
The podcast for global marketers to hear experts talk about opportunities and challenges in increasing multilingual lead gen and revenue. Explore the highs and lows and then delve into best practices for strategies, technologies, processes and quality for translation, transcreation, localization and more.
Episodes

Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Localize to Sell Into Global Markets - Show #118
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Stefan Repin is the founder of LuckBoosters, a company helping B2B companies with complex and long sales cycles grow demand and close more customers through full-cycle marketing and sales practices. He’s worked all over the world, growing companies by adapting sales techniques to meet specific industry needs while respecting local culture.
Stefan helped one client, a Belgian software developer, enter the South African market. The company’s software consolidates data gathered by drones, information critical to the mining, agriculture, and oil and gas industries rife within the country. Stefan advised the company to build relationships with key opinion leaders to help with introductions. To develop the new relationships, prospects were invited to participate in a company podcast. Twenty agreed, receiving a brochure and a customized toy plane as a personal thank you.
At the same time, Stefan knew that mail delivery and Internet service were inconsistent throughout the country, so he worked with the software company to send three copies of the same material to ensure that potential buyers received the information sent to them. Similarly, the company made available an offline version of its software.
Stefan advised the company to be more direct – and more persistent – in its outreach than it would have been in Europe because it’s how business is done, locally. Relationship-building took time, but in the end paid off for the company.
Another client, Platforce, conducted outreach into Southeast Asia via webinars. Stefan knew that local buyers wouldn’t respond to Internet or email invitations, so advised the company to call each prospect with a personal invitation. In the end, webinars combined with dinner and a custom presentation worked to build trust and sales.
Stefan sees increased sales whenever a company supports a local representative and translates company brochures and related information. Many clients have limited budgets for localization so he asks his client companies to translate marketing material after securing at least five prospects, followed by website translation after just one sale. Building a landing page or microsite based on translated marketing material maximizes the investment.
“Trust” is the recurring theme throughout, he adds – translated, localized content builds and nurtures local relationships.
Links:
Website: https://www.luckboosters.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-repin-b2boperations/?originalSubdomain=ie
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Culture and Curiosity - Show #117
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Wednesday Aug 23, 2023
Jasmine Martirossian is Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Chief People Officer (CPO) of Mercury, a company simplifying time- and temperature-sensitive shipping for healthcare and life sciences companies. She speaks seven languages and has lived in as many countries, helping a host of well-known companies expand globally along the way. Jasmine shares her wisdom with us on this episode of The Global Marketing Show.
“Bottom line: stay curious.” Jasmine credits her natural ability to stay curious as the reason that she’s had so much success in global marketing. She describes two situations defused by “not staying beholden to the tyranny of war” and instead by looking for alternative solutions to help teams work together.
In China, she felt pushback by one team on developing a new website, so she could not move the project forward. Instead of forcing the issue and demanding compliance, Jasmine stayed curious and learned that the team thought it was just another “flavor of the month” project and didn’t want to engage. Plus, they had connectivity issues.
She understood the culture enough to build consensus, using her connections to find the team a place to work with reliable Wi-Fi. Even though she had been there only two days, Jasmine knew how important “connections” are in China. By taking the time to stay curious and communicate in an appropriate way, she crossed the cultural chasm and got the project done.
In another position, Jasmine was headed to France to meet with a team on a marketing project. She felt resistance from the French team about including a US colleague in the meeting, someone they considered “obstructive.” Again, instead of forcing the issue and demanding compliance, she suggested the co-worker come to France and join them for dinner. She understood the importance of meals to the French who said of course, they couldn’t refuse to “break bread” with another. Problem solved by using cultural empathy and understanding to meet the needs of all participants.
Links:
Website: https://www.shipmercury.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-martirossian/
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
AI and Translation: An Insider’s Perspective - Show #116
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Wednesday Jul 26, 2023
Adam Bittlingmayer is CEO and co-founder of ModelFront, a language services technology company striving to “make high-quality human translation radically more efficient” for large enterprises. The ModelFront API helps translators and language services agencies quickly determine the quality of machine-translated content, analyzing content segments for accuracy; with AI and human guidance, the technology’s ability to “predict” quality continues to improve over time.
