For anyone just tuning in, this series of posts is my attempt to describe one of the busiest weeks; I’ve had in a long while.

In part one; I talked about our second SLI meet up “From the Buyers Perspective” and in part two and three about our International Partnership events “International Success for Tech Companies”

Thursday: IT@Cork Internationalisation Event

The it@cork is a member-driven not-for-profit business association representing the interests of ICT professionals which has over 280 corporate members based in the Cork region.

Again Dave Brock enthralled with another presentation and talk about the challenges of Internationalisation. This was Dave’s 4th talk of the week to an Irish audience, his ability to teach, to communicate and to engage as fresh as ever. Had Dave been an Irish man, he would in my opinion have come from the People’s Republic of Cork….a Roy Keane or Christy Ring of the sales world!

Since Dave has settled back home in sunny California, he has written two blog posts about his trip to Ireland. They are Intensity, Clarity, and Purposefulness & The Courage To Admit You Are Wrong make sure you check them out, I think he likes us :).

Just after Dave on the day was Pat Phelan of MaxRoam. Talk about a brilliant Irish technology business! MAXroam have negotiated voice deals with more than 700 mobile carriers in over 213 countries and data deals in 139 countries across the globe. Through these international partnerships, they now offer up to 80% lower roaming charges to people all over the world by simply replacing your regular SIM with your MAXroam SIM card.

Pat talked honestly about having to completely change their route to market strategies mid stream, and how ultimately this realisation has led to their great success. He talked about the long hours and challenges of dealing with so many different time zones and the pressure it puts of the support mechanisms within the business.

Interestingly to me he also talked about how he has so effectively used social networking to identify and capitalise on new business opportunities. In fact, he only uses social marketing!

As he talked, a thought struck me… could Pat Phelan be the most sophisticated user of social media in Ireland? I think he very well may be - particularly if you consider how quickly he has grown the biz to a multi million organisation. It was our 3rd inspirational talk from a leading Irish Tech entrepreneur that week.

Friday: Digest and Catch Up!

Our tech leaders are now intrinsically tied to our economic recovery, not only that, they are fundamentally important people, if we are ever hoping to realise our aspirations of becoming a smart economy.

Irish software companies are born International, there is no choice! We may be good at supporting them but we need to get better, there is no choice! The International Partnership, bringing ladies and gentlemen of the calibre of Dave Brock to these shores and getting International results is something I intend to see happen.

In the meantime…..Phew!!… That was some week.

In part one; I talked about our second SLI meet up “From the Buyers Perspective” and in part two about our morning International Partnership event “International Success for Tech Companies”

Tuesday: The International Partnership – International Success for Tech Companies (Afternoon Session)

As already stated, the interest in this took us by surprise so we ended up holding a second session on Tuesday afternoon. The running order followed a similar pattern to the morning event, with both Donagh and Dave speaking again (see part two)

However this time first up was Paddy Holahan. Paddy is CEO of Newbay Software, a leader in digital lifestyle solutions for operators, enabling subscribers to create, store, view and share user content. Paddy brings huge experience in the Irish tech sector, having previously been Executive Vice President of Marketing & Product Management at Baltimore Technologies.

He spoke at length about his humble beginnings and how he managed to grow the various Irish software businesses that he has been involved with. Paddy is a straight talker, someone who is not afraid to call it as he sees it - but I think what impressed everyone most was his incredible focus.

He demonstrated an ability to back his own judgement, sometimes against the advice of others - but more often than not proving his was the right course to take. As a fellow Tipp man, I have to say - I liked his style.

Again, the quality of the people that attended was reflected in the intelligent dialogue and engagement that ensued all afternoon. As the risk of repeating myself, the Irish tech sector is in good hands. It’s the rest of us that need to make sure we adequately support our tech leaders - I for one, intend to make that happen.

Wednesday: Day of Rest? Yeah Right!

I travelled from Dublin to Tipp on Wednesday, happy in knowledge that the previous two days events had exceeded my expectations. I had intended to do a little work in the afternoon; I also knew I had a conference call with Jonathan Farrington and the Top Sales Experts International team that evening.

Irish Biz Blog Network

On the way down, I put a call into Fred and Facundo at Channelship. The guys and I have teamed up to launch Ireland’s first Biz Blogging Network.

