B2B Sales in Australia

Abstract

The sports and recreation market has recently seen a global increase, driven by an increased understanding of the health benefits of exercise. For Finnish companies, expanding to foreign markets can be profitable as the domestic market is relatively small. The commissioning company is a market leader in Finland with significant business activity in Europe and North America. The company aims to create business relations in Australia and begin exporting products. Research conducted aimed to answer the question “What qualities do Australian market participants look for in potential business partners?”. Existing literature on international selling and B2B marketing was reviewed. Semi-structured interviews with Australian business owners had four main themes: B2B relations, product expectations, business in Australia, and partners’ end customer. The literature review revealed that business relations can be judged based on goal commonality, willingness to pay, and cost-to-serve. Key customers are to be evaluated before forming commitments, as a business partnership requires a large investment. Information gained from the interviews expanded on the themes of goal alignment and long-term collaboration, and transparent communication found in the existing literature as well explaining the need for personal relationships and flexibility in business partnerships. The research sub-question was “What factors should foreign companies consider when planning expansion to the Australian market?”. The interviewees provided the commissioning company with knowledge on doing business in the Australian market, the end consumers, and product expectations. Based on this new information, a development proposal was made to the company to further research the Australian market to understand specific customer preferences and challenges associated with doing business in the region.