Adam is an industry expert on automated translation - before co-founding the leading provider of machine translation quality prediction, he worked at Google Translate as an engineer, and founded Machine Translate, the foundation for open information and community for machine translation. Google Translate “makes bad translation free,” he says, adding that because most people can’t access translation the service is great for humanity, but not dependable for high-quality translation.
None of this is new to the language services industry, which has embraced machine translation from the outset. In this episode, Adam and I discuss AI, generative AI technologies like ChatGPT, and the technology’s general unreadiness for quality translation right now. AI-powered technologies are clearly and quickly redefining our concept of the future – what has changed is how we in the industry think about quality and client expectations in relation to potential (or perceived) time- and cost savings.
Adam also lays out a framework to help you decide what type of translation method works best, based on the value and uniqueness of content. Content with the highest “value” impacts a company’s revenue, brand reputation, and legal obligations and still requires human translation.
That need for quality will always be there, he says, even as the quality of AI translation improves. To keep up and stay relevant, the menu of services LSPs offer (and the methods they employ) will have to change, as the demand for services will likewise increase as the capacity to scale becomes greater.
Adam and I agree that there exist extremist viewpoints on whether technology will take over jobs from humans. To maintain a balanced discussion on the topic – he comes from the technological side and I come from the human side – we also agreed that ensuring the quality of any translation project currently requires both technology and humans.
Listen to the full episode to hear more from both perspectives and find out where they coalesce and collide. In addition, we discuss:
- LangOps strategies for larger enterprises.
- How language services agencies manage LangOps for SMEs.
- The impact of technology on translation automation.
- The role of ChatGPT in translations and confidentiality issues.
- Best practices around hybrid approaches to translation.
- New and changing translator skillsets.
Links:
Website: www.modelfront.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bittlingmayer/
Email: adam@modelfront.com
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
Translation Unifies Multilingual Branding and Marketing - Show #115
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
Wednesday Jun 28, 2023
Inge Carr is the owner of Altair Strategic Marketing, through which she provides Fractional and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) services. Her vast experience consulting throughout the US, Canada, and Europe and fluency in five languages, gives Inge tremendous insight into how companies can successfully align corporate strategy with branding and marketing, especially internationally, to drive revenue.
Inge was a member of the team who created an award-winning campaign focused on marketing Canada to Olympic visitors. She reminds us that people coming from other countries to Canada may connect with different messages. And it’s not dependent so much on a person’s country of origin, but why the person is traveling.
By hiring a market research company, the team was able to determine what experiences people wanted and how they wanted to hear about it. For example:
1. Northern Lights
UK and Germany: “See the grandiose lights with standing room only.”
US: “It’s standing room only for the greatest light show.”
France: “Incredible light show and training of the dogs.” (This was the direct translation but I’m not sure what it’s supposed to mean!)
2. Glamping
The US is the only country interested in “glamping,” or luxurious camping. It’s not talked about in other countries.
3. Sailing Nova Scotia
UK, Germany, and France: “Have a wonderful lunch of lobster and scallops and enjoy the view for dessert.”
US: “Lounge around all day and have a 5-star meal for dinner.”
Inge also mentioned that a great translator simultaneously provides multilingual marketing insight to companies without a hefty Olympics-sized budget. (I certainly agree, at Rapport International our translators do it all the time.)
Among the team’s challenges were initial social media posts that did not perform as well as expected. Yet they knew to keep tweaking them until they increased their response rates.
In another role, Inge worked with an insurance company struggling with 20 different brands and a fractured brand experience. Representatives from each of the brands worked together to build a unified brand that worked across multiple languages. And although there were no language specialists in the meeting, each team member had deep experience with translation, so they resolutely kept translation issues in mind.
If you are interested in seeing how Rotary International unified their brand in multiple countries and how they handled language translation and cultural adaptation, tune in to The Global Marketing Show, episode #17.
