Advice for exporters
Your business relies on being able to communicate with your customers. These pages have advice on how to make yourself understood, and advise on what to do to get the best response from your international partners and clients.
What do you need?
Translation of marketing materials / business communications
You put time and effort into marketing your product. By translating your marketing materials, you ensure that the information your customers receive is accurate and accessible, and your company and product will stand out from your competitors.
Translating your business communications can result in faster response times, and ensures that all the right people get the information you want, not just the person who speaks English.
Interpreting
Hiring an interpreter ensures that information is shared accurately, at meetings or conferences, exhibitions, training sessions, or over the phone. Interpreters have different specialisms, and use many different techniques: it is important to plan your use of an interpreter to achieve the greatest benefit.
Language training
Having knowledge of the language of your markets means that you can communicate socially with your overseas contacts, which helps to build relationships. Understanding the language gives you the confidence to deal with people and reinforces your image as someone to be taken seriously. Colleagues who have language skills may need training to brush up their fluency.
Cultural consultancy
Cultural awareness means understanding the business practices and expectations of your overseas customers. The importance of culture should not be underestimated: it is an issue in countries where the native language is English as much as those where it is not. Understanding what to expect, and what your counterparts expect of you, can improve relationships, speed negotiations and help avoid misunderstandings and even causing offence.
Free Guides
RLN SW provides free guides from adapting your brand for an overseas audience to commissioning services from language and cultural professionals, and many more.
Free advice for business from other organisations
Three organisations that can help you are:
UK Trade and Investment for companies that are already involved in, or thinking about, trading overseas.
Phone 0845 606 0969 or look online at www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk
Business Link for free business advice and support online and through local advisors
Phone 0845 600 9006 or look online at www.BusinessLink.gov.uk
Train to Gain to help you to:
• Identify the skills that will boost your business
• Create a tailored training package
• Find local training
• Find funding
• Evaluate the impact of the training
Even more money is being made available by the government for training. Specific short courses are supported for different business sectors and for staff at all levels of your business from production to management. If you employ fewer than 50 people you may be eligible for a contribution to wage costs to cover the cost of time off to train. A skills broker will talk you through the process.
Phone 0800 015 5545 or look online at www.traintogain.gov.uk
Tourism Businesses
Advice for tourism businesses to attract and deal with overseas visitors.
Business Culture
Communicating across cultures
Advice and a six-point plan to bear in mind when conducting business abroad, first published in Overseas Trade
Export Communications Review
If you have been exporting for at least two years, an Export Communications Review could help. At a subsidised rate, a mentor will assess your export communications and make practical recommendations for improvement and greater profitability.
Find out more about Export Communications Reviews
