Launching Internationally
Accredited Consulting Service for Mr. Nelson BSCE Accredited Senior Consultant (ASC)
Executive Summary Video
The Appleton Greene Accredited Consultant Service (ACS) for Launching Internationally is provided by Mr. Nelson and provides clients with four cost-effective and time-effective professional consultant solutions, enabling clients to engage professional support over a sustainable period of time, while being able to manage consultancy costs within a clearly defined monthly budget. All service contracts are for a fixed period of 12 months and are renewable annually by mutual agreement. Services can be upgraded at any time, subject to individual client requirements and consulting service availability. If you would like to place an order for the Appleton Greene Launching Internationally service, please click on either the Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum service boxes below in order to access the respective application forms. If you have any questions or would like further information about this service, please CLICK HERE. A detailed information guide for this service is provided below and you can access this guide by scrolling down and clicking on the tabs beneath the service order application forms.
Bronze Client Service
Monthly cost: USD $1,500.00
Time limit: 5 hours per month
Contract period: 12 months
SERVICE FEATURES
Bronze service includes:
01. Email support
02. Telephone support
03. Questions & answers
04. Professional advice
05. Communication management
To apply – CLICK HERE
Silver Client Service
Monthly cost: USD $3,000.00
Time limit: 10 hours per month
Contract period: 12 months
SERVICE FEATURES
Bronze service plus
01. Research analysis
02. Management analysis
03. Performance analysis
04. Business process analysis
05. Training analysis
To apply – CLICK HERE
Gold Client Service
Monthly cost: USD $4,500.00
Time limit: 15 hours per month
Contract period: 12 months
SERVICE FEATURES
Bronze/Silver service plus
01. Management interviews
02. Evaluation and assessment
03. Performance improvement
04. Business process improvement
05. Management training
To apply – CLICK HERE
Consultant Profile
Mr. Nelson is an approved Senior Consultant at Appleton Greene and he has experience in globalization, management and human resources. He has achieved a Bachelors in Computer Engineering. He has industry experience within the following sectors: Telecommunications; Technology and Utilities. He has had commercial experience within the following countries: United States of America; Netherlands; France; United Kingdom and China, or more specifically within the following cities: Atlanta GA; Amsterdam; Paris; London and Beijing. His personal achievements include: established direct sales organizations globally; established indirect sales channels globally; first multi-million$ contracts in Saudi Arabia; first multi-million$ contracts in China and first multi-million$ contracts in Americas. His service skills incorporate: business expansion; sales process; globalization; strategic growth and executive leadership.
To request further information about Mr. Nelson through Appleton Greene, please CLICK HERE
Executive Summary
Launching Internationally
Launching internationally can be one of the most exciting ventures that a company will undertake. However, the path to success is fraught with many challenges and can stretch an organization in directions that were never contemplated. The alignment of a company’s culture, structure, and human resources with their new international corporate expansion and business strategy, is critical to successfully launching into new international markets. As globalization expansion goals are being considered, it is all the more important that corporate alignment with its’ existing team, a company’s most valued asset, is integrated into the international launching strategy and carries through to new international markets and staff. This service requires multi-departmental participation and uses a unique stakeholder management approach, which is constantly focused on the alignment with all departmental stakeholders throughout the execution of each of the service objectives.
The world offers many opportunities to launch a company’s products and services. Whether launching into Asia Pacific, N. America, Europe, Latin America , the Middle East or Africa a careful and methodical review must be undertaken through a need and culture prism. This step is a critical part of this service offering and provides a unique proposition to not only identify and prioritize the targeted markets, but also introduce clients as required to hundreds of proven professionals from multiple disciplines including sales, technical support, marketing , engineering and possible re-sellers. Therefore, a company needs a talented “coach” that has the experience necessary to guide the client successfully through the many challenges and help the client avoid many pitfalls as they launch internationally.
Service methodology comprises 5 succinct steps.