Inge’s final words of advice: make sure to hire a professional translation organization to get the support you need. If you can’t clearly communicate your value proposition and messaging, you won’t emotionally connect with your audience. And since 90% of decision making is driven by emotion, you will also miss out on sales and lose opportunities.
Inge’s favorite word is Dutch slang for “ATM”: “Flappentapper" (flappen - tapper)! Just say it to laugh, she says. It literally means:
Flopa: currency or bills
Topper: the server who dispenses the beer at a bar
I’m adding that word to my lexicon!
Links:
Website: https://www.altairmktg.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/icarr
Email: icarr@altairmktg.com
Phone: 760-655-6451
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Software for the Global Automotive Industry - Show #114
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Wednesday Jun 21, 2023
Perry Nalevka, CEO of Penguin Strategies, specializes in launching technology companies internationally. In this episode of The Global Marketing Show podcast, he talks about the global launch of GuardKnox, a technology and engineering company specializing in electric/electronics (E/E) products and solutions for the automotive industry.
GuardKnox offers next-generation software to carmakers, enabling the development of secure, high-performance driving computers. The company has won multiple awards and gets high marks from major car manufacturers like Ford, Mercedes, and Audi.
From the outset, the company knew it had a total addressable market of only 1,000 to 2,000 people and about 10 companies, so their messaging had to be impactful and authentic. Through a few iterations and carefully selected forums of engineers, they tested their messaging to make sure it resonated with their target audience in specific countries, namely the US, UK, Germany, and France.
Throughout, Perry insisted that messaging and content had to be insightful and accurately translated. He said they “would never use AI, that it had to be done right or not at all.”
The biggest mistakes the company made initially were expecting results too quickly and not creating enough quality content of interest to its buyers. Now, the CEO or CTO develops content technical enough to capture their market’s attention. You can find a wealth of robust content on the company’s website – www.guardknox.com.
Links:
Website: www.penguinstrategies.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pnalevka/
Email: perry@penguinstrategies.com
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday Jun 07, 2023
Patents, Exporting, and Translation - Show #113
Wednesday Jun 07, 2023
Wednesday Jun 07, 2023
Dave Roccio of Lando and Anastasi, a Boston-based law firm specializing in intellectual property (IP), takes a holistic view on patent filing – it’s not just about filing the patent application, it’s about his client’s stage in business, what they want to achieve, and their long-term goals.
One telling example, he shares, is that of a tech company client that received funding and had 10 technologies to protect. They had funding, a strategy, and needed to move fast to protect their inventions. They budgeted about $10k per patent (the average cost of a single filing) and had one year to determine the countries in which to file, not an easy decision as each country would require another $100K for 10 filings.
This is where Dave’s holistic approach comes in; he will advise his clients on where, when, and what to file. The first three variables to consider are:
- The opportunities in the home country;
- Where your clients are; and,
- Where your competitors are.
As part of the process, Dave determines whether the client would benefit from complete applications, wholly protecting them from competitors on many different levels, or if it’s better to file quickly for minimal, viable commercial usage. Interestingly, his electrical engineering background also means that where he ultimately chooses to file may differ from other patent attorneys’ choices.
That said, he adds, US companies most commonly file for patents in:
- Europe – the European Patent Office oversees the countries in the region but is not affiliated with the official EU, so the UK is still part of this group. Companies file one application and then choose the countries they want to enter.
- China
- India
- Australia
- Canada
Rules around translation vary according to country, but every office usually requires translation into the local language. When deadlines are especially tight and attorneys need immediate understanding of particular content, the firm will sometimes utilize machine translation; however, a one-word mistake in a patent application can cause a lot of issues – delays, denials, extra time, and costs. Ultimately, it’s a balancing act between time and accuracy and, should that fail Dave will always turn to human translators to ensure accuracy.
Timeliness is of utmost importance for companies managing patents and other IP. Global marketers, too, should check for patent protections before selling into a new country. Going to market prior to the patent process starts the clock on the time allowance for patent applications; if a company tries to file a few years after entering the country, they likely won’t be able to protect their IP.
