Friday, November 30, 2012

3 Advantages of Working With an Executive Search Firm in Asia




Working with an Executive Search Firm in Asia insures that you make the right decision when hiring a person for your business.  

The costs of a bad hire can have negative results:

-Downtime in sales activities.
-Downtime in planning, operations and strategy.
-Downtime in expanding your business.
-Downtime period…

Why do people invest millions of dollars and significant time in Asia, then decide to skimp or save money on their recruiting costs by searching internally, posting on job boards, or, using a firm outside of Asia to find their person?

It just doesn`t work.  The paradigm I like to use is trying to fit a square into a round peg.  Over 50% or more of hires made with the above strategy result in the person leaving or being dismissed.  After 10+ years in Executive Search and Business Strategy Consulting, in both the US and Asia, you wouldn`t believe how many times I`ve seen this.

Companies can avoid this by partnering with a regional firm in Asia.  Here are 3 advantages of working with an Executive Search Firm in Asia and how it can aid you in your Talent Acquisition strategy:

1) Knowledge of Local Markets
Search Consultants based in Asia have clear advantages when understanding the local market.  A large-percentage of the Search Professionals will have an excellent understanding of the language, culture, business practices as well as access to candidates not available through the general market.

2) Time Zone
Being in the same time zone makes it easier to connect with potential candidates.  When you`re not working with a 16-hour time difference you can call, source and speak with people during the same business hours.  When a client hire is critical, being able to meet several candidates face-to-face and providing that information to the hiring company is very important and can`t be done when you live 5,000+ miles away.

3) Marketing & Customer Intelligence
Strategically partnering with a Search Firm in Asia broadens your company`s presence and brand in the market.  Through the organic process of search and touching several top-level candidates in the country, your company`s presence and impact gets naturally expanded.  Working with a Search Firm in Asia also will provide you on market intelligence regarding your industry.

It behooves companies who are not currently using Search Firms in Asia to reconsider given some of the convincing points above.

Feel free to let me know how you are currently implementing your Talent Acquistion strategy in Asia, we`d like to know. 

About the Author:
Howard Ichiro Lim is a bilingual and bicultural Business Strategy & Search Consultant.  He works in San Francisco and Tokyo spending half the year in each country to stay up-to-date on market information and keeping in touch with clients to better assist them on their US/Asia business strategy.  His company Incredible Consulting Group provides Business Consulting and Executive Search services in the US and Asia.


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

How To Outsource Some Of Your Work Through Crowdsourcing




If you run a small or medium-sized business, you may not have the people power or time to complete every important detail that arises through the course of business.  Such work like sorting, researching, writing product descriptions and translation work can be done through the Crowd.

The concept is simple, you register for sites like Amazon Mechanical Turk or Clickworker and submit what type of work you`d like completed.  The proposal is floated out the the Crowd (members of the community) and your work is finished by a competent professional with a background or skill set related to your project.

For example, let`s say you`re looking for someone to write a product description for an Account Software Add-on that your company is about to release, simply go to one of the above sites and register your company and statement of work and voila, its finished.

The good thing about these sites is that members are prescreened and qualified through resumes, qualifications and even testing modules to see if the person can really do what he or she claims she can do.

I haven`t used the sites myself, but, it seems like a growing trend and on a path to disintermediation of not having to use only a select number of companies to get the work done.


Friday, November 23, 2012

How To Use Social Media To Win New Clients




I was recently watching a very helpful youtube video on how to develop new clients through Social Media.  The video is about 30-minutes in length and goes over everything from how to find potential contacts in your relevant industry, to companies and ultimately the person who you should be communicating with, a.k.a., the decision maker.

The described methods use Linkedin as a medium.  Here is a brief step-by-step strategy that you can implement for your sales and business development strategy:

Step 1

Do a keyword search on your particular target industry or target market.  There are a number of tools out there, I would start off with the Google Adwords Keywords tool to become more familiar with how to do a keyword search, I would also recommend looking up articles and How-To videos on YouTube as they will give you additional insight into KeyWord search (even for seasoned practitioners).

Step 2

Enter your keyword or keyword phrase into Linkedin`s advanced search engine.   This will give you several hundreds to thousands of search results (people).  You can drill down even further by specifying country, region, and companies (all on the left-bar navigation on the search results).

Step 3

Contact your potential lead through Linkedin.  If you`re a paid subscriber you can use Linkedin`s iNmail to send an inquiry to him/her directly.  If you don`t have time to wait for a response, or, can gauge that the person is not accessing his/her Linkedin account that frequently, I would send a direct email to their corporate account.

You can do this through the following search string:

"email * * domain.com"

For example if Harry Potter worked at Price Waterhouse Coopers in London you would use the following search string:

email * * pricewaterhouse.com
email * * pwc.com

You would get a number of email aliases that have the domain name with Price Waterhouse and can deduct that harry.potter@pwc.com would be this individuals Corporate Email address.

Step 4

Sent an email of something of value, it may or may not register with her/him.  If you can follow up with a warm lead (perhaps a mutual connection or something of common between you two) this would be even better.