The first step: Pre-consulting client engagement with key company executives to better understand the company culture, successes and failures to dates, perceived challenges, current solutions and services, competitive landscape and their 3-5 year plan. The focus of this step is to understand the company aspirations and the platform on which they can build an international business. Also, during this phase a through discussion of their targeted international markets and the basis for their current international preconceptions.
The second step: Meet individually with the product marketing, sales, product support and technical support organizations to have an in-depth review by department of the products and services that are targeted to be a part of the international launch. During this phase a preliminary determination will be made to understand the scope of modifications to the marketing, sales, product support product support and marketing organizations. A thorough review of all relevant marketing collateral will made to determine a viable international product offering for the targeted markets. The output of this phase will be an estimated level of effort that will be required from marketing, sales, product support, technical support and product development, if any, to support a launch in the targeted markets.
The third step: Chair consolidated group meetings with sales, marketing, product support and technical support organizations to seek alignment between all organizations.
The fourth step: Consolidate all of the inputs and report to the senior management team where gaps exist and present the level of effort determined for a successful international launch in the prioritized and recommended target markets. A Gantt chart that includes all pre and post launch activities will also be presented and discussed.
A fifth and final step: Present to senior management an on-going consultancy plan to assist with identifying international sales and support professionals for each target market. This will include the introduction of potential sales and support professionals and indirect channels including possible distributors, value added re-sellers and OEMs.
Service Options
Companies can elect whether they just require Appleton Greene for advice and support with the Bronze Client Service, for research and performance analysis with the Silver Client Service, for facilitating departmental workshops with the Gold Client Service, or for complete process planning, development, implementation, management and review, with the Platinum Client Service. Ultimately, there is a service to suit every situation and every budget and clients can elect to either upgrade or downgrade from one service to another as and when required, providing complete flexibility in order to ensure that the right level of support is available over a sustainable period of time, enabling the organization to compensate for any prescriptive or emergent changes relating to: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Information Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing; or Production.
Service Mission
The service mission is to help companies launch into international markets while minimizing the many risks inherent during the launch. Mr. Nelson has the unique experience and capability to coach multi-cultural hi-performance sales organizations to successfully launch into international markets, while keeping alignment with HQ professionals and goals. He combines this with a tactical plan to successfully prioritize and penetrate the agreed global markets. He also has an extensive contact base of professionals that are “known hi performance “ sales, marketing, support and re-seller professionals around the globe; therefore, he can assist a company to quickly launch internationally while minimizing risks.
Many companies will not elect to have a direct sales organization from the onset of the launch due to the expenses involved. Therefore bringing to the client an extensive contact base of “high performing” professionals and enterprises that include industry professionals, distributors, value add distributors, value add re sellers and OEMs significantly reduces risk and speeds up an international launch.
Launching internationally while minimizing risks requires corporate alignment, market knowledge, cultural awareness, fulfilling the market need or creating the need, access to industry professionals and well thought out pre-launch and post-launch execution plans. As a respected sales and marketing global leader with a large contact base, Mr. Nelson is a recognized for successfully launching multiple companies into N. America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and Africa markets, lowering the clients international launch risks. He has many global references from supervisors, professional colleagues, customers and re-sellers attesting to his knowledge and many successes of launching companies into North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Middle East and Africa.
Service Objectives
The following list represents the Key Service Objectives (KSO) for the Appleton Greene Launching Internationally service.