Now I have always believed that best way to get stuff done is to simply trust the right people and then let them do their thing. I don’t want to give too much away just yet, but let’s just say it was another expectation exceeded. I would seriously encourage you to watch this space and Channelship because they are rightly becoming leaders in their field.

Here’s a recent Slideshare from Channelship.

TSE, the Greatest Show on Earth!

All that was left was the conference with TSE, and boy, did Jonathan have lots of exciting news. I am not sure that there is someone doing more for the profession of selling than Jonathan.

Again, I need to remain tight lipped for now but let’s just say there are a serious of BIG announcements planned over the coming months. If you haven’t checked TSE out yet, click on the banner – It is already an incredible sales resource and is on the way to becoming the one-stop shop for sales info on the planet.

Next up, was Thursday, which was the IT of Cork meet up and another very successful Irish entrepreneur – who may also double to be the most successful social networker in the land??

In part one, I talked about the second Sales Leadership Ireland meet up on Monday and the wonderful dialogue that resulted…….So on to Tuesday.

Tuesday: The International Partnership – International Success for Tech Companies.

These were two events (morning and afternoon) organised by myself, Donagh Kiernan of Maidsfield Associates and Dave Brock of Partners of Excellence to kick off our three-way International Partnership.

First up on the day was Kevin O Leary, CEO of QUMAS, an Irish company that provides compliance management software to the world’s leading blue chip companies. Kevin is an inspiring and charismatic presenter, and his story is one of continued success.

As part of his unique and engaging presentation, Kevin waked us through the actual pipeline of the business. He talked about why hiring a capable and analytical sales manager was a critical component of their success.

QUMAS have grown their business substantially in a very short space of time through strategic global partnerships. It’s a wonderful success story and Kevin was very kind in sharing his insights and learning with us, an entirely captivated audience throughout.

Next up was Donagh Kiernan who has worked closely with Kevin over the years in identifying the right fit International partners. Taking us through his step by step process, he talked about how he researches and creates the ecosystem of the particular market. While Donagh’s methods may be scientific, he stressed why instinct is still an important factor in arriving at a decision. It was an insightful presentation from Donagh that complimented Kevin’s earlier delivery.

Our third and final presentation was from Dave Brock, this would be Dave’s second of three presentations in only two days. Dave brought a truly global perspective, his IBM background, his experience as an investor in software companies and his huge consulting experience with his firm Partners in Excellence.

Dave has worked with the virtually every player of the global tech landscape, his experience shining through as he talked about the different strategies he implemented over the years. He talked about how it is possible for a big company to love a smaller one to death, the pesky details that can wreck International relationships and which strategy you employ really depends on a great many factors.

All three presentations were interoperable in nature and the questions and dialogue from those that attended was intelligent and though provoking. The Irish tech sector appears to me to be in many good hands.

Because of the level of interest in this event, we had to run an additional session in the afternoon. This proved equally engaging but more on that in part three.

Internationalisation is the biggest single challenge facing the Irish Tech Sector today. Having ambition in Ireland, means you’re looking international quickly. Irish Tech companies almost immediately face great challenges to make their business successful.

On Tuesday the 29th of September 2009, between 10am to 2pm at the Hampton hotel in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, we invite CEO s of Irish Technology Companies to join us - Register Today, limited to 30 attendees.

The event will present talks from leading International and Irish experts, case studies from successful indigenous Irish Technology companies, and an opportunity to discuss the challenges and pitfalls of the International business landscape with your peers.

On the back of their recent partnership announcement Donagh Kiernan of Maidsfield Associates, Niall Devitt of Beyond the Boardroom and David Brock from Los Angeles based Partners In EXCELLENCE along with guest Kevin O’Leary CEO of Qumas, the internationally successful Irish software company, will present and discuss how Irish technology companies can to succeed in international markets.

The Partners In EXCELLENCE, Beyond the Boardroom and Maidsfield Associates Strategic Partnership’s focus is to help Irish Technology companies accelerate the results they achieve through their Internationalisation efforts. The partnership brings together experience and track record in helping companies successfully expand globally. Leveraging the capabilities to access new regions, markets, develop new channels and alliances; this partnership will help Irish Technologies improve the results they achieve in competing in a global market.

Whether your organisation is seeking to go international or already trading abroad the internationalisation partnership can assist you to ensure you achieve the highest levels of performance and the best results possible.

