is that your customer can’t experience your solution until he buys and uses the product or service you are selling. As a result, the customer potentially slows your sales cycle and you risk losing the sale.
So, how can we create a system that will achieve the same level of bottom-line results as those world-class international entrepreneurs you so often read about?
The answer is taking the initiative. International sales are all about taking international prospects through key decision points in a buying cycle suited to the norms and values of a different culture. Let’s refresh our understanding of the customer buying cycle.
Your Customer’s Buying Cycle (Your Sales Cycle)
The customer’s buying cycle, your sales cycle, is a process every consumer completes as he becomes aware, educates himself on solutions, and moves toward finalizing his purchase decision. After making that decision he confronts the question of repeating his purchase. Realize the online buying cycle is no different except for its occurrence over the Internet.
The cycle consists of five stages:
1) Awareness or realizing a problem requires a solution, the first decision. Absent this decision a prospective will make no purchase and your company will make no sale. With the right marketing strategies and campaigns, you and your competitor companies may reach the customers you target.
2) Consideration – the prospective customer considers his options after obtaining detailed information that products and services are available to solve his problem.
3) Intent –the stage in which the prospective customer determines the best solution for his needs. After reviewing product/service ratings and assessing affordability, the prospective customer decides to buy.
4) Purchase – the prospective customer buys the best solution that meets his needs, and
5) Repurchase of the product or service. The prospective customer, after satisfying himself with the use of the product or service, determines repurchase and continued use of the solution is worthwhile.
Most entrepreneurs clinging to their domestic markets don’t consider sales opportunities beyond their country’s borders. They and you don’t have to be world-class international entrepreneurs immediately. Your becoming world-class begins with the first step, a sound financial analysis of the start-up costs of your entry into an international market.
What to Take into Account
Most entrepreneurs open to entering international markets fail the due-diligence phase. Due diligence, specifically your financial analysis, needs to gauge returns on minimal risk where the cost of market entry fits the target budget without being so rigid that responding to market changes becomes difficult if not impossible.
This means understanding the target market’s unique requirements as well as the form of market entry, from tax laws to employment contracts to local business customs to truly understand the cost ramifications. To do otherwise makes the task of accurately estimating the cost of establishing and operating in a new market impossible. There is no substitute for a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis.
Most companies approaching expansion presume their target international market operates the same way their domestic marketplace operates. No problem. Right? They typically develop a list of common domestic expenses that might include employer social security contributions, corporate income taxes, and office operating expenses, and then make adjustments to account for target country tax laws, real estate costs, and other expenses. The reality is that each country, operates according to its own set of complex, constantly changing laws governing how a business operates. If you are unfamiliar with a target country’s business laws, customs, and practices you will expose your business to significant hidden costs and risks. To offset that risk you might consider partnering with a local institution and/or retaining outside expertise.
If you are going “international,” make sure you invest sufficient time and effort in identifying all the costs of operating overseas.
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