Links:
Website: https://lalaw.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidroccio/
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday May 31, 2023
From Chocolate Stress to Joy - Show #112
Wednesday May 31, 2023
Wednesday May 31, 2023
Natalya Berdikyan is Founder and CEO of Life by Design, an executive coaching company “help[ing] individuals and organizations grow beyond borders and boundaries.” A truly global citizen, Natalya hails from the former Soviet Union and has lived in 6 countries; she speaks 4½ languages. A former executive for a multimillion dollar chocolate producer in Belgium, she has sold confections all over the world.
I found it fascinating to learn about confectionary global preferences – for example, Natalya’s almond sweets are gifted on specific occasions, depending on the country:
Belgium – to welcome newborns
Italy – to celebrate marriage
Luxembourg – for communion
Portugal – at Easter
Norway – on Valentine’s Day
Natalya used a “pull” strategy to enter each market: trade shows allowed her to assess the current landscape then develop unique, differentiated products. Focusing on innovative color creation, distinctive merchandise, and special packaging for holiday and special occasion gifts, the company’s custom manufacturing option also meant made-to-order adjustments – for one, customized ingredients to meet changing consumer demands for healthier treats. Retailers and distributors were inevitably “pulled” in, attracted to the opportunities for originality and increased market share.
The company catered to three major outlets:
- Bulk sales to distributors packaging product for multiple brands.
- Co-created, co-branded product for retailers.
- Company-branded product sold direct-to-market.
As co-owner of the confectionary company, Natalya met with clients worldwide and during her travels, developed a cultural intelligence that fueled her success. She recalls her early confusion in the US when asked: “How are you doing?” No one expects an answer, she says, it’s used as a greeting! She had to learn how to stop answering the question.
In the very middle of running a successful company and a perfect life full of parties, money, and achievement, Natalya realized she felt unhappy. Upon slowing down to figure out why, she realized that she had bought into society’s rules about what success looks like, and a life full of wine, money, sugar, and limiting beliefs did not feed her soul.
Drawing on that experience, and the belief that anyone can thrive – not just survive – through life changes, Natalya launched Life by Design, an executive coaching firm designed to help entrepreneurs and leaders build the life they want. She provides coaching, training, and holistic retreats to improve people’s energy so they can become better leaders in business and in life.
If you’d like to talk to Natalya, you can reach her on LinkedIn or through her website.
Links:
More About Natalya: https://www.lifebydesign-academy.com/about-natalya
Website: https://www.lifebydesign-academy.com
Contact: contact@lifebydesign-academy.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalyaberdikyan/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@natalyaberdikyan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natalya.berdikyan
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalyaberdikyan/
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday May 17, 2023
Dad Jokes and Board Games - Show #111
Wednesday May 17, 2023
Wednesday May 17, 2023
John Coveyou is the founder of Genius Games and king of dad jokes around the campfire: “Have you heard the one about the sidewalk? It’s all over town!” So, it makes sense that he’s always had a passion for game design, too. Throughout his military service – during which he discovered his love for science – and while earning a master’s degree in engineering, he wondered why there were no games on science concepts like the periodic table, biology of the human body, or the atom. And just like that, Genius Games was born!
Genius Games now offers more than 50 games that sell worldwide. Originally, John fielded requests from other English-speaking countries – the UK, Australia, and Canada were early adopters – and soon after, often at US game conferences, he found himself fielding inquiries from international distributors eager to sell into their home countries.
John soon discovered that, instead of working with multiple distributors, building relationships with in-country game publishers possessing native fluency of local languages simplified his operations and increased revenues. To support that structure, John built Genius Games as a multi-national rather than global company, allowing for greater autonomy, cultural adaptation, and customized product offerings within each individual country, as opposed to a global company with centralized operations and static processes. For example, the company’s publisher in Spain translates game and product information into Spanish, pays for production costs, then sells the games into international markets. Margins are lower, but royalties are consistent and all profit. Listen to the full episode to hear more on the accounting and numbers!.
Currently, about 20% of the company’s revenue comes from international markets, thanks to the relationships built with overseas publishers visiting the US, and Genius Games are now translated into Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Polish, Russian, Korean, and other southeast Asian languages.
