INDUSTRY FOCUSED PROMOTION: WHAT ARE THE STEPS?

1- "Recruit" U.S. companies to be listed.

Starting from scratch is obviously more difficult. It requires having a good database of the U.S. Exhibitors and therefore developing a good relationship/partnership with the show organizer. An online registration form is a must (see example attached) but depending on the number of companies to be contacted the project team or the USEACs need also to call the U.S. exhibitors to sell them the project. To help, it is possible to do an email merge that will automatically copy the appropriate USEAC trade specialist for any correspondence sent to a given U.S. exhibitor.

It is easier when one can leverage on the U.S. Export Interest Directory when it exists.  It it is then necessary to partner with the IBP show manager GTP and the show organizer to be sure that the information collected match the Industry Focused Promotion needs. Then it can even be referred as the e-EID (Electronic - Export Interest Directory) - (see AACC 06 e-EID questionnaire)

In all instances, another challenge is to make the participants understand that the information provided is aimed at international prospects and should be therefore written accordingly especially when it comes to the Company/Products description, the objectives, etc. Also it is important that the contact names provided are in a position to respond to the leads generated and also that the e-mail provided are preferably personal e-mails rather than office boxes or general sales@adresses.

Posting lengthy company/products descriptions can be overwhelming for the reader, and therefore it is preferable to post a shorter description and then include in the contact information that is sent automatically to the submitter and other parties the full company/products descriptions content.

Putting the information online is time consuming as it requires not only to modify and customize the html code but numerous scripts. The good news is that this not done by the TS and that it has to be done only once to be used by an unlimited number of posts. Unfortunately, to date, I am the only one to know how to do it, and it will necessary that 2 or 3 persons by region be trained on the full technical process  and all the teams briefed on the marketing aspects if we want to be successful in the long term.

To ease the process it is key that the 3 excel spreadsheets (project_companydir, project_oio and project_useac) are provided under the proper formats (see attached examples). For the USEAC table, it is better if one takes the time to identify the email of the USEAC trade specialist serving each listed U.S. companies.

International Trade Specialists within USCS posts are key in the success of such projects. They need to understand the essence of the project and also that this is an easy way to generate trackable leads that can convert into success stories. What it is required from TS in each participating countries, is to put together an electronic database of potential prospects in their respective countries for their own use and organize one or several email/fax pushes to those prospects. Also, they could partner with trade associations or other organizations (e.g. travel agents) that might be locally involved in the promotion of the show. Email is obviously a first means of communication but presentations or regional conference calls are a must if one wants to maximize the number of participants.

As a project manager, it is important to know which trade specialists are ready to commit to support the project, what they intend to do and give them a chance to share ideas with others about how they do it.

This is obviously the responsibility of the U.S. companies and the international submitters to follow up with each others as they both have the contact information on the other. But this is also our interest to make everything possible for it to happen. The USEAC could contact their clients in the US and the post with their local clients.

Contact: christophe.Joly@mail.doc.gov (CS France)

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