Page 228 - GLOBAL STRATEGIC MARKETING

Source: Czinkota & Ronkainen (2006)

This framework is important, especially when establishing a relationship

with agents or distributors as the company needs to determine what
coverage the agent deals with in the new country, its expertise and

contacts as well as its expertise and knowledge. On the other hand, a
company may choose to have its own company sales force (agents and
distributors ‘act’ as the sales force of a company) and invest in expertise

such as DELL in its business-to-business markets. This allows long-term
relationships with other businesses to be established which hopefully

results in repeat purchases as well as loyalty to the DELL brand. However,
not all companies have their own sales force as this requires huge

amounts of commitment from the organisation and not all companies have
their own retail outlets to sell their products. Some do, such us Burberry,
GAP and IKEA, but this is not a favoured strategy for all because of the