Building a global footprint in this economy
Just before the holidays, I had the opportunity to speak with Gianni Burzi, who is the managing partner at Adivent, a Swiss-based company that can be considered to be a virtual European sales organization.
The economic challenges facing us in North America are being felt around the world, but not all telecom markets are in the same state of competitive development. Various national governments are promoting increased capital spending in next generation infrastructure and others are welcoming new carriers placing initial investments.
As a result, I suspect there are opportunities to be found for companies that are able to navigate the processes that are unique to each culture – both national and corporate.
Enter Adivent, a sales outsourcing company specializing in European telecommunications, which guarantees that it can put a sales team in operation within four weeks of signing on, far faster than you could achieve in-house and avoiding a lot of red-tape.
To establish a basic sales team in any European country requires tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, taxes, recruiting costs and travel expenses. Year to year, operations require almost the same amount. With Adivent, there are no startup costs and no recurring fixed costs.
It seems to me that outsourced sales solutions like Adivent provide opportunities for Canada’s innovative technology companies to rapidly adjust to challenging markets in North America and explore the other side of world.
We have colleagues working on similar ventures in China. How are you managing these days?