- Product Viability
In accessing product viability for international markets, it is important to also take into consideration some advantages and disadvantages of international trade which may be different in each of the global markets that are being considered. Advantages: Enhance your domestic competitiveness, increase sales and profits, gain global market share, reduce dependence on existing markets, exploit international trade technology, extend sales potential of existing products, stabilize seasonal market fluctuations, enhance potential for expansion of your business, sell excess production capacity, maintain cost competitiveness in your domestic market and expansion brought about by international trade could accelerate the advantages of taking your company public. Disadvantages: You may need to wait for long-term gains, need to hire staff to launch international trading, modify your product or packaging, develop new promotional material, incur added administrative costs, dedicate personnel for traveling, wait longer for payments?, apply for additional financing deal with special licenses and regulations , need to set up specialized and cost effective conferencing and communications tools. Other Considerations: During this phase a detailed review of the product or services will take place. Interviews with senior management, product marketing, product / technical support and engineering, if required will take place and a template will be defined that will govern the considerations and priorities of launching in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. Estimated market opportunity size will be a key part of this objective. Other considerations for each of these markets will include competition, target pricing, product modification requirements (if needed), human interface requirements, technical support, government regulations, homologation requirements, documentation and language considerations and Intellectual Property Rights protection. - Pre-launch Considerations
Mr. Nelson will be actively involved as a coach in all pre-launch and launch activities. Before discussing a successful launch, it is very important to consider some items that are sometimes are overlooked. These include the company not being able to support fast growth, the product falls short of claims and gets negative press or the product is “disruptive” but there is not a market for it. Therefore, the company needs a plan to ramp up quickly if needed, delaying the product launch until the product is ready and spending time to analyze the market and determining who will be buying the product and the needed price to be competitive. Other pre-launch considerations: Start early and not expect that t you will have immediate press coverage. Therefore, begin the preparation of the launch plans well in advance of the actual launch. Part of the launch plans should make the product available to key influencers as early as possible. These people should be targeted as potential resources to talk to the analysts about the product before the actual launch. These plans should also include the briefing of industry analysts early and writing compelling briefing requests. Remember, they will prioritize their time and therefore it is the client’s responsibility to insure that well stated white papers or other written documents are presented to convince them that their time is well invested if they provide the media coverage that is desired. In concert with these efforts seed the social space with carefully planned disclosures of “official information” by unnamed sources. Never plan for a major press release unless you have a truly “disruptive technology” that is actually available or you have a large product launch budget that includes not only paid for press coverage and a high profile launch events. Further, after the initial press releases, continue to provide additional new press announcements. These can include successful use cases, customer stories that preferably include their return on their investment by using the product. Channel partners are a valuable asset. Involve them early as they have a financial stake in the successful launch of the product. Having multiple sources talking about the initial product release increases the chance of additional press coverage. Subsequent, follow this “chat” and reach out to these sources to make them an ongoing ally. Another important tool, if used correctly, can seed the market quickly if the client provides free trials, product videos and / or other sales collateral early in the launch. - Launch Considerations
Marketing is at the core of an international product launch. A successful product launch would mean higher sales and production, whereas a launch that fails to market the new product effectively will cause a significant loss to the company. Companies face a number of problems and challenges in the process of launching their product. These obstacles do not stop at only national companies but are more evident and cause for concern in global launching. The most common and significant challenge in an international product launch would be the existence of varied cultures and the development of multi-cultural nations today. To increase cost effective value, durability and lifetime of products, companies speed up commercialization and face the challenging everyday economic changing trends. One of the biggest challenges in a global product launch is ensuring the delivery of accurate and current products and marketing materials to the correct distribution channels and sales groups cost effectively and securely. Some of the other challenges faced include supporting public relations across multiple markets, ensuring of consistent testing and qualifications, addressing the unique costs which associated with each individual country launch, ensuring that international requirements of products for marketing, QA, sales and engineering are met, planning press tours in multiple languages with the country specific presentations along with training sessions and seminars. When establishing growth targets, taking into consideration of the customer demographics or increased or decreased competition is crucial. A successful international product launch includes well-planned pre-launch and launch plans. Also critical is the alignment of all HQ departments. In an international product launch, throughout the entire process from designing the product, building it and managing the development of support and services is vital, especially for complex products . Other than being the first product in the market, innovative ideas and services of products is also a strong plus contributor to a successful launch. Adding to the challenge for a successful product launch are the product life cycles which are continuing to decrease while at the same time there is a rise in introduction to new products along with product complexity. - Channels to Market
