• understand the qualitities, attitude and competences of today’s successful sales people
• understand how to present the benefits delivered by a product or service and to effectively communicate competitive advantage
• introduce an effective sales process and methodology that can be used and adapted to different sales situations
• gain an understanding of the customer’s buying process and motivations
• learn how to overcome buyer objections
• obtain skills to help you to close the sale

For more details and to book a place click here.

Map of Poland

This week Handel Export is officially launching a new trade development programme to Poland in cooperation with our partners, the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Invest NI. The purpose of the project is to enable Northern Irish companies to gain fast-track access to contacts and business opportunities in the Polish market and to build trading relationships with their Polish counterparts. The Trade development Programme encompasses a market visit to Warsaw which will take place from the 26th – 30th October 2009.

 This project will be the 7th such venture that Handel Export and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce have carried out to Poland in the last several years. Numerous Northern Irish companies have participated, this has facilitated trading relations with Polish partners. Many Northern Ireland companies have established offices in Poland, sourced Polish suppliers, established distribution networks for their products and services and established strategic alliances with Polish partners.

There are many opportunities in the Polish market for goods and services across a wide range of business sectors. Poland is one of the few countries in the EU to maintain a rate of positive economic growth despite the downturn. In the first quarter of 2009 Poland’s economic growth rate was 0.8% and is anticipated to be 2% next year.

Handel Export provides the following services to participating companies:

• Market research on industry background and potential business partners
• Short listing of relevant contacts
• Setting up a detailed itinerary of meetings with appropriate contacts in Poland (each company has their own itinerary of companies to meet with during the market visit)
• Translation of the company profile into Polish
• Company profile in Polish posted on the project website www.getworkeu.com
• Training workshop (1/2 day) on how to develop successful business in Poland
• Pre-market visit briefing
• In-market publicity with relevant Trade Associations, business partners etc.
• Assistance with follow-up after the market visit

The cost of participation on the programme and the assistance package is £800 plus VAT. Travel costs are additional but also benefit from grant assistance from Invest NI – 50% of flight costs plus £100 per night for hotel costs. Places on the programme are limited to 10 companies.

For an application form contact us at info(at)handelexport.com or by telephone: 028 9092 3378.

Read what our clients have said about our services in our Testimonials Section

Warsaw old town

The Ireland Poland Business Association (IPBA)is a well-established bilateral trade association whose main objective is to promote trade and business relations between the island of Ireland and Poland. At the invitation of the Honorary Consul for Poland in Northern Ireland, the IBPA has decided to form a branch in Northern Ireland.

The launch of this association will take place on Friday 5th June 2009 at 12.00 noon at the Canal Court Hotel, Merchant’s Quay, Newry. A light lunch will be served at 1.15pm. The event will give participants an overview of the many opportunities available to companies looking for new markets or to grow existing business interests in Poland. Speakers at the event will outline the business opportunities in the Polish market, as well as the benefits of membership of the Northern Ireland Poland Business Association.

Topics and speakers are as follows:

Opening address: Seamus McCaffrey, Chairman, Ireland Poland Business Association

Poland – an overview of the current economic climate: Jerzy Bartosik, 1st Counsellor (Commercial), Embassy of Poland in Dublin

Overview and benefits of the IPBA: Seamus McCaffrey

Practical experience of doing business in Poland: Eamonn Crowley, AIB CEE Division & Matthew Creagh, CQS Chartered Surveyors

Northern Ireland & Poland: an overview: Jerome Mullen, Honorary Consul for Poland in Northern Ireland

R.S.V.P. Tess Byrne: admin@irelandpoland.com or +353 87 317 1960.

Part 2: Failure to carry out sufficient or appropriate market research

Carrying out good market research prior to entering a new market is vital for a number of reasons, not least for saving you time and money through making sure you get it right first time.

The more information you have on your target market, the better your ability to make informed decisions on the best strategy for business development. This is particularly important for SMEs where they may have very limited resources to develop their export activities. Many companies will approach new markets in an ad hoc way, especially in SMEs where the owner / manager is the key person looking after export development as well as one hundred other things! Sometimes they do not see the merit in spending time on market research, although this is ultimately short-sighted – although market research is time consuming, it is one of the most effective ways of saving you money in the long term.

Detailed information is required on your competitors, the structure of the market, who your potential customers are, what the market size is, what the product and service requirements are, and relevant legislation in the market. Other general information is also important such as background on the politics and economics of the country, and one of the most important things of all – finding out about the culture of the country and how business is conducted there.

The most successful exporters and export sales people we know are those who make an effort to find out as much as possible about the market they are doing business with, not just in advance of their first market visit, but also during their market visit. Showing an interest in the market and people you are doing business with goes a long way to establishing successful business relationships. Spending extra time in the market, going early and spending the weekend there to get a feel for the country can really help you to understand how the market ticks, what will work and what will not work in terms of sales and marketing.

Handel Export offers a market research service to exporters, to provide them with key market information to enable the company to make the right decisions about how to approach a new market, without burdening them with reams of information that reduces their will to live! Contact us for more information on our services.

Poland is the largest new European Union member with great business opportunities created by the size of the Polish market, the low labour costs, perspectives for economic growth and the availability of well educated personnel. Poland is divided into 16 voivodships. Each of these regions has its own specific character and offers different business opportunities. Poland benefits from the largest amount of EU Funds of any beneficiary EU member state: over €67 billion is available for the development of its infrastructure and workforce until 2013.

Poland is not only a dynamic economy – it is a very nice place to spend time with its beaches, large woodland complexes, lakes and mountains, beautiful small towns and lively large cities.

Guest speakers from Poland and Ireland will focus on:

• Poland’s Regional Policy – Opportunities through the European Structural and Social Funds
• Presentation of different regions, Special Economic Zones and Technology Parks
• Poland as an attractive tourist destination
• Valuable lessons from Irish companies operating in Poland
• Guidelines from Enterprise Ireland on ‘Doing Business in Poland’

A detailed programme for the event will be circulated shortly. The conference is free of charge (lunch included), book early to secure your place. To register for the event contact the Trade and Investment Section of the Polish Embassy on +353 1 269 1370 or email promotion.dublin@trade.gov.pl

Irish unemployment is currently at 10.4%. The construction scetor has taken a particularly sharp fall and has led to many skilled workers such as bricklayers, plasterers etc. being made redundant. These are some of the workers that countries like Australia are hoping to recruit. The Irish government has predicted that the economy will contract by 6.5%  this year, making opportunities overseas ever more attractive.