Example:

"Hi Harry,
I read your details through Linkedin.  I wasn`t sure how active you are on that account so I am contacting you directly, hope you don`t mind.  I understand you`re involved with the CRM software division for the Retail Industry.
My company CutRedTape.com has developed a CRM platform specifically for the Retail Industry.  We have a number of high-profile clients including WalMart, Uniqlo and other well-known names that are gaining great benefits through using our product.
I would like a few minutes of your time to see if we could discuss over the phone.  Even if you are not immediately interested or have a need, it will give us a chance to connect and network as peers in the industry".

Summary:

Using Social Media, specifically Linkedin in this case, is a great way for you to develop your sales pipeline!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

What Has And Has Not Worked For Me In International Sales



With over 10+ years logged in the Executive Search and Consulting Industry, I`ve come to realize that in order to be really effective, truly effective, and to be able to serve your clients well requires going the extra-mile, literally.

Like most Entrepreneurs, we learn what works and what doesn`t, mostly by the process of trial and error.

Social Media has definitely been a game changer when it comes to the way we can gain access to decision makers, connect and start a dialogue.  But at the end of the day, its the face-to-face meeting, establishing rapport and starting a beneficial relationship that results in the win-win deal.

So far, I`ve noticed what has and hasn`t worked in terms of creating good client partnerships.

This is what has worked for me:

Connecting with people at events, through the internet, via Skype or phone, that leads to an eventual face-to-face meeting.

Taking the initial meeting further by regularly contacting the person you met, perhaps on a Social Media Channel or via email and providing value-added advice.

Politely asking if there is ways that you can help the person, and, if that person can help you.

This is what has not worked for me:

Going to a networking event, but, not following up with the people you met, i.e., being to lazy to follow-up.

Cold calling people without any prior reference point, cold calls rarely succeed you need a warm call.

Running an International Company and just staying in your particular country.  I did this for the first year in Japan, this was a mistake, most clients are in the US.  You can`t expect to run an International Business without meeting the decision makers.

Lessons Learned

Go the extra mile, literally, if you want to truly succeed at running an International company.


How To Find A Business Partner in China



I recently spoke with Johnson Choi of Johnson Choi Consulting and iWinery Hong Kong regarding how to build a successful trading business to China.  We`ll have a future podcast for you soon where we talk about this in detail.

Johnson has a very successful Pan-Pacific trading business working with both US-based companies looking to enter China, and, Chinese companies who are interested in exporting and selling their products and services to the US.

He has a unique background that lends well to this type of business - being strategically located in San Francisco and Hawaii and being bilingual in English and Chinese.  He heads the Hong Kong China Hawaii Chamber of commerce  and is an active member of the Asia Pacific Business Community in San Francisco and Hawaii.

I asked Johnson how to find a business partner in China that will lead to future business opportunities for anyone thinking about Asia as part of their portfolio.

Some of the things I gleaned from the meeting and that Johnson advises you should strongly consider are:

Who are you selling to?  Who is your market?

An example of this is when Chambers of Commerce, or, Industry Associations will arrange a "Trade Mission" where a group C-Level execs are wined and dined on a 10-day trip staying at 5-star hotels and speak with Industry Leaders in Asia.  This is always good to make contacts.  However, these same participants come back to the US wanting to sell to the cities they visited on their tour, but, are at a loss to know if their product or services will even sell in that city?

The way to avoid this is to find someone who can prequalify if your product or service will sell before you dump $10,000 - $20,000 on a trip.

Have you done your due diligence?

A very simple concept that leads back to the previous question.  Any person or consultant that promises to take you to Asia and make you millions of dollars in profit, should be able to back up their claims with verifiable testimonials, case studies and references.

The point is that you can save yourself a lot of headache by simply taking the time to read, study and qualify potential business prospects via phone and internet prior to engaging.



Friday, November 9, 2012

40+ Vintners Head to Asia on Wine Mission


The Wine Institute is organizing a 40+ winery trade mission to China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Taiwan to boost sales of Golden State wines in Asia’s fast-growing markets.
The Oct. 15-26 mission will visit Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong and Shenzen, China, according to the San Francisco-based trade group, which represents about 1,000 California wineries and related businesses.
“Asia is a strong wine market with long-term growth across the board for California wines,” said Linsey Gallagher, the Wine Institute’s international marketing director, said in an Oct. 9 statement.  Read more here...

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Asia-Europe Meeting: Building Growth and Cooperation





VIENTIANE, Laos—Leaders from Asia and Europe called Tuesday for closer cooperation between the two continents in addressing the current global economic and financial crisis.
The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, also unequivocally affirmed the euro's future.
A two-day Asia-Europe Meeting in Laos was attended by leaders and ministers from 51 countries, including new members Norway, Switzerland and Bangladesh.
The meeting, known as ASEM, endorsed closer economic ties between the two continents to promote stronger and sustained growth. Combined, the two regions produce half the world's GDP and have 60 percent of the world's population.
The crisis in Europe has affected not only most economies there but also their trading partners in Asia. But Van Rompuy said there was no sign of Asian resentment that it was being asked to carry its ailing European friends.  Read more here...