06 November 2009 - A poll carried out by
language services provider, Applied Language Solutions, has
identified that four out of five businesses surveyed are either
exporting currently or plan to export in the coming year. The poll,
which was taken during the company's webinar on selling to
non-English speaking customers which took place on Tuesday morning,
highlights the positive attitude to sales growth that many
companies are demonstrating, as they begin to look out for the
first signs of economic recovery.
The webinar was set up as part of a five part Exporting series,
run by Google, to offer information and advice to businesses on all
aspects of exporting, from country research to product marketing.
Applied Language Solutions focused its discussion around the use of
translation and localization to sell to non-English speakers, with
the motivation for businesses being that customers are four times
more likely to buy in their own language.
Commenting on the opinions gathered during the company's
webinar, Gavin Wheeldon, CEO of Applied Language Solutions, said:
"We set out to provide some practical tips to businesses on selling
in other languages and we expected that we might have a tough crowd
to convince of the benefits of exporting. The feedback via our
polling was very promising however, with 57% of the companies
polled saying that they are already starting to export and another
26% saying that they fully intend to get exporting in the near
future. We had expected there to be more of a reluctance to take
this step and this proves that SMEs have no plans to be risk averse
in the coming months, despite predictions of a slow recovery."
When asked what might prevent companies from implementing an
export strategy, some stated that they were concerned about their
lack of experience in foreign markets while others sited language
barriers being something that might put them off. Although there is
positive sentiment amongst the businesses polled however, Gavin
Wheeldon believes that the 75,000 UK businesses currently exporting
outside the UK isn't enough, when the potential revenue from
international markets could be a vital lifeline for SMEs emerging
from the recession.
Wheeldon continued: "There is so much support out there for
business looking to expand overseas, particularly using an online
presence, and things like language and cultural differences don't
need to be seen as a blocker to growth. In fact, companies should
be considering implementing their export strategies now while the
pound is still weak and the UK remains an attractive place to buy
from. Although we only carried out a small poll on this occasion,
the respondents clearly showed that, in their opinion, exporting
still presents a fantastic growth opportunity."
Applied Language Solutions teamed up with Google, Royal Mail,
HSBC, Alibaba.com and UKTI earlier this year to launch Export Box,
a pre-packaged low cost starter service for businesses looking to
trade internationally. The model has recently been adjusted into
price bandings, to encourage businesses of all sizes, with varying
budgets, to enquire about how the service can help them to get
exporting.
Details around Export Box, which is available in packages
starting at £1000, can be found www.exportbox.co.uk.