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.
Out of the Easter-European countries, Poland is the biggest and richest, and hence a good market to start in the region.
As of 2024, Poland’s population is estimated to be around 40.22 million, showing a slight decrease compared to the previous year. This decrease is indicative of a broader trend in population change.
Poland has a diverse economy, with significant contributions from various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, and services. It is one of the larger economies in Central and Eastern Europe and has seen substantial growth since its transition to a market economy in the 1990s.
Warsaw is the largest city, followed by other major cities like Lodz, Krakow, and Wroclaw. The country has a relatively high urban population, with a significant portion of its residents living in cities.
Poland has a rich cultural heritage, including significant contributions to European literature, music, and arts. The majority of the population identifies as Christian, with a small percentage being religiously unaffiliated.
The best preparation for doing business in any country is visiting it. This way you can experience the culture, check the shops and build your network.
With Trip.com you can compare flights and also book your hotel.
Hotellook compares different hotel sites so you always have the best rate.
Localrent connects you to national rental car providers per country.
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.
