This article was adapted from Export sales guide: how to increase your overseas revenue every year by Alliance Experts.

Exporting makes sense — especially if you are based in a small or very competitive market. But how can you make sure that your overseas revenue will continue to grow every year? Here are five questions to ask yourself.

1. Are you in the right countries?

Country selection starts with knowing the drivers for your sales. Spending power can be one, ageing, internet penetration, or urbanization can be other factors. Presenting country data in a different way can show you which countries are the hidden gems, or which should be disregarded.

2. Do you know the market potential?

For each of the markets where you are active, do you know the market potential? Of course, you can buy reports for certain product categories, but what does that say about your specific segment? Do you know how your competitors are doing?

Researching the market potential and its growth is a necessity to decide whether you want to invest further in this market, or if you should enter another one. The market share per country should be mandatory in your sales manager’s quarterly reports. The process of estimating the market size in itself already gives valuable insights.

3. Are your distributors or agents active enough?

Of course you are happy with all turnover that your agents or distributors generate, but can it be more? Some markets may be tougher than others, but eventually the sales results depend on the activity of your local partners. How much time and money do they spend promoting your goods or services? Are they eager to do business development and increase their market share?

You’ll only get a clear answer to these questions if there is an open discussion with somebody they trust. If that is not you or your export manager, then hire a local distribution specialist. He or she can distinguish the real problems from the fake stories, and together with your business partner define and monitor a path for growth.

4. Can other distribution channels offer better margins?

You might think your contracts with agents or distributors don’t allow for this. While that may be the case, it is still useful to explore new sales channels. In the long run you may be able to shift to other channels or find a way together with your current distributors to use them.

Ecommerce can be especially useful for specialty products. When products are ordered at the source, your factory, you can customize the product itself or the packaging, thus adding value to the product. Your distributor’s outlets can become pickup points.

5. Are your export managers still traveling around the world?

If you export to many countries, your export managers will be traveling a lot. Dividing their time over multiple countries is a necessity, as often it is not economical to hire a dedicated liaison for every country. However, this has two major disadvantages:

• Export managers may spend up to 30% of their time on travel, and travel costs make them expensive employees.
• An export manager can never master the culture of each of the countries they are active in, and their limited presence makes doing business difficult.

The alternative is to work with local, part-time country managers. With flexible forms of work, this option is becoming more and more available. A part-time local country manager can be right on the business when necessary and can travel once or twice per year to headquarters in order to align with your other employees.

This week's #B2BTuesday Tip:

When exporting, don’t overlook the importance of packaging. Will your packaging appeal to this new market? Does your labelling need to be translated? Look into all legal requirements to cover all your bases.