To complement the expansion effort, in 2022 I introduced John to his state’s export representative; he ultimately secured a STEP grant covering his attendance at an international trade show. The grant paid for travel, lodging, and conference fees and connected John with exporting help from international groups and additional growth opportunities. For instance, he now understands the importance, and mechanics, of adding translation to his website to drive more sales to his partners. A multilingual website optimizes the experience for people searching for Genius Games – or games in general – by recognizing their native language. The strategy increases the company’s reach – consumers will more often buy from websites in their native language – and linking to partner websites for the sale prevents cannibalizing partner sales. (If you’re interested in exporting and want to be connected to your state export rep, reach out to me for an introduction.)
Even with such meaningful success in consumer and international sales, John still sees room for growth. Genius Games has yet to tap into the educational market – if you’re a potential partner or have any connections or resources to help with access to the educational market, please reach out to John on Linked In.
To have fun, play some Genius Games available on their website or Amazon.
Links:
Website: https://www.geniusgames.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coveyou-15586163/
STEP Grant Information: https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants/state-trade-expansion-program-step
German Words (Butterfly): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo0Hsx-yHiI
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with John - https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-coveyou-15586163/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

Wednesday May 10, 2023
Third Culture Kid on What We Can Learn From China - Show #110
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Wednesday May 10, 2023
Christian Klepp, Co-Founder of EINBLICK Consulting, explains that as a “third culture kid” he grew up in Austria, the Philippines, Singapore, and Germany, landing in China as a young adult. This experience of living across countries gives him and other second- or third culture kids the appreciation and ability to navigate cultures since they’ve had to do so from a young age.
It's fascinating to hear about how Christian helps Chinese-speaking clients enter the Canadian and US markets, the perfect complement to his past experiences helping English-speaking companies enter China.
He shares a story about a medical device company that entered China with the attitude of “what got us here, will get us there.” Instead of taking the time to understand the market for their non-invasive blood sugar measuring device, the company assumed doctors would promote the device to their patients, not knowing that such practice is prohibited. Instead, hospital procurement teams must approve the use of any new device; doctors can recommend devices to the procurement teams but not directly to patients. This adds another layer of relationships to the sales cycle that the team could not anticipate because they did not hire a Chinese partner connected into the health system for the launch in China.
In addition, 90% of people in China are on their cell phones looking to key opinion leaders (KOLs) for information on doctors and healthcare. Mobile marketing and social media are more influential in China than in other markets.
Christian also talks about the importance of accurate translation and cultural adaptation. China is a big country segmented by tiers of development; major cities along the east coast have a much different standard of living than rural communities, so what might work in the city could be different than in rural areas. It’s also important to be mindful of the spoken and written Chinese language. Although there are hundreds of dialects, there is only one written language. People may not be able to speak to each other, but they can write to communicate.
Christian shares some interesting case studies about brand name translation:
- Siemens translated its name to 西门子, phonetically pronounced Xī mén zǐ. The literal meaning is “West Gate Child” or “Child of the Western Gate,” which worked well for Siemens as the characters didn’t have offensive or hidden meanings.
- BMW translated its name to 宝马, phonetically pronounced Bǎomǎ and meaning “Precious Horse.” Again, no offensive or hidden meanings.
- AirBnB wasn’t so lucky. The company picked 爱彼迎, phonetically pronounced Ài bǐ yíng. The selected characters seemed appropriate, signifying “love,” “mutual,” and “welcome,” words that align with the company’s mission of creating neighborhood communities around the world. Yet they didn’t test the name or consider the message of combining these characters and ended up with a name that sounded like a “sex toy shop,” a “condom brand,” a “matchmaking website,” or a “brothel,” according to comments on social media. Eventually they pulled out of the market due to the naming issue and fierce competition.
To wrap up the interview, Christian talks about what Canadians and Americans can learn from Chinese culture. Listen to the full episode if you’d like to know more.
