Market expansion is a necessary process for businesses that want to make their products or services accessible in new markets.
Such an expansion could involve developing your products or services to become stronger in an existing market. Or, venturing across borders into different geographies, and establishing your brand there.
It is a significant, transformative step for any business owner, and can unlock new horizons for the future.
The one caveat?
Market expansion can be a time-consuming and complex process, not to mention expensive if you get it wrong.
It is not something to jump into without careful consideration that the move will positively impact your business in terms of sales revenue and business opportunities.
Ideally, you will thoroughly understand your new market before you enter, assemble a team, begin lead generation, and then see quick results in your revenue.
It can be done, and we are going to share some ways to achieve just that. While limiting risk to your business, and ensuring the process is as straightforward as possible.
Step 1: Perform thorough market research before you implement your market expansion plans
The first thing to tackle when considering a market expansion is performing market research.
You need to know as much as possible before you jump in.
Including market receptiveness, who your target personas are, and your competitor landscape.
Ensure you calculate the opportunity value and the costs involved with operating within this market. After all, the expansion must deliver you a financial return and gain.
Also, to make your market expansion a success you need to know:
- How many sales representatives you’ll need
- The required number of leads to generate enough opportunities
- How much sales activity is necessary to hit your KPIs
Often, other pressures on business leaders result in not enough time to support the analysis and initial development process.
If this is the case with your business, including the support of a third party could massively pay off later and ensure your market expansion is planned thoroughly.
You’ll need sophisticated tools and analytical data to help you curate your market expansion plans. Then, your approach is driven by data rather than assumptions.
Furthermore, using an external agency allows you to avoid investing in systems and software yourself, but you’ll still acquire valid data and research to inform your decisions.
The goal is to enter your new market with a strong, carefully considered strategy.
We strongly advise you don’t skip over this planning stage, laying your foundations correctly is fundamental to your success.
Step 2: Conduct an internal sales assessment to understand your strengths and weaknesses
We also recommend you conduct an internal sales assessment.
This is important so you can iron out any issues in-house before you start your market expansion.
Plus, you can use it as an opportunity to review how your current sales activity and processes are performing. What is going well, and what could be improved?
You can complete your sales assessment in-house, however, there are some benefits to using an external third party to consider.
Firstly, using someone external ensures your assessment is non-bias, and all feedback is constructive and designed to improve your internal performance and processes. Also, you could gain some valuable insights from other businesses, helping you to avoid common pitfalls.
From there, you can streamline your approach to your new market.
For example, if your new market is particularly receptive to email outreach, but your team works best over the phone, it can prompt additional team training.
If you decide the support of an agency is valuable then pick one that works as an extension to your internal team and provides guidance and support where required.
Step 3: Test the market before you fully commit
Use your market research to understand what sales outreach activity works best for your new market.
By increasing what returns the best results, your market expansion will be effective and efficient.
However, sometimes this may not be enough to achieve your targets in your new market.
Testing can be a huge help and reduces any risks for companies looking to expand.
Also, it ensures you avoid potential complications should you enter a market and things not go to plan or be more challenging than you initially anticipated.
Step 4: Assemble your team quickly with local international sales representatives
When entering a new market, you need to establish your brand quickly to assert market dominance and grow recognition.
Something to consider is whether your market expansion means you need a salesperson who speaks the local language. If you’re going abroad, you probably will.
Not only will you need the necessary language skills to conduct business, but it pays to have someone who is culturally aware of your target market.
For example, sales and prospecting in Italy work very differently than in Germany, so you will need a salesperson or team who understands this and can work with it.
Step 5: If you have doubts, get some assistance
Market territory expansion can be daunting.
However, it could be just the thing to elevate your company’s market share, brand recognition, and revenue.
Our key piece of advice?
When it comes to making decisions about your market expansion, don’t do it alone. Consult the people around you. Also, it never hurts to have a second unbiased opinion.
Reaching out to a sales specialist, or sales consultancy can be hugely beneficial to sound-proof your market expansion plans, check your sales strategy, and assess your new market.
An agency will take on all of the recruitment responsibilities and risks, and assemble a team quickly. So, language never needs to be a barrier to your expansion plans or impede your speed to market
This removes a lot of pressure if another country in which you lack the language skills presents itself as the best opportunity for your business.
Further reading :
We discuss some of the pitfalls and risks involved in international business expansion in one of our recent blogs, where we asked the advice of our Director, Gavin Page, for businesses looking to expand abroad.
You can read it here. It details some of the key things to think about when planning and implementing your market expansion plans.
It also provides some helpful advice on what to clarify and prepare before you implement your expansion plans.
If your market expansion is on the cards for your business, and you would like to discuss your plans and receive support and guidance on how to keep it simple, and succeed, get in touch.