Managing Growth in an Export Business

Perhaps your company has dabbled with exporting for a few years and management likes the results: increased sales, access to markets that even out seasonal and economic cycles in the United States, new outlets for older products, etc. What was originally an experiment is looking like a strategy. The

Up until now, the job hasn't been too tough. By setting a policy of shipping only against cash in advance (U.S. dollars, to be sure) or confirmed, irrevocable letters of credit, you've avoided the political, economic and commercial risks of exporting. Or perhaps the sales folks have been limited to bringing on customers from Canada and Western Europe, whose culture and legal and accounting systems are similar to those in the U.S. But now your sales people are going to be venturing into new markets-South America, Eastern Europe and Asia-and you know they're going to whine that they won't be competitive unless you, in the credit management (often vilified as "sales obstruction") department, approve more liberal terms of sale.