What Is The Best Approach To Find Distributors And Franchisee In International Markets?

[Jackey Paual]

When planning to sell in overseas markets or appointing a sales channel in key export markets many companies face conundrum; how to approach? How can we get distributor or appoint franchisee who matches our required profile? Largely, the profile of channel partner is a function of product/ or service category. However whether companies are searching for an education franchisee or an electrical items distributors both business categories have some universal elements despite being unrelated.

Selloverseas.com has been helping manufacturers and service providers to expand in international markets for over a decade now and has more or less been able to standardized the approach to suit every budget and product/or service requirements.

It is obvious process to appoint a consumer electronics distributor will be different from appointing an education franchise as due diligence, expected deliverables, financial commitments and business requirement varies; the approach to search is more or less similar and can be categorized into two broad categories as below;

Passive Approach

Passive approach works well when a company is still in exploratory stage or has a limited knowledge of market dynamics or commercial and competitive landscape. It is one of the most economical and budget friendly approach which helps to understand market before going all out. So what is passive approach?

Passive Approach includes;

1) Traditional approach of advertising for distributor or franchisee requirement in local classifieds, newspapers, yellow pages etc.

2) Modern approach of using specialized B2B online sites like Selloverseas.com to POST requirements and connect with distributors or franchisee at one place.

Some benefits of POSTING on B2B site like Selloverseas.com are;

1. a) Comprehensive listing; as generally space constraints and word limits are not there when compared to traditional media.
2. b) Fairly easy way to start and connect for example Selloverseas.com provides readymade templates to GO LIVEin minutes.
3. c) Editorial guidance available to develop POST in line with local sensibilities and language, if required.
4. d) Access to database of pre-registered sales agents.
5. e) Standard online packages available to suit different budget needs.
6. f) Dedicated dashboard to store applications and communicate with prospects.
7. g) Post is always VISIBLE, LIVE (unlike limited shelf life of traditional media) and easily;

1) Sharable (on social media or apps like LinkedIn/WA/ Facebook etc.),

2) Searchable ( as per required geography and business category)

1. h) Optimization possibility to be picked up by search engines for wide online circulation.
2. i) Monthly ping among all preregistered sales agents.

Some constraints of passive approach are

1. a) It is reactive in nature i.e. POST waits for right channel partners to APPLY.
2. b) Generally, the decision makers visit POSTINGs on day today basis.
3. c) Requires sorting from unwanted and irrelevant interests.
4. d) Profile/ contact details needs to be updated and verified at regular frequency.

 

Active Approach

Active approach works well when a company has fair understanding of commercial (regulatory documentation, tax and tariffs etc.) and competitive (pricing, competitor market shares etc.) of the target market. The chances of success and aligning with right channel partners are quite high with active approach.

So what is active approach?

Active approach includes appointing a business domain expert to represent the company on field to promote the offer and USPs in person.

Selloverseas.com has more than a decade of experience in attracting best sales channels and closing commercial contracts for diverse business segments from electronics distributors to education franchisee Or top medical distributors to Building Material suppliers.

Some benefits of hiring an expert from companies like Selloverseas.com are

1. a) Creation of most closely matched distributor or franchise profiles in line with expectation and customized requirements.
2. b) On field meetings with decision makers to promote company offer and USPs to attract best sales channel profiles.
3. c) Arranging B2B meetings with company representatives either online or in person to discuss business deliverables, negotiate targets or commit marketing support to commercially close the contract.

Active approach is a very exhaustive and comprehensive process which requires active support from company representatives to share all important inputs for representing the company fairly to prospective distributor or franchisee.

It is not possible to classify any single approach as right, wrong, best or suitable. Many times Selloverseas.com has seen that the combination of above two approaches works quite well wherein some elements of passive approach are mixed with active approach to suit the budget and deliverables.