Sales reps China-bound in bid to boost exports

Sales reps are to be sent to China and other foreign countries as part of a new course to boost Irish exports.

The state development agency Enterprise Ireland is to launch the course to meet its target of increasing exports by €3bn by 2007.

“If a company is aiming to get into the French market, France is where they’ll spend some time,” said project director Brendan Donnelly.

He said the the international sales capability programme would be a world first when it was set up at a yet-to-be chosen third level-institution.

“We’ve done some research and, to the best of our knowledge, what we’re proposing isn’t replicated anywhere else,” he said.

When the programme is set up within the next year, up to 50 sales reps from sectors such as food, healthcare, engineering and computers will be expected to attend classes every third weekend over a nine-month period.

Two of the nine modules will take place abroad in the country which has been targeted by the sales reps’ companies.

The reps will be assisted on the ground by staff from Enterprise Ireland’s 35 foreign offices in Europe, North America, Australia, the Middle East and the Far East.

Although Ireland boasts higher numbers in employment than at any time in the history of the state, the Enterprise Strategy Group said last year that there were a number of business weaknesses which needed to be addressed, including the lack of international sales skills.

“It can’t be stressed hard enough that our market is so small that at an increasingly earlier time in their growth cycle, companies have to export. It’s a very, very tough and competitive market so it’s absolutely essential that we increase the level of skills in that area,” said Mr Donnelly.

He said it was important the third-level institution hired to deliver the programme did not create another commerce course.

“There’s nothing wrong with those courses but if it’s seen by companies who are pressed for time and under pressure that it is just another commerce course, they won’t be interested. We want the main part of it to be delivered by practitioners or by international specialists.”

Minister for Enterprise and Employment Micheál Martin also announced that the FÁS Overseas Graduate Programme, which has provided around 1,000 new graduates with practical work-experience opportunities since 1983, is to be expanded.

“The key objective of these interventions will be to augment the stock of national sales talent by supporting Irish companies to develop their international sales and marketing capability so that they can compete and grow their business in world markets,” he said.