What will internationalization look like post Covid-19? What challenges do Italian SMEs face in developing their exports? How to interpret digital channels? I address these and other issues in the article posted on LinkedIn. What do you guys think?

The reopening of the Regions, post lockdown, has been ushered in by long queues on Italy's highways while a great many entrepreneurs, large or small, have worked miracles to get their businesses off the ground in the name of customer and employee safety. Real signs that the country is ready to get back on track. However, a feeling of great uncertainty remains evident, especially when it comes to foreign sales.

Against this backdrop, our companies are on the grid with advantages and disadvantages: they are basically in pole position (many other countries are still experiencing growing contagions) but at the same time suffer the penalty of a domestic economic engine that is not performing at all (compared to that of foreign competitors who are particularly fierce and ready to exploit the post-Covid to gain market advantages).

Therefore, it becomes essential to snap quickly, with targeted, essential and particularly concrete actions. These, in my opinion, are important levers for changing our approach to foreign markets. We need to think about the efficiency of commercial actions and how much they generate in terms of return on investments made. To give an example: it makes no sense to try to open dozens of foreign countries when there are resources in the company to develop only a couple of them. So a real strategy is needed, even for SMEs (which must become increasingly efficient if they want to continue to exist). We need to start with analysis (first in the company and then of the market) instead of starting with the first industry trade show suggested to us.

Having chosen the market, the company must maximize the result by building a local presence, which does not mean opening a company (and certainly not a process of offshoring) but creating a network of relationships made up of people with whom there are ongoing and valuable relationships. No need to look for agents who make budgets with very high commissions (and out-of-market prices) as long as they are not a fixed cost. If the analytical work is well done, if the market is manned, the investment certainly bears fruit. To do that you need those in that market who have a “presence.”.

In these months that have immobilized us in front of our laptops we have finally convinced ourselves that Digital is beautiful. From smart working to smart yoga not forgetting webinars we have all become familiar with digital tools. As a result we have realized that online, and not just retail (so even for B2B) can also be useful in developing new markets or new target customers. At the same time, we should not forget that digital export, which our foreign competitors are also resorting to, will make the world even flatter. The customer will struggle to understand whether a product is Made in Italy or Made in another country. So the customer will increasingly look for the answer to one of his needs or the solution to a problem.

In other words: if our business is not creating value, digital or traditional export is not the solution in fact, it is the best way to spend money without getting return.

Also in the digital sphere, we read in recent days about the mirage of virtual fairs. But are we really sure that this is the solution? In my opinion, no! Certainly they will be important showcases, useful promotion platforms to represent industry news and understand the direction of a given market, but without the handshake (maybe the touch on the elbow, given the situation), without the direct confrontation, there is no concreteness.

Post Covid, one cannot continue to live in the shadow of the Made in Italy brand. To be successful abroad, companies must focus above all on Innovation / Design / Technology Made in Italy. We must outperform our competitors because we have high value-added products not just because they are made in Italy, otherwise we continue to feed the spiral of “it's Made in Italy so it sells” because abroad it doesn't work that way at all.

We will have to move beyond the approach of micro-management and solitary actions. We must aim to integrate skills in an ever-increasing value chain. SMEs (over 90% of our economy) must grow otherwise they will not be able to attack foreign markets and will not be able to imagine exponential developments that will be typical of the post-Covid Economy. After all, foreign competitors are all on average larger and thus already able to draw qualitatively and quantitatively superior resources anywhere in the world.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs last June 8 presented the Pact for Export. A series of incentives and tools to boost the internationalization of Italian companies. Some of these are particularly interesting in that they provide for the external support of competent personnel who can guide the company on its foreign growth path. They will be useful only if the enterprise really wants to change its culture toward internationalization activities.

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