WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST OBSTACLES TO EXPORT SUSTAINABILITY?

Why can’t exports be sustained?

Continuity in exports depends on many factors. Many companies want to export and start exporting in some way. But exports are not continuous. After a few shipments, no new orders are received. Why can’t a company that starts exporting continue exporting? Isn’t the hard part to start? Why doesn’t the rest come after starting? In this blog post, we clarify these questions.

• Lack of marketing

One of the biggest mistakes is lack of marketing. Marketing should be done before sales, whether domestic or international. Unfortunately, these two concepts are confused with each other in our country. Therefore, we should first talk about the definition of marketing;

Marketing is the process by which firms determine which goods or services are of interest to their customers and identify strategies to improve sales, communication and business management. Marketing is an integrated process through which firms create value for their customers and build strong customer relationships to capture value from customers in return.

Sales is when your product or service is offered to the customer for a price and you make money. So sales is the final stage. In order for you to make sales, you need to have done/being doing marketing. Sales is the result of marketing.

You must have enough time and experience for a correct export roadmap. You should make your product, sector and competitor analyzes completely. If you do not have enough time and personnel for these, you can get Export Consultancy from an expert company. An autonomous formation outside your own organizational scheme will eliminate the concept of business blindness for your brand.

As a country, we want to sell immediately. We have a product we produce, we have domestic sales. In order to start exporting, we immediately meet with every place we find abroad. We send e-mails saying “We produce this product, this is our price”. This process will of course be done, but it is very unlikely to find customers just by doing this. Because this process is not marketing. Unfortunately, the customers found in this way may not last very long. Therefore, continuity in exports is not ensured.

You can eliminate these deficiencies by getting consultancy on export marketing from Export Consultancy Firms and Export Consultants who are experts in export marketing.

• Negligence/Short-term thinking

Another factor is negligence. Companies that did not do anything about exporting before want to export when the domestic market shrinks. Companies that start exporting in small numbers do not give the necessary importance and time to exporting when the domestic market reopens. Therefore, continuity is not ensured.

Short-term thinking is also a reason to be considered along with this. When the market shrinks, we want to export the product we have, but export is not a short-term process. Export is a process, a process that requires time and effort.

• Not setting goals/Starting without a plan

One of the biggest mistakes SMEs make when starting to export is not identifying a target market. Two different market research strategies can be determined as targets and potentials.

Research on issues such as world import and export figures, customer analysis, customer types and competitor analysis related to your product will give you clues about which target markets you will focus on.

You can do this detailed target market research yourself. There are companies that provide services with many more research models like this. You can prepare target market research reports specific to your product or market from companies that provide expert Export Consultancy services.

As Montaigne said, “no wind helps the ship without a target”.

• Not adapting

The legal regulations and laws of each country are different. While only loading documents are sufficient for export to some countries, some countries may require additional tests and documents. Or different countries may apply different practices in the packaging of the product. Similarly, marketing activities that are successful in one country may not work in other countries. It may be necessary to update marketing activities on a country-by-country basis. Sometimes initiatives fail because the brand name has a bad meaning in one country. A new brand name may be required for that country. As a company, you should work on these issues and comply with the rules in each country so that sustainable exports are internalized.

• Not receiving counseling

As it is known, the concept of consultancy is still not fully understood in Turkey. Generally, SMEs turn to experts after experiencing a problem. But there is an important detail they overlook. If they decide to set out with a consultant before the problem starts, or rather before they set out, they will not have any problems.

In Export Marketing processes, you should definitely talk to an expert Export Consultancy firm and share your ideas. As with other types of consultancy, Export Consultancy will develop marketing strategies in accordance with your export roadmap. Depending on these marketing strategies, it will also provide services on issues such as implementation, evaluation and performance measurement.

With export consultancy service, you will not only export your products or services, you will provide an international perspective to your brand, the future of your company and your employees.

• Website/Corporate identity

A company aiming to export must have a website. The website must be in at least 1 foreign language. Different languages can be added according to the targeted countries. In addition, the company’s correspondence with customers abroad should be made from the company’s corporate e-mail address. Not from addresses such as Yahoo, Hotmail, Gmail, which provide free service.

• Export for commission

Many companies that want to start exporting resort to this method. Companies meet with brokers called intermediaries and are asked to export for a commission. This transaction is not long term. While the broker is running for your product today, he is laboring for a product that he can get a higher commission tomorrow. You can also take your place in the caravan of companies that have exported a few times but the rest has not come.

In this way, of course, you can start exporting, but in the long run, these intermediary and broker companies will never add value to your brand. They may support your sales channel, but you can be sure that they will not add value to your brand and your company.

Reducing SMEs’ dependence on foreign companies in areas such as production, business management, marketing and finance will increase the continuity of their export performance. What does this mean?

*When brokers discover a higher commission rate than you, they will stop working with your brand,

*You will not be able to offer competitive prices, given that brokers add a profit rate on top of your selling price,

*While your brand, which you have built the infrastructure for years, will remain in the background, the broker’s brand and company name will increase its recognition in the market,

*The importers that the products or services reach will never be your customers,

There are many other weaknesses in working with brokers.

What is the right way? Working with an export consultancy firm. An export department that is autonomous from you but works for you will both work for your company to make qualified and sustainable exports, and thanks to this export consultancy service you have received, your company will learn exports from professionals in practice.

Export Consultancy service follows a path far away from the broker, intermediary and broker logic. It shows SMEs the way to sustainable exports.

• Not being patient

We have already mentioned that exporting is a process and marketing activities and their importance. It is not uncommon to decide to start exporting this month and make the first shipment in the same month. Marketing activities should be continuous and you should be patient for the results. Exporting is a process that requires labor and time. Just as it takes time and effort to achieve a certain turnover when a business is established, the same is true for exporting. The factor of impatience disrupts or even eliminates the continuity of exports. For sustainable exports, attention should be paid to the above-mentioned issues and a planned future should be drawn. We should always think about what awaits us in the future, not the present.