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particularly intense issue. So the question then is,‘Why are they interested in our equipment?’ Andthat’s where you have to start listening. And whatwe discovered very quickly is, one, they have themoney. But they made a decision—a businessdecision to protect their people. They are goingabove and beyond the basics. And we had to reallyunderstand because in order to sell to a group likethat, you have to understand what their businessneeds are. We’ve done several millions of dollars’worth of business in the United Arab Emirates.”The U.S. Commercial Service has been helpingwith the legal, payment, and new businessdevelopment challenges. Saunders said: “TheInternational Trade Specialists in Denver havebeen extraordinarily helpful to us. They havehelped us open five or six new markets in the last2 years. In fact my international sales managerwas recently in Australia on a trip organized bythe Department of Commerce, working witha local staff member in Australia to introduceour technology more fully and to help us findrepresentation. That’s been the single mostimportant thing that they’ve helped us do, is findgood representation in a number of differentcountries. The services they provide, you could notobtain for 20, 30 times the cost it costs us to workwith them.”Lessons LearnedSaunders said the company has learned thatbecause of the downturn in 2008–09 companiesreduced costs and so can’t afford downtime atany of their facilities. Spending now goes towardreducing the risks of a loss in productivity in aclimate of reduced costs. Companies that offersolutions will do well internationally.You need quality representation on the groundin your target markets because you cannot, heargues, “fully comprehend what goes on day-todayin a place like Nigeria. You just can’t do it.”He said you also have to focus on details suchas financing instruments, including letters ofcredit and bank transfers. In addition, you haveto understand the business culture. “There arethings that we are constrained by, such as theForeign Corrupt Practices Act. Very important tounderstand in places like Nigeria and other placeslike that where there are cultural differencesthat would run afoul of that law. You have tounderstand what’s going on and you have toaddress those from the outset because otherwiseyou can get sucked into some very ugly situations.”Saunders says his company has high ethicalstandards. To his surprise high ethical standardsare actually a business advantage rather thanworking against the U.S. company. What’s more,the “Made in the USA” brand in general can be acompetitive advantage.“Foreign buyers really do appreciate, locally, theAmerican technology and quality. We’re doingsome projects in Nigeria now where they insist onbuying American because they’ve been burned byother companies of other nationalities. They justdon’t want to risk that. And so we do have thatadvantage. ‘Made in the USA,’ overseas, really doeshave some legs. But you can’t do it in an arrogantway. You have to do it in a way that really supportstheir business models.”Each year, lightning causes billionsof dollars in damage and losses.Success Story: Lightning Eliminators191