By: Colleen Kardasz, Director, Ohio SBDC Export Assistance Network
When I was leaving Germany just about one month ago I overheard a number of conversations with fellow travelers who had also been attending the Hannover Messe Trade Fair. I had spent some time talking with the six companies who had attended with the Ohio Export Assistance Network and the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce, and wondered if there might be a trend among the American companies who attended this show for the first time. I openly admit to having eavesdropped on a number of conversations in each airport. While in no way a scientific study, I did notice a common theme. I kept hearing American companies say “It was a great show. We had a wonderful week, met a lot of people, but we’re not sure if we’ll go back.” I was troubled by this response. Why would a company who could sit and rave about a trade show and all it had to offer still be ambivalent about returning? The answer, I think, has more to do with culture than the show itself.
| Hannover Messe is not an industry- specific, sales-oriented show. In fact, sales of any kind are forbidden on the floor of the show, and breaking this rule will result in an unceremonious departure from the fairgrounds for the offender. Instead, Hannover Messe is about building international relationships. This is the soft side to business, but is as essential to international trade as Incoterms and exchange rates. Where American companies rely heavily on the bottom line and the unambiguous terms of a sales contract to determine the success of an interaction, many other cultures look to the relationship with the people within a company to set the value of the overall transaction. How do you judge the success of a trade show from which no sales were made? What does a company report to their employees or Board about why they attended, and invested a significant amount of money to do so? |    |
The answer is trust. Attending a show such as Hannover is no easy task. I was privileged to help six companies do so by removing the logistics and paperwork aspect from their plates, but anyone who attends under any scenario has months of preparation in the process. Even with the help of the IMAGE grant for the Ohio companies there was still a significant dollar amount that included the time and effort of the employees spending a week away from their companies. Without this though, a company trying to enter into a new international market, or find partners or distributors, is just another American company sitting 4,000 or more miles away. Why should that foreign buyer trust you and your product or service? Not to be too flippant, but I’m fairly sure that given the time and access to my laptop, my four-year old could create a website that could pass as legitimate. Email scams are an everyday occurrence, and language barriers make both parties wary from the start. Putting your company in front of other companies, making pre-show contact, starting the conversation at the show, and following up afterwards takes your company several steps beyond your competition sitting at home relying on the internet to tell their story.
As an example, Accelerant Technologies, an energy consulting company out of Genoa, Ohio, made a casual acquaintance on the first day of the show with someone in a neighboring booth from Turkey. That casual introduction lead to a polite exchange over Turkish coffee, dried figs and candy Buckeyes. The next day that acquaintance brought back someone else to meet with the company and learn more about Accelerant and the work they do. The next day Accelerant was meeting with a top government official tied into the energy sector in Turkey. How long do you imagine an exchange at that level would have taken if both parties hadn’t been at Hannover putting forth a good faith effort to get to know each other and whether or not there was potential for partnerships in the future? How many emails or calls routed through assistants would it have taken for such an exchange to occur if Accelerant had stayed in Northwest Ohio and not attended an international trade show? I would imagine that months of base-level communication was avoided by the simple act of extending a hand (albeit a hand holding a delicious chocolate Buckeye) and saying we’re here to learn and make new connections.
As an example, Accelerant Technologies, an energy consulting company out of Genoa, Ohio, made a casual acquaintance on the first day of the show with someone in a neighboring booth from Turkey. That casual introduction lead to a polite exchange over Turkish coffee, dried figs and candy Buckeyes. The next day that acquaintance brought back someone else to meet with the company and learn more about Accelerant and the work they do. The next day Accelerant was meeting with a top government official tied into the energy sector in Turkey. How long do you imagine an exchange at that level would have taken if both parties hadn’t been at Hannover putting forth a good faith effort to get to know each other and whether or not there was potential for partnerships in the future? How many emails or calls routed through assistants would it have taken for such an exchange to occur if Accelerant had stayed in Northwest Ohio and not attended an international trade show? I would imagine that months of base-level communication was avoided by the simple act of extending a hand (albeit a hand holding a delicious chocolate Buckeye) and saying we’re here to learn and make new connections.
So why do companies go back year after year whether to Hannover Messe or other international trade shows? Trust. Trust leads to long-term partnerships that lead to sales. Sales that are now strategic and long-term, instead of one-off, and partners who introduce you to other companies and connections to grow your business even further. As an Export Assistance Network Director for the Ohio SBDC at the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce I get to work with small businesses who see the value in international business and know that the bottom line sometimes grows by more than just the black and white terms of a sales contract. To all the American companies wondering why they did or should attend an international trade show, I ask you to think about what President Obama said during his Opening Ceremony remarks at Hannover Messe 2016[5]. By taking these steps, and making this effort you are not only learning and experiencing business in a new way, but you are letting the world know that you are open for business in a way no flyer or email ever could.
Click to enlarge photos
The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) program of Ohio is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The SBDC is also funded in part by the Ohio Development Services Agency. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.
 | Colleen Marie Kardasz is the Ohio SBDC Export Assistance Network Director at the Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce. Colleen is a licensed attorney with a background in marketing and PR who works with SMEs to start or expand their international business. |
Please contact Emily Dammeyer, Communications Manager, Toledo Regional Chamber of Commerce to submit a story for our blog.
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