The Write Way to Export
Ventris Learning of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin produces culturally and linguistically responsive teaching resources which enable teachers to meet the unique instructional needs of linguistically diverse students. While the company had made several sales to a few countries, the company wanted data-driven support in furthering its market entry strategy internationally.
After hearing about a new market research service, in January of 2021, Robert Meyer of Ventris Learning met with a team from the U.S. Commercial Service’s Rural Export Center to discuss market research assistance available through the U.S. Commercial Service. After reviewing the various research options, Ventris Learning decided to conduct Polling in six countries in order to select three countries for in-depth research.
Koreen Grube, director of the U.S. Commercial Service Wisconsin, reached out to commercial specialists in each of the six identified markets. Ventris Learning chose three top markets for in-depth Country Reports based on the feedback from the six Polling countries.
After researching the educational structure, literacy testing, speech pathology, and disability instruction trends in the three countries, the Rural Export Center prioritized the markets and presented the full 44-page report on June 20, 2021, with 45 potential partners in the three countries.
Since receiving the report, Robert has actively used the RAISE report. When a leading Australian distributor of literacy materials approached the company, Robert was able to verify the distributor was on the RAISE report’s potential partner list and was qualified as a strong potential partner. Robert has since reached an agreement with the company to be an exclusive reseller/distributor for Australia and New Zealand.
Robert now is targeting Canada and will continue to consult the report for the next few years as his business continues to grow. He also hopes to open an office and hire more staff as in the last year, the company released a new product and has had to quadruple its production.
Robert found the RAISE report extremely comprehensive and informative.
“Managing a smaller company like ours makes it very difficult to dedicate the necessary amount of focused time that your team obviously spent preparing the report, and your in-country connections were able to obviously provide the kind of insights that would take a US business like ours a great deal of time (and probably a trip/conference) to research by ourselves. […] All of this is very time-saving and will help me much more quickly ascertain which prospective partners will make sense to initially approach based on the nuances of our product line. Finally, the detailed, page-long list of recommendations is extremely helpful and will make it much easier for me to determine what action steps to take next. […] This report has definitely made me feel much more confident and prepared to begin investing in an export initiative in the country you recommended. Prior to this report, I’m not sure I would have done any further research into export possibilities on my own – I’m just too busy!”
In addition to the in-depth research, Robert requested a Website Globalization Review (WGR) from the Rural Export Center. This service reviews a company’s website and identified website issues and opportunities for growth, in an effort to bring in more website-based inquiries from global sources. This WGR amplifies Robert’s global strategy for Ventris Learning and provides better digital visibility not just internationally but also in the USA. Robert Meyer continues to work with Koreen Grube and CS Canada to explore market entry in the country.