| EXPORT MARKETING PLAN CHECKLIST |
Export marketing plans are made under the presumption that a company does have a business plan. Hence, the export marketing plan should follow vision, mission and strategy as stated in the business plan.
However, most of the companies we assist do not have an elaborate business plan. The management may have ideas on exporting, but seldom has a clear vision on global business trends and hence no clear strategy is in place.
Therefore, our format for an export marketing plan is more elaborate than a traditional marketing plan. Some chapters may go beyond the discipline of marketing.
Businesses must critically consider a number of key issues to determine whether they are ready to commence exporting. These include: |
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Commitment |
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Is the business prepared to devote the necessary time, effort and resources required for export success? Will the Board and CEO give their full backing to exporting as a core business activity? |
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Product/Service |
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Will the business be able to identify and exploit market niches based on unique product or service features and qualities? Can the product design be modified if necessary to accommodate market requirements? |
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Marketing |
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Does the business have strong marketing skills and a proven track record in Australia? Is there high quality marketing material which could be translated if necessary? |
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Management |
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Does the business have sufficient management capabilities to develop and service export markets or could skills be acquired if necessary? |
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Production |
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Does the business have adequate surplus capacity or the flexibility to expand production quickly to service exports?
Would the business consider alternative forms of market entry? |
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Finance |
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Does the business have sufficient financial strength and resources to develop new overseas markets? Initial items of expenditure may include advertising, promotional material, training, and cost of market visits. |
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| The checklist is a road map for an export marketing plan. We distinguish 4 steps: |
| 1. |
Export audit: Analysis of company/sector (internal) and market (external: transactional and contextual) to gather data and assess the feasibility of exports -go or no-go decision through a confrontation matrix (SWOT). |
| 2. |
Export strategy: Starts with selection of a strategic partner/alliance and a product market combination, based on the outcome of the confrontation matrix. USP, positioning and promotion are defined in this stage as well. |
| 3. |
Sales management: This step includes acquisition, costing and other financial issues, pricing, the international quotation, terms of delivery and payment, international sales-, agency-, and distribution contracts, dispute resolution and customer relation management. |
| 4. |
Resource and investment plan: describes the resources and investment needed to reach the markets. An action and priority list completes this step. In case the export audit results in a no-go, this is where a corrective action list is made. |
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You will find that following the order of steps will help you build a solid plan, where facts lead to analyses and analyses in turn lead to the right conclusions.
For your convenience, this checklist comes in two levels, from a general sense of direction towards a quite elaborate checklist.
Do remember you are talking to business people who’s focus is on ROI and the payment of salaries at the end of the month. Analysis -find out why- is good, synthesis -find out how- is better.
The first level is given below for your reference and the level 2 would be exposed and implemented at the time of actual interventions by us for the capacity building. |
| Level 1 |
| 1. |
Description of company activities |
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| 1.1 |
Core business of the company |
| 1.2 |
Export cost structure of the company |
| 1.3 |
Describe the value creation activities of the company |
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| 2. |
Description of target market in general |
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| 2.1 |
Potential market segments |
| 2.2 |
End user/industry requirements |
| 2.3 |
Price structures |
| 2.4 |
People/planet |
| 2.5 |
Macroeconomic data |
| 2.6 |
Competitors |
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| 3. |
Confrontation matrix |
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| 3.1 |
Selection of market segment |
| 3.2 |
Perform confrontation matrix (CM) |
| 3.3 |
Find focus (S/O) |
| 3.4 |
Find challenge (W/T) |
| 3.5 |
Go or no-go decision |
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| 4. |
Market entry strategy |
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| 4.1 |
Strategic alliances |
| 4.2 |
Product/market combination |
| 4.3 |
Promotional plan |
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| 5. |
Sales management |
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| 5.1 |
Pricing |
| 5.2 |
Acquisition |
| 5.3 |
Contractual issues |
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| 6. |
Resource/investment planning |
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| 6.1 |
Minds |
| 6.2 |
Money |
| 6.3 |
Man power |
| 6.4 |
Machines |
| 6.5 |
Materials |
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| 7. |
Action list |
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| 7.1 |
Priority actions |
| 7.2 |
Time frame |
| 7.3 |
Action holders |
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