Q&A with Richard Keyse, Chair of the Europe Beachheads Advisory Board

Do New Zealanders have any advantages when selling to markets in the UK and Europe?

People invariably prefer to do business with people they have an affinity with. Culturally New Zealanders are very popular in Europe especially in the United Kingdom. Their typically open approach to doing business and a reputation for getting the job done gives them a distinct advantage.

Does familiarity with the United Kingdom result in a tendency for New Zealanders to underestimate the differences?

This is definitely an issue for some companies. Those companies who do the greatest amount of research and listen to advice tend to have the greatest success.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) and the Beachhead advisors can help companies understand, and deal with these subtleties. It is disappointing to watch some companies that have excellent offerings make some ‘amateur’ mistakes.

Are you seeing more or fewer opportunities for New Zealand businesses in the current economic environment?

As Europe recovers from the recession many New Zealand businesses are seeing more opportunities, especially those that have positioned themselves appropriately. Budgets that were reduced during the recession are now returning and pent-up demand provides new opportunities.

With existing supplier-customer relationships being dislodged during the recession New Zealand companies have a rare opportunity to become the incumbent supplier. Previous competitors may have either disappeared due to financial circumstances or retrenched themselves to a point where their proposition has been impaired.

How is the economic downturn affecting business in Europe now? Are some markets faring better than others?

The recession in Europe hit some sectors extremely hard whilst others made record profits. Even within sector, some companies were not only better equipped to survive but used the opportunity to gain market share from poorly prepared competitors.

In today’s global economy, geographical differences across Europe are less pronounced. What other lessons are there?

Many New Zealand companies, particularly in the technology sector have to refine their USP (unique selling proposition/point) in Europe to meet the gaps in the local market. This is regularly less understood and often takes too long to resolve. You only get one chance to make a first impression and prospects may be lost while companies learn some hard lessons.

What common mistakes do you see?

Some of the mistakes I have seen are under investment; lack of market entry preparation including competitor analysis; ‘product’ rather than ‘solution’ focus, and lack of executive commitment to the market.

Do you think New Zealand businesses underestimate the difference between markets in Europe? How different are they?

New Zealand companies are correctly more cautious about going into Europe, and as such probably do not underestimate the differences as much as in the United Kingdom. Depending upon the sector the various markets can be extremely different.