Page 158 - 100 Great Marketing Ideas (100 Great Ideas)

75 FIND THE RIGHT
PARTNERS

For small firms, breaking into overseas markets can seem to be
almost impossible. Overseas customers naturally favor face-to-face
meetings with people who speak their language, and are likely to be
biased in favor of local suppliers anyway, if they exist at all.

Although the internet has helped somewhat, this still puts the onus
on the customer to hunt around for a supplier—which they may not
be prepared to do to any great extent if there is a perfectly good local
supplier already on hand.

Finding a partner to distribute your products in a foreign country is
obviously the way forward, but how is it done?

The idea

Tyron is a British company that produces a run-flat system for vehicle
tires. In the event of a tire bursting (or being shot out) the car can
continue to run on a steel ring inserted in the wheel. This would
enable, for example, a VIP to escape from a kidnapping attempt or
terrorist attack.

Tyron clearly has a large potential market in the world’s trouble spots,
but lacked any way of accessing the markets, at least within their
minuscule marketing budget. The company therefore contacted
Trade Partners UK, a government-sponsored organization that
helps companies find partners overseas.

Trade Partners UK arranged for Tyron’s salespeople to be sent
on training courses in dealing with overseas customers, and

100 GREAT MARKETING IDEAS • 149