So why are US business executives so much less efficient than Europeans when it comes to getting sales during business trips?
This was the question being considered by Robin Chater, The Secretary-General of the Federation of International Employers (FedEE) in a recent breakfast briefing. He was quoting Eurostat, a respected European statistical agency which showed how in the last year: “the EU exported 288 bn euros of goods to the USA, but only imported 196 bn euros of goods from the USA. The imbalance was narrower, however, when we look at services. EU exports of services to the USA were worth 161 bn euros, yet imports from the USA amounted to 148 bn euros a year…
… these results are in spite of much greater face-to-face activity by US sales executives to achieve sales in the EU. Last year there were 1.3 million visits by US executives to the EU compared to less than 900,000 visits by EU business executives to the USA.”
The following reasons are proposed:
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Poor command of European languages such as German or French
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Higher likelihood of US (vs EU) businessmen combining their trips with leisure
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Poor recognition of cultural differences. While US executives visiting Japan instantly recognize and manage cultural differences, many think that this does not apply in Europe, including the UK.
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Lack of engagement with existing face to face networking events (beyond conferences/trade shows)
America’s long standing relationship with Europe and perceived familarity means that US executives are not approaching EU markets with the required deference. If you want to sell into Europe you need to deal with Europeans on their terms. Given the reverse scenario, would you choose to work with someone who came to the US and did not speak English and was indifferent to US culture?
For us, the poor recognition of cultural differences is manifest in the expectation from US companies that Europeans will find and use US based websites. In both our personal and business lives the majority of us incorporate web searching when looking for suppliers, products or services. In the US our Google.com search results are geo-localized, and return results largerly for companies based in the US. Guess what… in Germany, France and other European countries searches are also geo-localized, meaning that results are largely for companies active in the country of search.
As an example, we have recently been talking with a US company that makes gearmotors. In their market, the impact of the geo-localized internet is that for a Frenchman searching for “motoréducteur” (the French term for “gearmotor”) using google.fr, no US company appears in the first 10 pages of search results! Whatever other work that company does in terms of trade shows, distributor support, sales visits, having no effective online presence means that local competitors have an inherent and immediate advantage, the US executive on the road in Europe is not operating on a level playing field, the odds are stacked against them.
Whether you have been doing business in Europe for some time, or if you are just starting to export a must read is ibt partners’ “Exporters Guide to Europe”. This will help guide you through the pitfalls that many of your US competitors are falling into, and allow you to maximize your investment in developing the European markets.