The Importance of Creating an Export Sales Growth Plan
Written By: Jeffrey From, Deputy Director - NVIE
October 23, 2020 | NVIE
In today’s environment, we are accustomed to instant gratification. We can shop online and get our goods delivered to us the next day. We can use our phone to access several on-line delivery companies that will deliver you hot food in an hour, and we no longer have the patience to wait for success. But despite this new level of immediacy, there is still at least one area that can benefit from a more metered approach to its completion, and I believe it is your company’s export sales plan.
In general, planning can offer many benefits. A well-developed plan can:
- be an excellent team-building exercise
- identify meaningful competitive advantages for your company
- allow for more thorough research
- assist in more effective decision-making
- create an integrated approach, possibly minimizing costs and resources
- give a roadmap to benchmark against, to keep you focused and on track
But most importantly, a plan can help you identify and manage risks. So it is with the awareness of all these benefits that I highlight the incredible importance of taking the time to craft a well thought out export plan.
Nevada manufacturers are faced with risks every day, and it takes effort and resources to react to ill-timed interruptions to production or sales. So when making the decision to expand sales through export markets, for many companies, there is now a new dimension of risk that is introduced. And you might be surprised at where this risk comes from. Some companies get so focused on one aspect of the strategy, that they completely ignore the ramifications of some decisions on other aspects of the business. By following a process and creating a well-developed plan, you can start out with your risks being minimized and well-understood. As you deploy your export sales plan, you have a pre-planned roadmap that will help you stay on track and know when to veer.
A well-crafted export plan should include the following (although this is not a complete list):
- Introduction
- Organization
- Products and Services
- Market Overview
- Market-Entry Strategy
- Logistics Strategy
- Implementation Plan
- Financial Plan
- Risk Factors, including regulatory & other
I would encourage you to develop a formal plan for an export sales growth initiative. If you click on this link (https://www.nevadaie.com/downloads/exportech_flyer_2020.pdf), you can learn about the NVIE / MEP NN process called ExporTech. This program trains and assists manufacturing companies to create a realistic, deployable export sales plan. If you want additional information, don’t hesitate to reach out to any of us at Nevada Industry Excellence.
Contact NVIE and talk to your Project Manager.
Email us at info@nvie.nevada.com
Call Us At: 800-637-4634
