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Choosing a Foreign Representative
This checklist will help you decide the criteria for choosing a good foreign business partner.

Choosing a Foreign Representative

When you are ready to choose a foreign representative or distributor, use this checklist to assess if it will be a good match. Tailor it to your company’s needs. Key factors vary significantly with the products and countries involved.  

Size of Sales Force  

  • How many field salespeople does the representative or distributor have?

  • What are the short- and long-range expansion plans, if any? 

  • Would it need to expand to accommodate your account properly? If so, would it be willing to do so? 

Sales Record  

  • Has its sales growth been consistent? If not, why not? Try to determine its sales volume for the past five years. 

  • What is the average sales volume per outside salesperson? 

  • What are its sales objectives for next year? How were they determined? 

Territorial Analysis  

  • What sales territory does it now cover? 

  • Is it consistent with the coverage you desire? If not, is it able and willing to expand? 

  • Does it have any branch offices in the territory to be covered? 

  • If so, are they located where your sales prospects are greatest? 

  • Does it have any plans to open additional offices? 

Product Mix  

  • How many product lines does it represent? 

  • Are these product lines compatible with yours? 

  • Would there be any conflict of interest? 

  • Does it represent any other U.S. firms? If so, which ones? (names and addresses) 

  • If necessary, would it be willing to alter its present product mix to accommodate yours? 

  • What would be the minimum sales volume needed to justify its handling your lines? Do its sales projections reflect this minimum figure? From what you know of the territory and the prospective representative or distributor, is the projection realistic? 

Facilities and Equipment  

  • Does it have adequate warehouse facilities? 

  • What is the method of stock control? 

  • Does it use computers? Are they compatible with yours? 

  • What communications facilities does it have (fax, modem, telex, etc.)? 

  • If your product requires servicing, is it equipped and qualified to do so? If not, is it willing to acquire the needed equipment and arrange for necessary training? To what extent will you have to share the training cost? 

  • If necessary and customary, is it willing to inventory repair parts and replacement items? 

Marketing Policies  

  • How is the sales staff compensated? 

  • Does it have special incentives or motivation programs? 

  • Does it use product managers to coordinate sales efforts for specific product lines? 

  • How does it monitor sales performance?  

  • How does it train its sales staff?  

  • Would it pay or share expenses for its sales personnel to attend factory-sponsored seminars?  

Customer Profile  

  • What kinds of customers is it currently contacting? 

  • Are its interests compatible with your product line? 

  • Who are the key accounts? 

  • What percentage of the total gross receipts do these key accounts represent?  

Principals Represented  

  • How many principals is it currently representing?  

  • Would you be its primary supplier?  

  • If not, what percentage of the total business would you represent? How does this percentage compare with other suppliers?  

Promotional Thrust  

  • Can it help you compile market research information to be used in making forecasts?  

  • What media does it use, if any, to promote sales? 

  • How much of the budget is allocated to advertising? How is it distributed among various principals?  

  • Will you be expected to contribute funds for promotional purposes?  

  • How will the amount be determined?  

  • If it uses direct mail, how many prospects are on the mailing list?  

  • What type of brochure does it use to describe the company and the products that it represents?  

  • If necessary, can it translate your advertising copy?  

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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