For a lot of products working with a local sales agent or with a dedicated sales representative can be a good solution.
Especially if you have a customized product or service, or you want to work with a number of resellers in the country, an agent can be the one connecting these parties to your organization abroad.
Agents can be individuals, but I often recommend to work with established companies who already have a good network and where you are not dependent on just one person.
Germany is home to tens of thousands of businesses ranging from small sole proprietorships to large conglomerates. In fact, a large part of the reason for the prominence of Germany’s economy on the world stage can be linked to the small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) of the Mittelstand. So be prepared for smaller and mid-sized companies with a family member as the director and a long-term vision.
Germany has many trade shows which are an excellent way to showcase your products and to orient yourself on the market. However, due to the sheer size of these shows chances are small that a purchasing manager or decision maker will accidentally visit your booth. A dedicated business development approach may yield more results for substantially less than the costs of a booth.
If you decide to have your booth at a German trade show, be well prepared and have your message tailored to the European and especially German visitors. It might be a good idea to contact relevant prospects in advance and invite them to your booth.
Alfred Griffioen, founder of Exporteers
In the past 15 years me and my colleagues have approached hundreds of agents, distributors, importers and retailers worldwide for brand owners aiming to sell their products abroad. In 2012 a call was enough to get a meeting. Today, you first have to send your pitch — and then hope that someone will answer.
The distributors needed to reach your clients already work with your competitors. They have invested in marketing, stock and sales, and they are making money. Asking them to switch to you means asking them to start all over again.
My experience is that if you only send a website or product catalogue, answers are rare. Numbers make the difference. Show expected volumes, margins, sales effort and investment. Show that there is a business case for them, not just for you.
If you don’t want to work with agents, you can always set up a local office yourself or try to sell your product from abroad. This all depends on the product or service and the ease to reach the right buyers. Be careful with the contracts that you close with agents. In many countries their status is well protected and you can’t take their recurring income easily away from them.
I always put a lot of emphasis on drafting a good distributor pitch. Even if you already have great sales materials for your end-users, this often does not make clear what the benefits are for a potential agent, distributor or retailer to work with you.
When you approach potential sales channels with your standard documentation, chances are high that they are holding of. If you make it crystal clear what are the benefits for them, like in the example presentation, you will get a much higher response rate.
Please note that it helps to put concrete data in your presentation. You may think it is sensitive, but just know the secret is in how you achieve the rotation or the low returns level, not in the data itself. So share it here, in order to get the right attention.
Almost every country or trade block in the world has its own detailing on the international HS-code list. With our report you strongly reduce the risk on misclassifications, delays and higher custom duties than expected.
Tell us what you want to ship and where to and we ask you all relevant questions to get to the most likely code.