3年に渡るコロナ禍で最も行動制限を受けたのは海外営業の担当者です。
コロナ前の最後の海外出張から３年以上もの間メールだけで現地と交信を続けてきました。
コロナに入った当初、今後海外との取引はどうなっていくのか？
国によっては感染者の状況によりロックダウンと解除を繰り返し、先行きの見えない状況が続き、以前のように海外へ出張することが出来る日が来るのか？と不安を抱えた日々もありました。
そしてコロナにひと段落の兆しが見えた昨年後半、各国の入出国の規制が緩和されたこともあり私は一足早く11月に美容の国際展示会 コスモプロフ（COSMOPROF)が開催されたシンガポールへ飛びました。その展示会へはシンガポールのお得意先をはじめ周辺国の当社のお得意先も視察に来られており、現地で各社と久しぶりに顔を見合わせて商談を行いました。そしてその時の商談で感じた彼らのパワーや意気込み、アフターコロナという新しいステージでの新しい可能性、我々も彼らの意気込みに全力で応えていきたいと思います。
商談の終わり際にはほとんどのお得意先が私に ”来年は私たちの国にも来てくださいね” と仰いました
本当にうれしいかったことを記憶しています。
そして当社も新しい期に入りただいま海外出張の準備に取り掛かっています。
現在の貿易担当者の楠本はコロナ禍の真っ最中に入社したため海外出張の経験がありません。
今回の出張はご挨拶を兼ねて私も同行します。
一方コロナ禍でも国内外のお得意先へ情報を発信するために気になるメーカーさんへは積極的にコンタクトを取り続け、新たにお取引を開始したメーカーさんが１０社近くあります。そのメーカーさんの中では海外初提案となる商品もあり楽しみです。
このブログをお読みいただいているメーカーさんで
美と健康に関するもの、肌用化粧品・頭髪用化粧品・美容小物、美容雑貨、美容機器等をお取り扱いで海外進出のきっかけが欲しいメーカーさんは、現在当社とお取引の有無にかかわらずお気軽にご相談ください。新たな海外進出の可能性が見つかるかもしれません。
今回はこの辺で
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Road to resumption of business trips to Southeast Asia
• June 02, 2023
The most restricted in action during the three-year Corona disaster was our overseas sales representative.
For more than three years since my last overseas business trip before the Corona disaster, I have been communicating with the local people only by e-mail.
When I first entered Corona, I wondered what would happen to our business with foreign countries in the future.
Some countries repeatedly locked down and unlocked their doors depending on the status of infected patients, and the future remained unclear. There were days when I wondered if I would ever be able to travel overseas as I had done in the past.
In the latter half of last year, when Corona showed signs of slowing down, I flew to Singapore, where COSMOPROF, an international beauty exhibition, was held in November, as the entry and exit restrictions were eased in many countries. Our customers in Singapore as well as in neighboring countries came to the exhibition to observe the event, and I had business meetings with each company there for the first time in a long while. I felt their power and enthusiasm during the business talks, and I would like to do my best to respond to their enthusiasm and new possibilities on the new stage of After Corona.
At the end of the business meeting, most of the clients said to me, “Please come to our country next year!”
I remember being really happy.
And now that we have entered a new fiscal year, we are preparing for our overseas business trips.
Ms. Kusumoto, our current trade manager, has no experience in overseas business trips since she joined our company in the middle of the Corona disaster.
I will accompany her on this business trip to greet customers.
Meanwhile, we have been actively contacting manufacturers of interest in order to disseminate information to our customers in Japan and overseas even in the midst of the Corona disaster, and we have started business with nearly 10 new manufacturers. We are looking forward to working with some of these manufacturers, whose products we are proposing for the first time overseas.
If you are a manufacturer reading this blog and dealing in beauty and health-related products, cosmetics for skin, hair, beauty accessories, beauty goods, beauty equipment, etc., and are looking for an opportunity to expand overseas, please feel free to contact us regardless of whether you are currently doing business with us or not. You may be able to find new possibilities for overseas expansion.
This time around.