Planning your business trip abroad
At an early stage in the export process it helps to go and see for yourself which market offers the best opportunities and where to focus your efforts. Having a plan in place really helps to get the most from your trip.
Determining where and when to visit
There are no fixed and fast rules about how soon to visit a market, but one thing is clear: you should always visit before entering into any agreements with prospective agents, distributors or other business partners that could influence your future dealings in that market.
The choice of market will depend on the work you have already done in researching opportunities - and possibly as a result of direct enquiries you have already received. Rather than just visiting one prospective customer or agent, however, consider calling on several to give you a basis for comparison.
Always leave the most prospective until last – when you are better prepared to handle enquiries and evaluate the fit with what you want to do. Don’t take on more than one or two markets to start with. Concentrate your effort to have a much better chance of success
Plan your trip at least six weeks in advance
One of the best investments you can make in a successful trip is ensuring your program is planned and arranged with in-country assistance. This will help you see the right agents and customers who will be briefed and screened for interest and suitability.
In planning your visit take note of holidays and religious festivals that occur at the time of your planned visit.
Have all your paperwork in order
A checklist of things to prepare before you go appears below. Anticipate that you will be asked about price, volumes and/or capacity and delivery times. Talk with shipping agents in Australia about delivery times and costs, as well as constructing an export price. Rehearse a series of possible scenarios (given prospective workloads) with your production team before you leave. This will help you negotiate price and delivery with more certainty.
Do some background reading
First impressions are critical. If you have never visited that country before and don’t know much about it, go on the Internet and read from a range of sources. Find out something about the country and its way of life (a list of suggested websites is provided below). Reflect on how you would view someone visiting Australia to do business with you, who has no idea of life in Australia. It is best not to consider this reading as helping you to articulate a point of view about the country or enter into a debate – but rather it is to enable you to ask more informed questions – and form a better commercial judgement of the people you meet.
A visit without follow up is pointless
Time and again highly prospective business meetings come to nothing without appropriate follow up. Make sure, within 48 hours of each appointment, you send an email thanking your contact for meeting with you, providing follow up information and noting if necessary that you will get back to them within a specific time period on further particular requests. This will leave a good impression and demonstrate that you are someone with whom business can be reliably done.
We suggest you keep this list – and make it a ‘to do’ list to ensure you achieve all you can.
First steps – ideally at least six weeks before you propose to travel:
The first step is to check your passport. Make sure it is current. As a general rule you should have at least six months’ validity on your passport before any trip.
Ensure your visit program can be arranged in that time.
Check if you need visas. Visas can often take 2-3 weeks to arrange – particularly if you require more than one, and you need to send your passport away by post/courier with an application.
Book your flights and hotels. Look for hotels with good business centres and in-room Internet access.
Check your vaccinations are up-to-date and arrange your travel insurance.