Together, Maidsfield Associates, Beyond the Boardroom and Partners In EXCELLENCE have helped Irish and other organizations achieve tremendous results in Internationalising. Organizations like Qumas, InnerWorkings, Decare Systems Ireland, Helix Health, Dolphin Software, Enterprise Ireland, IBM, HP, Canon, Motorola, Ericsson, Dassault Systemes, NCR, and others.

Timetable

10:00 Arrive, Coffee and Registration
10:30 Welcome and Introduction - Donagh Kiernan & Niall Devitt
10:40 Corporate Partnering into Markets - Donagh Kiernan
Guest: Kevin O’Leary, CEO Qumas
11:20 Hi Tech Globalisation Options - David Brock
11:50 Internationalisation Workshop - facilitated by Niall Devitt
Breaking into roundtables / groups and discussing internationalisation challenges and potential solutions
13:10 Lunch and Networking
14:00 Close

Attendees are limited to 30 - register today

Btb Guest Author

Donagh Kiernan

With Ireland being such a small market, many start-up software companies start with internationalisation in their plans. Many make moves internationally too soon or with too little knowledge and experience of making their business a success in their initial markets. I’m not referring to any lack of business knowledge or experience of the management team, but to the fact that it takes time for businesses to learn what really works for the business.

Many successful international Irish CEOs would give some variations on this advice about going international:

1. Understand what it is to sell and deliver your offering in your initial market first before considering going international.

The challenges in doing business in a new market are sufficient enough without having to learn the basic lessons in how to communicate, sell, deliver and support your offerings as well. You need to be building on the strong track record of your initial market to be credible in your first internationally market. You should really know your Value Proposition for your target market.

2. The business should understand its key business processes.

I’m not talking about becoming over corporate or bureaucratic but simply that everyone in the business has the same understanding of how things are done. When it gets busy, does your business operate efficiently through a series of processes or does it over depend on too few people?

3. Do you really know your target international market?

Is the buyer’s ‘Customer Journey’ the same as in your initial market? Do buyers value the same things? Does the competitive landscape in this market negate your current Value Proposition? Do a ‘Value Map’ with the market’s buying criteria comparing you against your competitors for your specific target market. Validate your assessment with prospective clients in your new market, as market research.

4. Leverage of your existing customers successes.

Can some or one of your existing customers bring you into your target international market? Do they have a sister or associate company that they could refer you into? Gaining a reference customer in the market is great start.

5. Focus on getting your beach-head customer so limit the number of target customers to get started.

Don’t go chasing 20 prospective target customers to get started. It takes time to understand the needs of 20 companies and build relationships with the decision makers. It’s better to really focus on the ones that you know you can deliver real value to and make it easy for them to buy. Get a little business from them and then build on it. Meanwhile don’t lose focus on continuing to build success in your initial market.

6. A local presence in the market is not always necessary but helps.

It depends on your product or service on whether you need a local team to sell, deliver or support your offering. This could be achieved with local support partners who are also gaining business from the sale. There are many different types of partners that might suit; it depends on your business. The selection of the right type and best-fit partners is a key component of what Maidsfield offer in its services to Irish software companies.

7. Should you Sell Direct or through Partners?

Selling direct is faster, more expensive and of greater risk. Going through Partners is slower, mush less expensive and much more cautious, as long as you pick the right partners to suit your business objectives. A hybrid model would be you sell direct with the support of a local support partner, thereby you get the local knowledge and maybe delivery and after sales support from the partner but you bring the domain expertise to close the sale. Maidsfield provide services in identifying and opening doors with the best-fit partners for your business.

There are many variations within the points above depending on your particular business but the principle are basically the same.

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Donagh Kiernan is the founder of Maidsfield Associates, a business development consulting company providing services to established internationally focussed technology companies. He has 20 years experience in working in, owning, driving and delivering results with international focussed Irish technology companies. In 2007/2008 Donagh was selected by Enterprise Ireland as one of 32 Irish business leaders to participate in a year long “Leadership for Growth Programme” for globally focused business leaders delivered by the prestigious Stanford University in California. He is an active contributor to Irish Technology industry development organisations through it@cork, NSC Campus, Irish Software Association, CIT Alumni and on Enterprise Ireland initiatives.

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