Go back to the basics when looking for an international distributor partner-the best motivation is self-motivation. There are tangible qualities to seek http://www.jimthomasintl.com/blog/archives/10-2015 , however the intangibles can be even more important to gauge. I recently had an Asian based Thunderbird colleague over for a weekend lunch and eventually we started shop talking about overseas distributor recruitment strategies. I have written a lot about how to find distributors in various markets. That helps start you with a target list to research, however, I have found these tactics never led me to the best distributors in practice. The best distributor candidates usually find me. They are hungry. They have passion. They are usually the business owners and see the customer possibilities in their market long before me. They recruit me with their enthusiasm. It is a hard attribute to measure, but you know it when you see it, and feel it. How do they act?
http://www.jimthomasintl.com/survey-for-channel-partner-effectiveness.html The best new distributors I have added were:
I used the Gold Key > 10X and this was the best results I ever had and justified the 9 poor searches. The business owner had passion from Day 1 and was unwavering in his support. 2. Patient. The Turkish owner sought me out at an international trade show in 2008 and made a positive impression. When the opportunity to change distributors changed in 2011 they were “johnny” on the spot and took over in a tough situation for me. 3. Entrepreneurial. It happened in Denmark, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, South Korea, Poland and Germany. I may have forgotten a few at my advanced age. 4. Hidden. Buying as a sub-distributor from a less than remarkable sole national distributor. They had a regional/market focus that required support from the principal. It happened in Japan, Chile, Mexico, Australia, Taiwan, Czech Republic and Argentina. Without hunger and passion, a new distributor will never be a top performer for your line. Good selling!
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Like many baby boomers I have worked in multiple positions at multiple companies. I always worked in the corporate HQ-the bubble. There were three organizations that made deep positive impressions upon me. Each particular company had a unique corporate environment. At times I was confounded by some of the non-traditional employment practices having my first job at GE-an icon of Corporate America and home of Neutron Jack. These unique environments had practices to re-enforce the corporate objectives. What were some of these practices?
The one trait all the companies shared was the Owner/CEO’s desire to build a global enterprise. They wanted a global workplace, a global mindset and a global revenue stream. They all built great global enterprises that exceeded the norm and built a better global brand. Please send me the practices you have experienced and embraced so they can be shared. Good selling! Please consider signing up to the link below to verify you want to opt in and receive future semi-monthly blogs via Mail Chimp-a surer way of seeing the blogs http://eepurl.com/bKZLYn |
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