| You are
here: Export
Networks > Working
with trade representatives .
|
|
|
Working
with trade representatives
Trade/economic representatives
It is common for governments in countries around the
world to make the effort to promote their country’s
exports. This ‘effort’ may take various forms,
but one of the most common ways of promoting exports,
is to transfer individuals from South Africa within the
country’s diplomatic missions - such as embassies
and consulates - throughout the world. These individuals
- known as trade or economic representatives (or sometimes,
commercial representatives) - are then responsible for
helping to promote the nation’s exports to the host
country.
What is a trade representative?
In South Africa, they are referred to as economic representatives
as their work includes economic reporting in addition
to trade promotion (although in ExportHelp we generally
refer to them as trade representatives as this is more
descriptive of their role). Generally, they are individuals
with some form of business background (such as a degree
in economics or business and/or business experience).
They are stationed in the host country for a period of
three to four years and are usually supported by a range
of local staff appointed from within the host country,
such as marketing officers (tasked with helping to market
the country), secretaries and administrative staff.
Trade representatives are valuable
resources for exporters
Your trade representative is an invaluable asset to your
export endeavours. The trade representative is your ‘eye’ in
the foreign marketplace. The trade representative can
help you in many different ways, by, for example, helping
to gather crucial information, introducing you to prospective
buyers, and generally helping you market your product
in the foreign marketplace. Bear in mind that they live
in the foreign country in question and they often speak
the language or at the very least have an understanding
of the cultural and other barriers that you are likely
to face in this marketplace. At the same time, they understand
the South African business environment, business culture
and potential for doing business. They are therefore in
an excellent position to act as mediator or facilitator
for your company.
Don’t abuse the services of the trade representatives
It is essential, however, to understand
that the trade representative – albeit a government employee and
paid for by tax-payer’s money – is not there
to do your biding. The trade representative, like any
other employee, has a full day’s worth of work to
do and many companies to assist. They cannot, therefore,
allocate all of their time to helping your company. The
best that you can expect is to ask for the occasional ‘sliver’ of
their time to help gather a specific piece of information
that you really need or perhaps to arrange an appointment
with a buyer at a large potential customer that you are
find it difficult to get to (their position as a country’s
diplomat often opens up doors that you would not be able
to open yourself. Under no circumstances should this help
be abused!
Unfortunately, there are companies
that view the trade representative as their foreign
sales representative that they can ‘push around’, expect to do all of
their research and marketing for them, and generally do
their bidding for them! For example, they may ask them
to get information that they could just as easily have
looked up on the Internet or they supply only the briefest
of background information and expect the trade representative
to know the product and to understand the industry and/or
firm based on this scant information. They are thankless
and demanding (sometimes even rude) and may even speak
down to the trade representative (the individual is only
a government official, after all). If you are this type
of person, then don’t be surprised if you find the
trade representative to be cool and generally unhelpful
(e.g. “…sorry we tried, but we couldn’t
get that appointment for you”) – and rightly
so.
On the other hand, if you are professional in your interactions
with the trade representative; that is, polite, friendly
and thankful, and if you provide them with all the information
they need and only ask for critical and hard to get information
and the occasional introduction to potential importers,
you will find the trade representative most accommodating.
If you let the trade representative know how valuable
his/her assistance was and what success you have had or
progress you have made, you will find ultimately develop
a relationship with the individual and you may surprised
that he/she does some marketing for your company without
any request from your side. A thank-you never goes amiss!
Marketing officers and other diplomatic staff
Because of the cost of locating trade
representatives in foreign countries, the South African
government (in this case the DTI) is increasingly making
use of foreign officials – referred to as marketing officers – to
do the work of the trade representative. It is, understandably,
a much cheaper option. These marketing officers essentially
fulfill the same task as the trade representative. In
some ways they are even better. They speak the language
and have grown up in the culture. The down side is that
they are not South Africans and therefore lack the understanding
of the South African culture and business environment.
On the other hand, the generally work in a South African
mission and because of this, are immersed in typical South
African way of thinking and this gives them some insight
into the South African mindset. Thus, you should view
the marketing officer in the same light that you do the
trade representative and treat them with the same respect!
Some of the smaller missions may not have either a trade
representative or marketing officer. This does not mean
that the diplomatic staff will not respond to a friendly
request for specific information or the request for help
to arrange an appointment.
In every instance, you need to be
very specific about what you want. Make absolutely sure
that you cannot get this information through other means
such as the Internet or trade magazines/directories,
etc. Provide the official with all the information he/she
needs to know about your firm and your product(s) in
order to obtain the information or arrange the appointment
that you are requesting – remember,
they know nothing about your firm and are not product
specialists. Explain what effort you have already taken
to get the information and let the individual know that
you have not bee successful getting the information or
securing the appointment and that you hope that he/she
can assist. Be courteous and polite.
What can expect to ask of your trade representative?
There are many services that you can ask of your trade
representative (but not all at the same time). You can
ask them to obtain certain market(ing) information, contact
names and/or to arrange appointments. You might ask them
advice about which trade fair to participate in or what
the standing of a particular company is. Another common
question might be what the import duty is on a particular
product.
Bear in mind that you cannot expect
your foreign trade representative to undergo any expenses
on your behalf or to verify your firm’s standing.
They will also not enter into any legal contracts or
any negotiations for your firm!
What is the cost?
While some countries charge for the services of their
trade representatives, the South African Government (DTI)
does not. The services of our trade (or economic) representatives
are generally free!
Click
here to access the DTI’s
list of their economic representatives.
Click
here to access a list of South Africa’s foreign
missions
Foreign trade representatives stationed in South Africa
While we strongly recommend that you
make use of our country’s trade representatives, you should not
ignore the trade representatives of other countries located
in South Africa. These individuals know their respective
countries intimately and now that they are living in South
Africa, they also understand the South Africa way of life
and way of doing business. They are in an excellent position
to help you do business in their country – the only
problem is that they are in South Africa to promote exports
from their country to here and not from here to there.
This makes them generally unwilling to assist South African
exporters!
So what should you do? Well, we suggest
that you approach them and explain to them that you
want to explore the possibility of doing business with
their country (yes, exports, but also possibly imports).
Ask them if you can have access to their trade information,
newsletter and trade library. The best is to ask for
specific information such as the address of the trade
association in their country for the industry you are
active in. As always be polite and friendly. Some foreign
trade offices may be willing to help you. Be careful
about misleading the trade representative, however.
If they believe that you are lying, they may quickly
become unhelpful and even hostile. Lying may even result
in a visa being denied to you for travel! At the
very least, you should begin by seeing whether they
a website to learn more about what services they offer
(or even if they have a trade representative at all).
Click
here to access the list of foreign missions in
South Africa
|
