Successful exporting often takes a nuanced understanding of the local culture along with market-specific product customization, according to Wisconsin company leaders whose products are sold worldwide.
They spoke yesterday during Wisconsin World Trade Day in Pewaukee, offering insights from their experiences with global markets — both successes and failures.
Gautam Malik is CEO of Gamber-Johnson in Stevens Point, which makes mounts for computers, tablets and radios used in vehicles and heavy machinery as well as other settings such as warehouses.
The company has been exporting its products since 2013, Malik said yesterday. Since that time, the business has grown from 62 employees to more than 500 around the world with $200 million in sales and products going to 56 countries.
“Our motto is, we’re going to conquer the world three countries at a time,” he said.
While he emphasized the impact and growth resulting from exporting globally, he also noted the challenges facing companies choosing this path.
After trying to capture Brazil as an export destination more than a decade ago with little success, Gamber-Johnson later exited that market, “saying ‘hey, we’ll never be able to crack that,’” Malik said.
“The biggest challenge that we had in Brazil at that time was, if you’re not assembling the product over there, you didn’t have a chance … regardless of how good the product was,” he said.
Both Malik and Kashyap Malkan, CEO of Brookfield medical device firm Advasaf, yesterday emphasized the cultural element of exporting. Malkan said once companies have met the precise regulatory requirements for a given country, “you’ve got to do your handshakes” to build local connections and often find distributors.
“Yes, their cultural norms are a big deal,” he said. “You kind of have to play by their timetable, not your timetable.”
Mike Sekula, vice president of global supply chain for Inpro Corporation in Muskego, agreed that “relationships are extremely important” to establish trust with business partners elsewhere in the world. The company, which manufactures building products like window treatments and signs, has been exporting since the mid-1990s.
In addition to cultural expectations on the supply and distribution side, panelists yesterday noted the importance of understanding consumer expectations in other countries.
Susan Kortendick, senior manager of international sales operations for pet food maker Stella & Chewy’s in Oak Creek, said these expectations can often go well beyond what’s spelled out in official regulations. The company began exporting in 2016 and its products now reach seven countries, including Canada and destinations in Asia.
“If you don’t know what your consumer wants, sometimes they have higher expectations than the government,” she said. “For us, there’s ingredients that are allowed in certain markets but consumers don’t want them in there. You won’t get that from reading those documents, so you really need to have a partner in there, to make sure you know your product is ready for the market.”
Meanwhile, Malkan said meeting consumer expectations can mean custom local language labelling, tailored instructions for use and training resources, noting “that’s huge” for reaching certain markets with medical devices.
“You could have a miracle drug out there, or a miracle product, but if they don’t know how to use it, or they don’t know how to install it, I think those are some of those customizations that you have to build on top of your product,” he said.
The event was hosted by the Madison International Trade Association, the Wisconsin District Export Council and Wisconsin International Credit Executives.
