I would like to gain entry into the US market. What will be the best way of doing so?
I have developed a whole suite of new organisational positioning and design technologies. With this you can quantify the strength of strategy, structure and roles, teams, individuals and more.
If I were you and were looking for a long lasting opportunity I would explore the EB-5 Visa Program. You can either purchase an existing business or start a whole new business. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EB-5_visa
Depending on your price structure, I would recommend looking for manufacturer's representatives that work on straight commission based on their performance of sales to get started. Google manufacturer's representatives and find someone that is already involved in your type of industry. You may have to pay them anywhere from 10-20% commission of sales depending on the dollar value of your products and/or services.
Here's a short list of things to consider:
1) Start by defining your value. Just because you *can* do something does not mean it's valuable enough for someone to pay for it.
2) Prioritize segments. Are you more valuable for large organizations or small? Projects or companies? On an ongoing basis or at setup/staffing time only? Is your product more amenable to service organizations, product organizations? Particular verticals? Multinationals?
2) Understand how HR works in the US so that you can understand the limits to deploying tools like yours. This is a complex topic and I am not an expert.
3) Understand how tools in organizational effectiveness are sold here. What are the channels? (Hint: you better have deep pockets if you're going to sell direct.)
4) What is your differentiation?
5) What are your proofs? References?
If you can answer most of the above, you can then hire someone like me, with feet on the ground here, to develop the business for you.
Entering the U.S. market successfully, like any other market, requires finding the right partner. Someone who is familiar with the culture, how to go to market, and who you trust. Going it alone is time consuming, expensive, and fraught with pitfalls that can be avoided with the right partner.
Pieter, your solution requires a business development person able to call on senior level HR and Business Planning executives. You need a small team to start with some outside lead generation support to identify and engage with qualified prospects.
Partnering with a compatible US firm will most likely not work. Your solution requires a dedicated focus and cannot be easily bolted on to a someone else's pitch.
Start small but start with a dedicated team and at least a 36 month game plan.
There are too many unanswered questions in this problem. What's the age, sex and income of the prospect? Do they live in the city, suburbs or rural? What's their education level? Once these are answered you can define the proper ways of doing this process. And just because it is computer oriented, do not over look some traditional media options. They are still active and work. Broadcast (radio/cable TV) for sure. Their is not one solution, but several pieces.
Hi Pieter,
I would seek out non competing partners in the USA, or do a deal with someone who can add your products/services/systems to their suite.
I would choose a partner who has a large list of customers and a professional marketing system.
I may be able to introduce you to someone.
Personal message me for more details.
Cheers,
Mike
Hi Pieter,
I agree with Chris and Joseph. You need a combination of both their answers. On your bio it mentions you have worked with customers in the US, so my first question is how did you find your first US customers? Could they give you some referrals? You would need feet on the street but could you find a US agency that reps technological products and go the commissioned sales route.
If this route isn't available, is there a US company that would be a good fit for your product that you could bring on board as a US partner? Or conversely is there a US Company that has similar products that you could buy into?
Are there companies who would be potential customers, that you could approach as testers of a 'beta' product that you could then use as a great entry referral?
Once you have some sales leverage then you could embark on full inbound and outbound marketing campaigns.
Hope you are able to gain entry into the U S with your product. Good luck in your quest
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Hi Pieter --- That question is similar to "How long is your piece of string, with a ball of string" My first point - is look for the line of least resistence. This means where your market is, who is likely to buy, their buying patterns. You need sales where the people are least resistant to buying, so you can get some testimonials and some sales history in the usa market.
Eg who is your competition. if you start in a city which is expensive, and has a lot of competition in your niche, then it would be harder to get sales right off the bat............ hence look for low cost start-up, the networks, what community organisations can you log into, is there competition in that area. Have you had conversations with the locals about how they view your concept, what you have too offer. Is the feedback positive or do they give you feedback on where to improve.
Can you provide more information? I would be interested in learning more -- personal message me.
I second what Christopher wrote. Additionally, you may want to find a partner here in the States that can meet someone face to face. Things seem a little less shady when there is someone in the flesh representing your company. Course, you need to have peaked the interest of the decision maker (or makers) to get them to the point where they would actually want to me with someone in the first place.
Sounds very intriguing if I may say so myself. The US market is not an easy one to get into with technology if someone has something better, faster and cheaper. What you want to do is identify the ideal organizations that you want to sell your product to, and then find out what void your product will fill that they don't have. That will be your key to success in breaking into the market here.