A Small Company s Foray into International Marketing Fifth University of Delaware, Mechanical Engineering Alumni Career Celebration April 25, 2008 Patrick J. Reynolds
Introduction PoolPak International Started in1986 We Make Dehumidification Systems for Indoor Swimming Pools. Product is Spin Off from York International Revenues for 2007 ~ $14 Million Approximately 8% from Exports
Applications Motel Pools
Applications Large Pools
Applications Really Large Pools
Products Large Pools
Products Hotel & Homes
First Exposure to International Business From 1990, We Received Inquiries from Many Foreign Country Reps Requesting Line We Were Seduced by Stories of Extraordinary Profits from Overseas Business. By 1995, We Thought We Had Reps in 30 Countries, But No Sales
Typical PoolPak Sales Cycle and Actors I. Owner II. Pool Designer V. General Contractor III. Architect VI.a. Mechanical Contractor A IV. Mechanical Engineer VI.b. Mechanical Contractor B VI.c. Mechanical Contractor C VI.d. Mechanical Contractor D PoolPak Sales Representative This Process Takes 2 to 5 Years!
Stumbling Toward the East & Luck Made Trip to Taiwan and Hong Kong in 1994 Visited Rep in Taiwan Gave Them Training Used York International Contacts to Meet York Rep in Hong Kong York Rep Not Interested Gave Line to Associate of York Rep Associate Sat on Line for a Year While In Hong Kong, Met Another Rep Through Friend-of-a-Friend (Networking Began)
Stumbling Toward the East & Luck New Rep s Owner Establishing US Citizenship Living in Baltimore 6 Months per Year Owner Visited Factory Was Impressed With PoolPak He Attended Factory Sales Training Class He Sent His Key Salesman to Factory for Sales Training Secured First Foreign Order - 1997 We Had Lift Off, But not much Altitude (Profit)
Focusing on the Far East Visited Hong Kong and Taiwan Every Other Year from 1998 to 2003 Then Every Year from 2004 to Present Attended Trade Shows with Hong Kong Rep Hong Kong Orders Came Slowly And at Low Margins (Continued to Buy Market) Found New Competitors in Hong Kong and Taiwan Not US Manufacturers Competitors Were Established, New Battles to Fight But Made in USA Label Allowed Us to Get a Foot in the Door But Competitors Kept Prices and Margins Low
Then We Got Organized Created an International Marketing Plan Methodical Attack - Defined Prime International Market Criteria: Cold Climates No Domestic Competition English Spoken, Preferred Dollar is Weak English Measurement System Okay vs. Metric Conducted Market Studies of Candidate Countries Identified Prime Markets Then
Every Business Plan is Perfect Until It Meets the Market China Called In November, 2003 Contacted by Largest Chinese Pool Contractor Seeking a Dehumidifier Partner for 2008 Olympics China Did Not Meet Many of Our International Business Plan Criteria, Oh Well. We Were Requested to Made Presentation to Chinese Government Olympic Committee - February 2004
PoolPak International PoolPak 国际公司泳池室内环境彻底解决 My Entire Presentation Translated into Mandarin First Experience with Simultaneous English-Chinese Translator
China Called (Cont.) Effort did not get Olympic Orders, But Convinced China Partner, PoolPak was Committed to Rep Rep Could Not Sell PoolPak at US Prices We Gave Rep Special Low Pricing in Exchange for Minimum Sales Quota with Penalty for 2005. Rep Met 2005 Sales Quota Rep Purchased, Stocked and Sold 100 s of our Smaller Residential & Hotel Pool Dehumidifiers Exhibited at International HVAC Shanghai Trade Show in 2005, 2006, 2007 & 2008, to get Exposure to HVAC Engineer Community Rep Could Not Break Through with Non-Stocked Larger Pool Dehumidifiers Lead Time and Price were Problems. Chinese were willing to Pay a Little More for US Manufactured Products, but not if they had to pay too much of a premium and the lead time was too long. We re Working on That.
In The Mean Time, The Middle East Beckoned Who Would Ever Thought They d Build Indoor Pools in One of the Hottest Places on Earth! Again, the Middle East Did Not Satisfy our Marketing Plan Criteria Attended Major HVAC Trade Show in 2005, 2006 and 2007 The Indoor Pool Dehumidification Market is Huge The US Name was Good Hired International Sales Manager of Middle Eastern Descent with 15 Years of US HVAC Sales Experience 2006. Located Sales Manager in Cairo. He Set up Rep Offices in UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Lebanon, Oman, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia Securing Orders for Burj Dubai and Palaces of Royal Families in UAE. Margins are less Than Those in US, but getting better.
PoolPaks Are Now Installed in the Following Countries Canada China South Korea Egypt Japan Australia Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Spain Latvia Russia Turkey Chile Argentina Uruguay Bermuda We Have Over 4000 PoolPak Products Installed Worldwide
Lessons Learned Small Companies Like PoolPak Cannot Afford Massive International Marketing Assaults. Have to Take Low Cost Road You Have to Take Your Company to the Foreign Market, It Won t Beat a Path to Your Door Must Establish Sales Reps in the Foreign Country - Don t Expect Success Via Correspondence You Have to Develop First Name Relationship with Your Reps They DON T speak English over there.
Lessons Learned Our Foreign Reps MUST Get Factory Training Margins in the Early Stages Will be Competitive Become Really Knowledgeable About International Letters of Credit, Trade Terminology, Or You Won t Get Your Money. Make Sure Your Bank has Foreign Trade Expertise Be Really Flexible, Agile and Respond Quickly to International Opportunities And
Enjoy The Journey Sightseeing Interesting Food Shopping
Enjoy The Journey (Cont.)
Thanks Questions?