Our Florida based company received a Gold Key Service for Australia market in October 2016 from The U.S. Department of Commerce. Please find my notes, issues or problems about GKS.
First step: Before the GKS
Feb 18th 2016: Received State of Florida “Export marketing plan” offer. Filled the form and paid $500 via check to “SBDC at FGCU” .
April 28th 2016: Received the Export marketing plan presentation. At the end of the report it is stated that we are eligible for a Gold Key Service, GKS program, it would be sponsored by “Enterprise Florida”.
Second step: Planning the GKS
July 13th 2016: Face to face meeting with the International Trade Specialist at our office from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Discussed the “Gold Key Service” opportunities and agreed on Australia.
July 21st 2016: Conference call with Australia. I introduced our company, our products, our potential customers over the phone. Agreed on a time frame for the Gold Key Service. After two months of research period, it would be best to go to Australia at the end of September, or the first week of October. I also offered to ship our sample package to Australia for a better understanding, they wouldn’t accept as it would be considered gift from overseas.
Aug. 5th 2016: Received the official Gold Key Service Offer from U.S. Department of Commerce for Australia. Signed it and paid $700 via credit card.
Aug. 28th 2016: Received the first report (half way report) from Australia office, including meeting schedules with potential customers. Couple of companies were scheduled to meet for the first week of October.
Red alert, these were not the types of companies we work with. Sent an email to Australia with our concerns and recommendations.
Aug. 31st to September 27th 2016: After three more reports and four weeks of back and forth, nothing much changed. They added few more companies but we were not happy with most of the companies they scheduled meetings with. At the end our trade specialist in the U.S. recommended that we keep it positive, as you never know there may be an opportunity with one of those unexpected companies.
Third Step: Meetings in Australia
September 28th – October 1st: Flying to Sydney
October 3rd to October 8th 2016: Met with nine company reps face to face in Sydney and Melbourne and one company over the phone. The meetings went well, either the owners or the senior executives were present during the meetings.
As a result, two small and two big, total four companies were interested in working with us, three of them were already familiar with our brand, one company didn’t know anything about us. Other five companies were either selling their own brands or didn’t show much interest into our products.
October 9th 2016: Back in the U.S.
Overall: The summary
Financial: Spent $5,800.00 in total.
$700 for the application, $1,700 for flights, $2,250 for hotels, $800 for meals and 350 for transportation. We received $700 credit from “Enterprise Florida”. The total expense is $5,100.
Our trade specialist in the U.S did a great job, always on time, would answer my emails within the same day, would direct our concerns to Australia immediately. But our Australia trade specialist was not right for this job, seems like didn’t spend much time focusing on our recommendations with a lack of communications. Some of my emails would be answered a week later. Also during my meeting with the trade specialist in Sydney, its stated that they normally schedule three meetings for GKS in Australia, and since they have scheduled ten meetings for us we should be happy about it.
In summary; I would definitely work with our international trade specialist in the U.S. again for GKS in a different country or any international trade related service, he was very experienced, always on time and very reliable, but wouldn’t recommend working with Australia U.S. trade office.
I see this very expensive two-week trip as a missed opportunity, if they have scheduled meetings with the right companies, or with the companies we recommended, the results would’ve been fantastic. Overall this particular Gold Key Service in Australia didn’t meet our expectations.
My thoughts and recommendations for Gold Key Service (GKS) in the future:
1 – I believe its a great service by the U.S. government, since the meetings were arranged by the U.S. trade office, the potential customers take you and these meetings very seriously.
2 – Make sure to work with a trade specialist in that country who understands your company, your product, and your customers. For some reason if they have a lack of interest and don’t listen to your ideas, don’t be afraid to pull the plug. Having said that I would recommend doing these things for sure;
a) Make sure to ship your samples to the specialist of that country before they start their research. If your samples are too big or expensive to ship, or the specialist doesn’t want to receive them,
b) then do a video call, via Skype or a google hangout, and show the products by explaining in detail, if they can’t do a video call either,
c) then travel to that country and do a presentation in their office, obviously this is the most expensive solution but its a must that the trade specialist has a good understanding of your company and your products before starting their research, it will probably pay off in the long run.
3- Last but not least, be very specific explaining to the trade specialist who exactly your customers are in that particular country. If for some reason they try to veer you to a different direction by contacting some other companies, make sure to stop them on time. Even after your warnings, if they still schedule more meetings with the wrong types of customers, simply reject the meetings. Because the trade specialists might look at the number of the meetings and believe that their job is done.
Remember at the end you are the one that is responsible for your company, and you will be the one paying for all your travel expenses and for your time. If you know who your customers are, stick to the plan as there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Serdar Acar
Serdar Acar