An Exporter Mission can also be an excellent way of promoting and selling your products in the target market. While the main objective of an exporter mission is to establish contacts which lead eventually to firm commercial cooperation with buyers,another important objective is to learn more accurately about the market, and how to approach it, by experiencing it firsthand. Indeed, participants should approach a mission with a view to the long term and focus on market research, developing your market plan and establishing working relations with Importers and industry members. Visiting the market enables you to learn about the current situation and conditions for your product – the competition, trends, the retail picture, etc. – so that you can better evaluate how to market your product, where your product fits in and whether there is need to rework, adapt, market differently, or otherwise rework your product and marketing approach.

Exporter Missions are often organized by Associations, Trade Promotion Organization (locally or internationally) and/or the trade office of your local Embassy, High Commission in the target market. Often they are organized in conjunction with a trade event taking place in the target country. Be sure to register your company and objectives with these entities (get yourself on their active contact/mailing list if possible) to be aware of any such activities that might be taking place regarding your product sector. There is usually, but not always, some sort of cost sharing involved so be sure to accurately identify all such costs in advance and make provisions accordingly (even participation in missions that are “entirely paid for”, say by an international trade promotion group, will eventually incur some costs to your business).

There are also private companies located in target markets (possibly in your domestic market as well) that organize trade missions. You can find such companies by searching the internet or by asking your country’s trade missions abroad. It might be useful to contact such companies to find out the costs involved in organizing an exporter mission. You may consider organizing a group of companies (from your country) together to share the costs, but care must be taken to avoid direct competition by the mission participants. It is best if the products are complementary but not targeting directly the same market segments.

In any case, you should be prepared for extensive advance preparation and to cooperate fully with the organizing partner. Some of the things that you will need to attend to include the following:

Note: Some of these items will be coordinated by the organizer but you will still have to be involved at some level to facilitate the preparation process.