Page 111 - Export and Trade

Marketing S
Taxationtrategy

Chinatown, Singapore.

reach the end user and that members of the supply chain 1. Buildyourcontactlistforcalling.
also see the value and are interested in working with your 2. Develop an interview guide.
business to bring the product to market. 3. Conduct and record interviews.
By the end of the process you will have already started 4. Review insights and select businesses for further
building a target list of end users, of ideal resellers, LQYHVWLJDWLRQ TXDOL¿FDWLRQ
prospective wholesale or distribution partners and 5. Redevelop your value proposition or reprioritise
importers who meet your criteria and are ready for your market.
IXUWKHU TXDOL¿FDWLRQ Keyinformation youarelookingtogatherina
<RX ZLOO KDYH VXI¿FLHQW IHHGEDFN WR LGHQWLI\ ZKHWKHU validation interview includes:
your products or services are suitable for the market, 1. Market overview/current state of their market from
ZKHWKHU WKH\ QHHG IXUWKHU UH¿QHPHQW DQG ZKDW WKH their perspective.
obstacles to success are that will need to be addressed 2. Challenges/needs for their business and the market
as you enter the market. overall.
3. What if new hypothetical solutions were available to
Constructing a validation interview the market?
The key to a robust validation process is to collect data in 4. Competition and who are the major players in the
a format that allows you to compare feedback and look for market.
patterns. This means that you want to ask a consistent set 5. Testing your value proposition relevance, interest and
of questions to each segment of the value chain. You can value.
do this by building an interview guide to ensure you are 6. Decision-making – what is the process in their
covering the same elements in each conversation. business, who else needs to be involved?
The critical steps in the interview process are: 7. Can I call you back? The beginning of a soft sell.

NZ Export & Trade Handbook 2018 109