Guest Editorial - by Susan Sinclair

E-Growth: Strategic Planning for Growing

Introduction
By its very nature, the GIS industry is one of visualizing, mapping and managing geographic areas, plus understanding the integration and interconnectedness of such maps with information layers, geographic systems, and other geographic areas. Yet throughout the United States, companies involved in the GIS industry have been woefully slow in marketing their homegrown services and products to emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Africa, and parts of Europe. The focus on capturing U.S. contracts is a process that dominates the minds of American GIS managers.
      The market is changing and, over the past several years, numerous international firms have entered the U.S. marketplace to win an increasingly greater share of GIS contracts. If they wish to remain competitive or, for that matter, if they simply want to exist in five years, American firms no longer have an option regarding expansion into global markets. Globalization is now a must, regardless of the ups and downs of economic cycles or the shock of the events of September 11.

Why take your GIS firm global?
There are three major reasons to focus on globalization and international markets. These are as follows:
      1) Huge revenues and contracting opportunities in GIS over the next several years
      2) The presence of international firms in the U.S. GIS market; you need to know what your competition is doing on its own turf to compete effectively with such firms in the United States
      3) Decreasing costs and decreasing risks to enter international markets thanks to the Internet, lower air travel expenses, a greater desire of international firms to partner with U.S. firms, and increased access to information on international firms and markets.
      Despite these reasons, few U.S. GIS firms have made a serious attempt to capture their fair global market share. In many instances there has been opportunistic pursuit of such contracts, but in order to generate extensive contracts and serious revenue, certain additional steps must be taken. Naturally these steps are important whether pursuing either domestic or international markets. Winning sales contracts is a process, not an event, no matter which market one hopes to capture.

Critical international success factors
When selecting areas of opportunity, there are a series of factors to be considered for breaking into international markets. Companies oftentimes focus on a market simply because of a single sale that occurred there - frequently through coincidence or luck - without examining whether or not that overall market can be profitably exploited.
      A methodology for the GIS industry exists for evaluating performance success in international markets. The GIS GLOBAL GROWTH Marketing System should take place before any further activity occurs. This methodology is a critical activity that includes a 12-step plan of analysis and action.
      The analysis is focused on evaluating the globalization potential of the U.S. firm, targeting specific global areas, targeting specific products and services, and projecting performance goals. All of this is done with the objective of minimizing risk, minimizing costs, developing a performance timeline, and creating enhanced value for the U.S. firm. 3G planning exercises analyze the following elements:
• Revenue opportunities in that country or region
• Domestic and international competition
• Barriers to market entry, for your company as well as for others
• Costs related to market entry
• Lists of potential local partners, including performing due diligence
• Analysis of the strategic value of a market for a U.S. firm
• Gap analysis, which assesses known strengths and weaknesses, and postulates "unknown" strengths and weaknesses
• Marketing plan that focuses on capturing new customers and retaining existing ones
• Sales plan o Strategic plan
• Cultural awareness training
• Communications plan.
      By the time the 3G planning process is complete, an international marketing strategy is put into place that enhances the probability for success, minimizes the risk, and minimizes the cost of doing business. In addition, established international partners are identified for a "jump start" into the targeted GIS or GIS-related markets, and follow-on steps are identified and initiated.
      Many of the steps that comprise 3G are obvious ones. However, a structured look at the GIS firm and its offerings must be done in light of the global market.
      In addition to the planning process described above, a series of international GIS marketing principles should be followed in order to ensure success, such as:
• How to build international relationships at a distance
• The uniqueness of emerging-market countries
• Expectations of non face-to-face activities
• Communications issues
• Building international user communities
• Major cultural systems and their impact on closing a deal
• Listening cultures versus acting cultures, and their respective "meeting" protocols
• Group focus versus individual focus for making presentations
• Understanding "no" when it remains unsaid
• Reading body language and other nonverbal messages
• Searching for a "silver bullet" - the classic exercise in futility.
      These issues will be explored in depth in the two remaining parts of this series. GIS companies that plan strategically, remain persistent, and focus internationally as well as domestically, are those that achieve significant market share. The dot-com fiasco taught us that basic and strategic business practices must be incorporated in any sort of market expansion. This is especially true in the international arena.

About the Author
Susan Sinclair is a senior associate with MARKET ONE/Global Marketing Insights and the former Global Land Management Group practice director for Oracle Corporation. Before joining Oracle, she spent ten years as managing director for a business division of Space Imaging. Her overseas assignments have included stints in Singapore, Manila, Mexico City and Madrid, the latter post while serving with the U.S. Embassy. She may be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

Back