CBI News Bulletin November / December 2005

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Export Marketing & Management CBI News Bulletin Page 4 Export Marketing & Management CBI consultant Yolanda Netto (photo: fotobureau De Jong, Bekedam & Van Es). Creativity is cool, but in office supplies discipline and drive matter at least as much, says CBI consultant Yolanda Netto If you ignore Tipp-ex and the Post-It note, you´ll agree that the market for stationery items has not been an innovators´ hotspot in the last decade. Even colour and design don´t travel very far in this most workaday of sectors. But for those who insist on getting rich selling pencils or perforators, here´s a hint from CBI consultant Yolanda Netto: skip the design academy and talk to your granddad instead. Because what matters in this business is none other than that old-fashioned mix of discipline and drive. Ten per cent inspiration, ninety per cent perspiration By Stephen D. Teeuwen The market for stationery, office and school supplies may be fairly stable in terms of turnover, but behind the lines, battle after battle is being fought. “You´d think the wave of mergers and takeovers would have reached an end by now, but it hasn’t”, says Netto. A recent example is the acquisition of Timmermans, one of the the largest office product wholesalers in the Benelux markets – and incidentally one of the last of Belgium´s large family businesses – by Spicers Limited, a growing European giant. All that consolidating is not making market access any easier for small players, like the exporters from Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Jordan, India, Indonesia, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam
enrolled in the CBI´s export development programme for this sector. As Netto puts it, “The fewer the buyers, the harder it is to sell.” The good news The good news is that consolidation and price pressure are forcing Europeans to relocate production to low-cost regions. “The outsourcing wave is not as mature in our sector as it is in, say, the IT business, but it is definitely gaining momentum,” says Netto. She estimates that some 20% percent of European firms currently are prepared to look beyond the obvious – which, in this case, is China. “The threshold for Europeans to outsource anywhere other than China is quite high at the moment, which is a pity, because the Europeans are missing some prime opportunities elsewhere.” The challenge for all those exporters from ´elsewhere´, then, is to present the opportunities they stand for as clearly as they can on the European market. And this is where that dual commodity your granddad told you about, discipline and drive, comes in. “Since there´s so little room for innovation in this market, you have only two other options for distinguishing yourself”, continues Netto. “Either you make sure your design is good and European enough to stand out, or you present yourself as an outsourcing or private label production partner for a European company that has its own designs. Both options are hard work, but particularly the second one means you have to make it your ambition to be the best manufacturer in your field – not just in terms of price, but in every single detail of your production and marketing.” Genius or perseverance In the delicate business of designing for foreign markets, producers should be aware of their own limitations. “Some of the companies we´re working with in Thailand have shown a real gift for design and we certainly encourage them to use it. I think the South Americans have a creative side to develop, too. Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Colombian leatherwork is a good example. But many manufacturers are not in this business because of their creative genius. For most of them, just working hard at being the best is the most viable route to export success.” Netto´s own career illustrates her point. Rather than being beamed up to business heaven by a sudden burst of inspiration, she kept a steady march from international marketing studies through years of management, consultancy and purchasing positions before going solo a few years ago. “I still apply the lessons I learned at my first job with C&A in London about always keeping in touch with the end user”, she recalls. “It´s part of doing your homework.” Even Netto´s tendency to leave her hard-won office and school supplies specialism for an occa- sional foray into other sectors, like food or pet shops, is a matter of professional discipline. “I do believe in sticking with your specialism, but looking elsewhere keeps you fresh. The food industry, for instance, is far more mature than the stationery and office supplies sector – which means there´s a lot to learn there.” Investing and investing As a CBI consultant, Netto now helps exporters from developing countries look, learn and expand business – mostly by mixing about ten percent inspiration with ninety percent perspiration. One of her favourite success stories is of a Jordanian company that joined the CBI programme for this sector last year. The firm manufactures one of two kinds of chalk. The first thing Netto pointed out when she met the owner is that he would only stand a chance in Europe if he started manufacturing the second kind of chalk as well. “It was a tough message, because it meant investing in expensive machinery”, she says. At the first Expro seminar, Netto urged the Jordanian and a few others towards yet more investments. “I encouraged them to attend the Paperworld trade fair in Germany simply as visitors, at their own expense. Looking around there is one of the best ways of preparing for European market entry.” The Jordanian was one of a few participants who actually heeded Netto´s advice. “I´ve rarely seen anyone as excited as he was after that fair”, she remembers. “He´d talked to potential customers and competitors and even contacted the producer of the second type of chalk machine he would be needing. Five or six months later he´d bought one. He´s a typical example of someone who got the message and did what it takes, with a few risks and a lot of hard work.” “Do what it takes: a few risks and a lot of hard work.” Shabby follow-up By contrast, Netto warns that some aspiring exporters lack this kind of tenacity. One area where this becomes painfully evident is post-fair follow-up. “This is one of the weaknesses I come across among exporters from developing countries”, she says. “A lot of exporters who have attended a trade fair and made some good contacts fail to follow through. There´s too much email and too little personal relating.” Email has its advantages within an established relationship, Netto explains, but is not suitable for turning strangers into relations – or superficial inquiries into firm orders. “I encourage exporters to pick up the phone more often, or to buy a ticket and fly over for a personal visit. Many exporters don´t do these things. It´s not necessarily laziness; sometimes there´s a false modesty and they need to be encouraged to believe in their product and capabilities. Other times they´re too shy to phone or visit a purchaser they´ve only met once. Nobody likes being yapped at by a purchaser who can´t remember your name and tells you to call back another time because he´s too busy. But if you want to gain his interest, you have to go through it. These are often the things that separate failure from success.” The CBI´s stationery items programme was first launched some 12 years ago. Its current cycle began in 2004 and ends in 2008. Netto expects to begin preparations for a new cycle in 2006, by visiting a number of new target countries for presentations and for selecting participants. CBI News Bulletin 2005 November/December Page 5
Page 1 and 2: November/December 2005 No 306 The C
Page 3: contents Export Marketing & Managem
Page 7 and 8: The Fair Flowers Fair Plants Label
Page 9 and 10: CBI and UNCTAD join forces to make
Page 11 and 12: Is aloe food or medicine? Is a praw
Page 13 and 14: ENGINEERING PRODUCTS Price pressure
Page 15 and 16: anked seventh and was overtaken by
Page 17 and 18: Pencils Market Briefs provide in-de
Page 19 and 20: The motto for the upcoming Vakantie
Page 21 and 22: The year´s groceries at Fruit Logi
Page 23 and 24: Dressed for danger At A+A 2005, the
Page 25 and 26: A representative of a European medi
Page 27 and 28: Success is like a magnet in a hardw
Page 29 and 30: e reasonably well presented in prod
Page 31 and 32: group in a lecture on negotiating s
Page 33 and 34: Art meets commerce The schism that
Page 35 and 36: What When Where Details Technical A

CBI News Bulletin November / December 2005

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