Expanding into an international market involves a lot of effort and strategy. Even if your business is hugely successful on a national level, you are effectively starting from the beginning when focusing on a new country.
You have to research the competition. You need to learn what marketing techniques will deliver the best results. You must work out the logistics of delivering your products to overseas customers. The list goes on and on.
Due to the challenges faced, it makes a lot of sense to leverage available resources. These resources can be found in the form of technology. To demonstrate this, here are four ways technology can help your business successfully expand into international markets.
1. Optimize shipping costs
One of the biggest issues with selling to an international market is getting your products to customers. Unless you have the resources to store your stock in the new country you’re targeting, the task involves sending each product individually overseas.
That is an expensive endeavor.
This cost will either be a hit to your profit margins, make purchases a lot pricier for customers, or a combination of the two. As a result, it’s imperative you make every effort to optimize your shipping costs.
To get the best rates to send items overseas, you can utilize Shiply, a platform that is built for international shipping, where specialist couriers bid to complete your delivery assignments. The bidding process means that to secure work, couriers are willing to lower their prices by up to 75%.
2. Customer Relationship Management software
Maintaining healthy, productive relationships with your customers is essential for success. Yet when you start expanding into other territories, it can be difficult to track and give these relationships the time and attention they require. This is where you can benefit from Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.
This technology allows you to store comprehensive records on each of your customers and prospective customers. This information is particularly useful when working on an international level because you can define customers based on locations, languages spoken, local customs, and more.
3. Translation software
Are you expanding into a new country with a different native language to your own? In that case, this language barrier can prove to be a serious challenge – one that can cause numerous issues when communicating with business partners, leads, and customers.
Fortunately, translation software is continually evolving and becoming more sophisticated. With this technology, you don’t have to rely entirely on a professional translator or fluent speaker to overcome the language barrier your business faces.
4. Automation
As your business grows, it’s only natural more work gets piled on your plate. Instead of trying – and failing – to consume all of this on your own, you can receive a large helping hand via automation.
Automation technology makes easy work of tedious, time-consuming tasks. By freeing yourself and your employees from such chores, this opens up the possibility to focus on more important – and productive – tasks that can further benefit your international expansion.