Links:
Company website: www.einblick.co
Podcast ("B2B Marketers on a Mission"): https://www.einblick.co/podcasts/
Connect with Wendy - https://www. linkedin. com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Christian - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-klepp-einblickconsulting/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www. silvermansound. com

Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Applied Research Creates Real-Life Tech Solutions - Show #109
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
Wednesday Apr 26, 2023
I had the pleasure of first meeting Aytul Ercil at the 2022 International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC) Awards Conference in Madrid, where we celebrated the cooperation of women-owned businesses throughout the world. In addition to being a delightful conversationalist, Aytul is a mathematician, professor, scholar, applied research expert, and entrepreneur; in this episode she describes her move away from theoretical research and toward its real-world business applications. Even with applied research, she explains, universities specialize only in research and developing prototypes but don’t take the products to market, instead they find existing companies to take the lead and launch. Working in applied research fueled her interest in launching the products herself; she started her first company alongside two graduate students and sold it to a strong and successful German company.
Now onto her second company, Vispera offers image processing for retail stores. By providing in-store monitoring with either pictures or installed videos, companies can keep track of compliance with price and promotion deals, stocking levels, layout and display issues, and inventory reporting. It helps solve the major pain in retail of capturing information on the selling floor to maintain inventory and increase sales. The Vispera system’s speed, accuracy, and precision in gathering information on the selling floor helps clients better manage production, operations, and distribution. In addition, with retailers managing ecommerce, they have the information to manage the coordination of in-store and on-line ordering.
Before the Vispera platform, companies relied on sales reps to visit stores, count items, fix displays, and communicate information – all very tactical and manual work. Now, sales reps can be more strategic when working with customers.
Based in Türkiye, Aytul knew from the start that she would need to launch internationally for success. Since her first target clients were large, international companies, she chose to build an English-only website, knowing it would reach more people than a Turkish language website. The strategy worked; her first customer, based outside of Türkiye, found Vispera through an online search.
Now implemented in 35 countries with clients such as Coca-Cola, CircleK, and Unilever, Vispera’s technology solution requires custom buildouts and adaptation, so rather than adapting her website and content, she hires bilingual employees to handle in-country communications with frontline customers. Since she hires local bilingual employees, I asked if she needs to culturally adapt her messaging for geographic markets. She says that most clients are large global companies dealing with the same issues and problems; in India, however, the company may have to adjust its messaging to account for the large number of “mom and pop” stores. Similarly, she does predict a need for website and other translation for particular countries.
While Vispera currently markets only in English, and the company continues to optimize their website for English search terms, its technologies can easily be adapted to other languages; for instance, it provides a Spanish-language platform for clients in South America.
Aytul lists her biggest challenges as:
- Having enough money for development and expansion
- Marketing resources
- Hiring good salespeople
- Meeting in-person with global teams around the world
(I can certainly relate to these – how about you!?)
And her biggest mistakes?
In her first company, to support development they accepted project-based work, quickly finding that delivering said projects meant little time for development. Once they found funding, Aytul recognized that doing the project work for so long slowed down the larger development of their initiative. Gaining funding and working with a partner sped up their success.
She adds that even a PhD in Applied Mathematics from Brown University does not mean you will understand finance or accounting; asked for a P&L statement, she had to look up its meaning, and made a few unwise financial decisions before taking the time to learn about the numbers.
Finally, as all sales managers can attest to, Aytul admits that it’s been a challenge to hire good sales representatives. It is an expensive position to fill, and she’s made mistakes. Now more seasoned when it comes to hiring, for her international expansion she’s found highly capable Managing Directors in key markets to build the local teams and the pipeline. To keep the company aligned, she holds regular meetings with the Managing Directors from each country and weekly meetings with each company manager.
Her final recommendations?
- Hire good people in each country that can manage the team and build a pipeline.
- Have a good on-boarding strategy and process for clients and employees and have it all documented and ready to go.
- Communicate with the team so that everyone is aligned to the same goal.
Fittingly, Aytul’s favorite foreign words are “perseverance” and “resilience”!
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayt%C3%BCl_Er%C3%A7il
https://turkishwin.com/aytul-ercil
Connect with Wendy - https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendypease/
Connect with Aytul - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aytul-ercil-b833b43/
Music: Fiddle-De-Dee by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com