When is a startup ready to go abroad with sales? There is nothing more wrong than stereotypical thinking that all you need is a good product and some communication! It is not enough... - warns Adam Miziołek, Global Chief Growth Officer at Verestro, and shares the experience gained during expansion in many countries, such as India, Kenya and Latin American countries.
Markets differ culturally, and thus customer requirements and behaviors. There are many aspects of the sales process that will probably turn out to be completely different from those that are effective in Polish market and cultural conditions. How to escape from stereotypical thinking and what mistakes not to make?
Thinking that all you need is a good product and some kind of communication, and it will always defend itself. Even good advertising and a decent social media campaign are definitely not enough. Good PR and well-thought-out, locally targeted marketing are essential.
Underestimating the cultural conditions of a given market. What is the lesson? Choosing partners who know the local market thoroughly is not enough. A good idea for a quick return is to expand with a partner who is present and sells on a given market (local marketplace or company). And in addition, our product is complementary and also develops his business (such partners for Verestro are, for example, Mastercard or Austriacard).
A foreign band is a copy of a band from Poland – absolutely not! When building sales teams, with such a large product structure as we have at Verestro, it is worth bringing the salesperson to Poland for the time of onboarding. All this so that he can get to know the products, technology, but also our sales and work culture, which has the right to be different from his, especially when, for example, he comes from Latin America. And only then, with the background of technological and product knowledge, can it start selling in its linguistic and cultural conditions.
Sales model - failure to adjust prices and the customer communication process to local conditions. In some geographical areas, the most important thing is the price, in others – ego or trust, and they will determine the construction of this model for a specific location.
I could compare the decision to expand into other markets with an attempt to build an intimate relationship with a person from a different cultural circle. In addition to learning about the value of a person and their environment, it is important to understand the local non-verbal speech, the social rules prevailing there, and it helps a lot to learn about the local history, culture and current economic situation. Only then can we try to strengthen this relationship - sums up Adam Miziołek.
