Archive for June, 2010

June 11th, 2010

Doing business in Mexico requires an understanding of its cultural subtleties

Based on what I saw during our last trade mission to Mexico, here are a few tips to help you understand Mexican culture.

Meet your potential partner in Mexico, it’s worth the trip!

If you want to do business in Mexico, you have to understand that Mexicans only negotiate with people they trust. So you absolutely must meet your potential customer in person and win him over. For example, at a cocktail held at the Quebec House in Mexico City, one of the mission participants had a chance to talk to a potential customer before the next day’s meeting, allowing him to begin establishing trust. The next day, the participant was warmly received by the company and introduced to its employees. Negotiations will continue when the potential customer visits Quebec this month.

The challenge of confirming appointments in Mexico

Managing a successful business trip to Mexico is no small feat. Mexican entrepreneurs often wait until the very last minute to confirm a meeting. I therefore strongly recommend that you have someone in Mexico who can help you plan your stay and meetings.

First impressions are everything

In Mexico, as in many other Latin American countries, first impressions are very important. For example, formal business attire is a must. For more information, visit the Executive Planet Web site.

Punctuality

Punctuality is not always a priority in Mexican business culture. That said, a Mexican businessman will expect his future foreign partner to be on time. But when it comes to social events, arriving 30 minutes late is the norm. For example, during our mission, the general Quebec delegation organized a cocktail from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. but most of the Mexican guests didn’t show up until 8:00 p.m.

The meaning of mañana

It’s important to understand the subtleties of the word mañana. Mexicans don’t like to disappoint by saying no. So instead, they will use the word mañana to mean later, in the near future, or simply no. But be careful, because “no” may mean “no” (to us) but it can also mean maybe or we’ll see. It’s therefore important for Quebecers not to take this word literally.

Finally, as they say, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If you need advice on doing business in Mexico, please don’t hesitate to give us a call.

Caroline Bouchard

June 10th, 2010

Have you done a follow-up?

I’ve been going on trade missions with Laval businesses for the past two years. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that all too often companies either don’t follow up or do so too late. This means that the efforts made before and during the mission to identify the best potential customers will go largely unrewarded.

Here are a few tips to help you plan your follow-up.

Before leaving:

Set clear objectives about what you’re looking for in this market;
Do your homework on this market so you can ask pertinent questions;
Determine what information could be useful for you or a member of your organization;
Write this information down in an easy-to-refer format for your meetings;
Prepare a follow-up plan;
Plan free time during your stay for unscheduled meetings.

During the event:

Invite the most promising prospects to a second meeting or a business meal;
Take notes during and after each meeting;
Decide on the follow-up to do with potential customers using the document you prepared before leaving.

After the event:

Analyze all the data you collected, enter relevant information in your customer database, and do everything set out in your follow-up plan:

If you won’t be doing the follow-up yourself, send the necessary information to the person who will;
Within a week, send a personalized e-mail to all your prospects explaining the next step you will be taking;
Set a post follow-up schedule;
Within two weeks, prepare a summary of the event for your team, determine the benefits, and make recommendations regarding another mission;
Periodically review your event summary (ideally every six months) to make sure that everything is being done to achieve your objectives.

Lastly, feel free to contact us. We can help your prepare your business trips abroad to maximize your chances of success.

Caroline Bouchard

June 4th, 2010

Are you conducting logistics and supply chain intelligence?

Not long ago I attended the Global Supply Chain Summit, a conference held during the international business convention for the aerospace industry (Aéromart). A number of speakers and managers of large aerospace firms talked about the emergence of a global supply and logistics chain and the importance of becoming a part of it.

Here are some interesting facts I picked up at this conference:

The phenomenal development of the Asian economy, and particularly, China, is simply a return of the pendulum.

By 2020, China will have built the equivalent of Canada:

More than 96 airports and 30,000 km of rail will be built, compared to 26 airports and 46,888 km currently in Canada;
There will be 220 cities with over 1 million inhabitants.

Nine out of ten manufacturers of mobile construction equipment already have a presence in China.

In 2020, there will be more cars in China (25 million) than in the U.S. (17 million).

Most intellectual property litigation is between Chinese companies and not between Chinese and foreign firms.

R&D spending has grown by 142% and the number of R&D centres has increased by 37%.

20% of Chinese living abroad are found in Canada.

A growing number of major order givers are setting up operations on Chinese soil. It is therefore essential to follow your customers in order to serve them properly and hold onto your market share.

Lastly, there are three main reasons why you should consider this market:

Relatively lower costs and increasingly advanced skills;
Market size;
Volume of public and private investment.

Business owners have a fiduciary responsibility to conduct supply chain intelligence. You must understand the issues and make sure to have a plan for adapting to the anticipated changes. The preceding list is an example of some of the things you should be considering in your reflection.

Samir Naoum