You sold to a firrst few clients in the US, great!

But how do you achieve repeatable Sales now?

How do you prove you can sell again and again to the same type of companies, the same persona for the same price?

Well, as usual for the folks who work on expanding internationally, you know there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

But there are stories worth listening to get inspired

There are mistakes worth studying to avoid losing time

There are ideas worth using in your own context to help you grow faster

And today I believe you will want to hear what Alex Louisy, CEO of Upflow has to say in the last episode of International Corner

We discuss how they managed to achieve repeatable Sales in the US market despite covid times that account now for almost 50% of their total revenue.

Content to look forward to:

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If you are working on expanding into foreign markets, you probably leveraged some of your current customers to expand into other countries.

This is the land and expand strategy

That’s most likely how most of us get the first 2-3 clients in foreign countries

But have you considered using this strategy as your main focus to grow internationally and not just to get the first few references?

That's what Anthony, CEO of Meeriad have done to expand into several markets.

They have mastered the art of landing and expanding into new markets.

Anthony tells us everything they do to make sure they convert their first POC or pilot into successful international cross-sells.

One key aspect he nailed to get there is this: How do you justify a soft ROI to your client?

Sometimes there is no direct relation between your solution impact and a company soft ROI.

For instance, how do you justify your solution can directly impact the retention rate of your customer?

Well… Anthony found a way. And you can find out how in today’s episode of International Corner.

What to expect:

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Thinking about hiring your first local people in a new foreign market?

Greeeeat.

How can you avoid making mistakes?

Well… let’s be honest, you most likely will 😅

But you can probably limit them by learning from Amanda Simon, CPO at The Briars group with her 30+ years of HR experience overseing several markets.

We discussed 2 crucial topics that should be at the heart of your HR priorities as you expand in nex markets:

A snapshot of what we learned:

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It is better to stop investing in international expansion in these times of business uncertainty.

Especially if the new target market brings you close to 0% of revenue.

Very tempting to have these thoughts right?

Well, wouldn’t you miss the point as a founder if you close yourself off to internationalization?

There are ways to be more cautious about international expansion.

Actually, You can generate 10-15% of your revenue remotely before committing to having local operations

What are your current operations looking like?

The idea is to cut costs while keeping your efforts on.

Zoltan Vardy, Founder of the Launch Code and Chairman at Antavo tells us more about how to expand globally in times of uncertainty.

What we covered during the episode:

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They went from 5000 to 15000 active users in less than 4 months in Italy

How did Akt.io manage to be off to such a fast start?

Spoiler alerts, they didn’t spend much marketing budget

The key was to focus on 2 very important aspects:

Kevin Régis, COO and CCO tells us everything about how they achieved these great results in such a short period of time

Expect to also hear about:

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How do you ask some key employees in your HQ to spend 20% of their time on a new market that currently brings 0% of turnover?

You don’t 😅

But then how do you build the right HQ organization supporting your internationalization effort?

There is no one-size-fits all solution.

But whatever you choose to do, it’s going to be key to successfully expand into foreign markets

Florian Garcia Business operation and New market Director at Alma shares how their HQ organization has evolved in 2 years to now support their growth in 11 markets.

Key aspects we discussed:

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Are you looking at a market where you can grow exponentially?

(I mean who is not?😅 )

Then make sure to include Brazil in your list of potential markets to consider.

In Sao Paulo only, there are 11M inhabitants.

Brazilians are actually really open to buying and using European products and solutions.

And France has actually a special place for them.

I mean… let’s not forget Carrefour is the #1 supermarket chain there and Blablacar has made Brazil one of their biggest markets.

But if you want to make it there, there are codes and specificities you absolutely need to master.

Danilo Gomes, internatio nal business developer at Business France in Brazil walks us through the Do and Don’t to make it there: 

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80% European and North American companies I’ve talked to over the last 12 months expand into Europe or North America.

It’s a fact.

Some are doing so because they have a true potential within these regions.

But… maybe some companies are also doing so because it is more convenient.

It’s culturally closer to what they are used to.

Therefore… it feels like the barriers to entry are not that high…

But what if… the best business expansion opportunities were the ones that are underlooked at?

Wouldn’t it be better to go to markets where your competitors DON’T GO?

The African market for instance, is a goldmine IF you know how to navigate it.

Zach Selch, Global Sales Mentor, spent 35 years leading International Sales for various companies. He sheds some light into why and how you should expand into markets like Africa where your competitors don't go to unlock true international growth.  

Here is a snapshot of what you can expect from the episode:

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Wanna launch a foreign market but you’re a bit tight on budget?

It’s a new world we are living in.

Frugality has become the #1 driver for all founders these days.

However, Sales teams are still expected to reach a higher level of growth year after year.

What if you could bootstrap your way into launching a foreign market?

Well that is what Fleet has done in Spain.

It has been the one-man work for a few months of Baptiste Petelle, who is now Chief of staff at Fleet.

He shares his learnings of how they launched the Spanish market without dedicating a big budget.

Being bootstrapped has had impacts on:

They manage to reach 10% of their current total ARR in Spain in less than a year without raising any funds.

You'll also learn about cultural differences to master to do business in Spain ;)

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In India, you have 15 seconds to make an impression on a cold call, or You. Are. Dead.

It is super easy to get Exec’s phone numbers…

And because it’s easy, they are spammed every minute of every day.

See where I’m going here?

As a BDR there, you have to be super impactful and creative to stand out from the noise.

If you want to do business in India, you have to understand the culture and how it translates into business practices.

Shishir, has opened 3 times the Indian market for non-indian companies.

In this week’s episode, he shares a bit of India’s history for us to understand how it impacts the way you choose how:

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