Deciding to Export
Types of Export Markets
Being “export ready” includes having capabilities that are well-matched to the particular market in which you wish to do business. In general, there are three types of export markets:
- Fast-paced, competitive economies
- Efficient service delivery, excellent quality assurance, and a media profile are critical to success. If you are not fluent in the language, you can work through a local partner to handle linguistic and cultural differences. Fast-paced economies are a good match for your firm if you have:
- Excellent internal time management
- Rapid internal decision making
- The ability to respond to customer requests within 24 hours
- Ongoing media coverage of your firm’s successes
- Polished, sophisticated website and marketing materials
- A registered quality assurance system
Examples of fast-paced markets in the Asia Pacific include Australia, New Zealand, and the USA.
- Relationship-based, relatively affluent economies
- Interpersonal communication skills, cultural sensitivity, and linguistic fluency are critical in developing a good relationship with a local partner with whom you can do business. Such relationships typically need to be developed first at a senior level, so your senior staff needs to be prepared to travel extensively. Relationship-based economies are a good match for your firm if you have:
- Senior managers with excellent interpersonal and communications skills
- Staff fluent in the primary language of the market you are considering
- Staff who are skilled at adapting to different business cultures
- A corporate willingness to let a business relationship evolve gradually
- An expectation that return on market development costs will take time
- Senior managers who are willing to travel to develop new customers
Examples of relationship-based markets in the Asia Pacific include Brunei, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan.
- Donor-funded economies
- Market development takes time, flexibility, and being politically astute. It is very helpful if you already have experience working with a third-party funder (either CIDA or one of the international financial institutions such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank). Donor-funded economies are a good match for your firm if you have:
- Senior managers who are politically well connected with donor agencies
- Staff with good interpersonal communications skills
- Resources to support a long planning cycle
- Experience in satisfying several customers at once
- Experience in working with government agencies
- A service delivery system that can adapt to low technology
Examples of donor-funded markets in the Asia Pacific include China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Choosing the appropriate type of market is critical because its characteristics determine the strengths needed by your firm to succeed as an exporter. Remember that services exporting is all about relationships, and a large part of ease in relationships is linked to cultural factors.