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You are an IT or Content provider, typically located in US or Europe. Part of your strategy includes Latin America, a brave new world plenty of oddities. You have a message to be delivered to this region. It is a simple message for you -probably not for your LATAM prospects-. How to overcome the cultural differences in the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecom) ecosystem? How to start in a flexible scheme with a partner?
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Snark Consulting: doing TMT (*) business in LATAM
September 2014 (*): TMT = technology, media, telecom
Introduction
§ Snark Consulting has 10 years of consulting and bizdev experience in LATAM, with a focus on startups and new players.
§ TMT (technology, media, telecom) is a constantly evolving area that demands specific skills, both in consulting and sales.
§ You do not need a large structure to start doing business in LATAM if your message makes sense and your roadmap is well planned.
Snark Consulting methodology
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Context Goal Roadmap Operation
Fine tuning
Follow-‐up Closure/ Delivery
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Focus on 3 groups and 8 cities § Latam region TMT economy is easy to describe.
ú One third Telefonica ú One third Claro ú One third “the remaining players”.
§ Region is vast so roadmaps are challenging but not impossible.
§ Meetings should be focused in 8 cities:
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Context
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ú Sao Paulo (Brazil) ú Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) ú Mexico DF (Mexico) ú Buenos Aires (ARG)
ú Santiago (Chile) ú Bogotá (Colombia) ú Lima (Perú) ú Montevideo (Uruguay).
Context: being there
§ Doing business in LATAM is an experience with some particularities.
§ What you should expect: ú Cultural differences, delays, tricky final negotiations ú Your people needs to be fluent in Spanish and Portuguese ú Communication in English is frowned upon
§ The answer is“ahorita” in Mexico and “ya, po” in Chile. ú Both means delays. You must adapt to local nuances. ú Literal meaning is often misleading. ú Forget about making business in January or during important football
matches.
§ It is a good idea to outsource sales operations locally.
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Context
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2 – Building a common goal
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§ Prioritize accounts and activities § Build a common contacts database.
§ Expect a lot of communication during the first month with us. ú Exchange of information ú Frequent Skype calls. ú New branding: email accounts, personal cards, etc. ú Design of introductory emails.
§ Once we understand which accounts are paramount, Snark will start operations in sync with your strategy.
§ In about two weeks we are ready to go!
Goal
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3 – Roadmaps include “sales kits”
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§ A “sales kit” is both the message and the medium § What is the message that needs communicating?
ú A new platform, an innovative business plan, or the best way to publish new content?
§ Do you fully understand the driver for each operator? ú Is it Capex reduction, a better branding, or customer satisfaction?
§ How does your product or service differ from your competitors'? ú Is it necessary to adjust your web site by including Spanish or Portuguese material?
§ Documentation to be shared with Snark: ú White papers, Press Releases or Customer Satisfaction analysis. ú A simple spreadsheet describing the business model. ú A couple of slides decks, either with a BP for “handshakers” or technical info for CTOs
§ Snark Consulting can collaborate on a documentation and website revamp if required.
Roadmap
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4 – Approaching the prospect
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§ This is the “business as usual” part of the operation. § A key message is sent to a predefined set of prospects
§ Difficulties to be overcome: ú Understanding: not all prospects require the same message ú Time: we need to work previously on Skype calls and mails before going “face
to face” with clients ú Expenses: travels, events and meetings should be optimized.
§ Adjusting the output: ú After initial meetings a proposal is usually sent. ú Negotiation is managed following vendor approval.
Operation
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5 – Follow-‐up
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§ Reporting is built in to our process ú A weekly Skype call of about an hour provides status. ú A weekly follow-‐up document is good practice so that key players are on the
same page. ú Evaluating a prospects is more challenging and requires consensus ú Can we agree on a single spreadsheet to evaluate a deal? ú Do we have a common set of criteria on how to close deals?
§ When delivering the proposal ú Do we have a 10-‐page document including all aspects of the deal? ú Can these aspects be summarized in one page?
§ Is it possible to share LATAM best practices with other regions currently in operation? ú For example: Latam and APAC are very similar in terms of mobile, piracy and
content.
Follow-‐up
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6 – Closing a deal and delivery
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§ A deal is achieved under a given criteria ú ARPU driven (revenue flows on a given period) ú Leverage on some accounts (i.e. Global Client perspective) ú Strategy (to be first on a given market or a given technology)
§ Recommendation fees, channels interference, and other incidents. ú Unforeseen incidents will often appear. Sound the alarm and we can dismantle
these explosive situations together.
§ Anticipate steps required after closing. ú Delivery plans. ú Extra resources needed to manage the new account. ú Press releases.
Closure / Delivery
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7 – Fine Tuning
§ Overall strategies are adjusted on a six month period. § This is a win-‐win:
ú Snark brings to the table 150 contacts in Marketing, Finance and IT from Telcos, Cable operators, Content providers and Integrators.
ú Snark provides local skills and people doing business with our own contacts ú You provide the services, goals, and the overall strategy..
§ So let´s share ideas and stay tuned!
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Fine tuning
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Bonus track