No company can succeed; much less survive, without effective sales strategies. Two basic strategies are the direct sales channels and indirect sales channels. Understanding what these strategies mean and how they can best be implemented can are essential to long-term success. The most common definition of sales strategy deals with your approach to the customer. Direct sales requires a direct sales organization that sells the product or service directly to the end user customer. You can phone the customer, see her face to face or even use email. The communication link between the company and the prospective customer is direct. Direct or “business to consumer or business to enterprises” is one strategy. When engaging in indirect sales, a company uses some type of go-between and does not directly contact the customer, except for support when requested. The go-between could be a re-seller. There are several different re-seller profiles to be considered, depending on the market, product and end user. These channels include distributors, value add distributors, value add re-sellers, OEMs, and manufacturers’ representatives which are either commissioned or mark up the product prices to make their profit. Indirect is also known as B2B or business to business. Benefits of Both Sales Channel Strategies: One major benefit to a direct sales strategy is that you have a high level of influence on your customer and know exactly how your customer feels about your product or service because of the direct communication. A benefit to the indirect sales strategy is that the company can expand its geographic reach without having to hire a large sales organization. Another benefit to an indirect strategy is that oftentimes the costs associated with sales are directly in proportion to how successful the re seller is. While large markets, such as the US, have an enormous number of re seller’s, the real challenge is not finding re-sellers but to identify and recruit the ones that will proactively sell and market your product. Often companies have false starts in new markets because they just focus on signing up a large number of re-sellers that are purely opportunistic. Some key elements necessary to drive success include partner programs that defines the roles and responsibilities of all parties, compelling business terms that reward revenue growth by offering a tiered discount structure, a meaningful competitive differentiation, an ideal customer profiles and business scenarios, sales and technical training and a demand generating marketing programs. If selling via indirect channels, in the initial stages of penetrating a new market, the focus should be on making re sellers self-sufficient as quickly as possible through training and coaching so that you can realize the benefits of leveraging their organizations. Focus should also be on sales initiatives as opposed to marketing, being deliberate in targeting customers that can bring credibility and prestige to your customer list. Winning local reference accounts which can be leverage for future sales is critical to ongoing growth. - Gantt Chart
As outlined , a successful product launch is critical. The timing for a product launch must start many months before the actual launch. While consulting with senior management, product marketing, sales management, product support, technical support and product development to define a Gantt chart that defines the schedule and timing for, market / product viability studies, estimating market size, competitive analysis and researching government regulations. The market / product viability studies will determine if the products are viable for the targeted market. Government regulations, cultural restrictions, excessive costs to homologate, availability of the right professional sales and support personnel and import duties and tariffs , to name a few, may determine that the product is not viable. Estimating market size is critical. Depending on where a product is in its’ life cycle and other variables may determine that the size of the market may not justify the expenses to launch the product. Competitive analysis is critical as understanding where the competitors are in the market relating to their market penetration, product pricing, customization for particular market and product features and benefits to name a few . Researching government regulations is essential to determine if meeting government regulations can be met at a cost to support the market strategy. Sometimes it may not be feasible without spending a lot of money to meet the regulations. This includes the defining any homologation requirements and related costs. Critical to the Gantt chart is the allocation of timing for all pre-launch and launch activities. These are defined in the service objectives. This includes the recruiting of either the direct or indirect sales channels, developing the marketing collateral, press releases and content.
Testimonials
Polymer Aging Concepts
“I have worked with Mr. Nelson for a number of years. His skill sets in management, consulting, marketing sales and investment are unparalleled. He takes command of opportunities and closes the deal. And he does it in a respectful person-to-person environment. Couldn’t recommend him more highly!”
FreeWave Technologies
“Mr. Nelson has a tireless work ethic and is willing to do what is necessary to be successful. He has an extensive international background. While at FreeWave, he built reseller part