Spencerに聞く、英語ビジネスコミュニケーションシリーズ第四弾をお届けします。
これまでに引き続き、英語を学ぶためには英語で学ぶのが一番ということで、言語は英語で配信していきます。
今回のテーマは「Home Goods/ Soft goods in America – アメリカのソフトグッズ拡販なら展示会から。営業パートナーが鍵」
ちょっと、ビジネスコミュニケーションのテーマから外れてしまっているのはご愛嬌です。
アメリカでソフトグッズを販売するために片っ端から小売店に営業をかけても効果が少なく、Buyer’s Groupにリーチができないと契約にはなかなか結びつきません。そこで重要になるのが、アメリカの展示会出展。
「展示会出店の際に必要なものとは?」
「必要とされる英語力は?」
この辺の話を伺いました。

日米間のビジネス開発のプロフェッショナル。
2016年に高知にある英語学校で海外留学のプロジェクト発足に従事する。
帰国後は日本での経験を活かし、ボストン日本協会のMembership Managerを務める。
目次
Home Goods/ Soft goods in America – アメリカのソフトグッズ拡販なら展示会から。営業パートナーが鍵
Spencer:
今回はアメリカでのHome GoodsとSoft Goodsの市場について、またアメリカで「どのように商品を展開していけばいいのか」について話していきます。
Soft Goodsとは枕や毛布、絨毯などの家の中で使う柔らかい材質の商品のことを指します。
Soft Goodsの商品のメーカーの方がアメリカ進出を考えている場合、まず初めに小売店に直接訪問してサンプルを渡して回る方法を考えるかと思います。確かにファッションやデザイン業界では、ニューヨークやロサンザルスなどの大都市の小売店で商品デザインが決まるイメージがあるかもしれませんが、小さな個人経営のお店の場合でも、直接訪問してそこで営業を行っても効果的ではありません。
仮にそのお店のオーナーと話す事が出来ても、サンプルを渡してそこから契約に繋がるということはほぼありません。
これは、規模の大きな小売店でも同様で、規模の大きな会社の場合、例えばボストンであれば Seaport Districtと呼ばれる大きなショーケースを使って展示を行う場合が多いです。このようなショーケースでも、不動産などの大口取引を行う方々を除いては、基本的にその場で営業を行い、取引を始めることは出来ません。
バイヤーと接点を持つ為には展示会が有効
Spencer:
では、家具や寝具などの小売店はどこで、どのように販売する商品を決めているのでしょうか。
その答えは、展示会です。
展示会にはそれこそ大手小売店の担当者から、夫婦経営の小さな小売店まで様々な人が集まります。
このような場所で、商品の仕入れの決定がなされているというわけです。
アメリカで一番規模の大きい展示会は、ノースカロライナ州で4月と10月に行われるHigh Point Marketというものです。
その他にもアトランタやラスベガスでも大規模な展示会が開催されています。
なぜこれらのエリアで展示会が行われているのかというと、ノースカロライナはボストンやニューヨークと比べて、物価が安く、広大なスペースがあるからです。そしてバイヤーの本社も近くに集まっている事が理由として挙げられます。
ラスベガスの場合も、西海岸のどの場所からもアクセスしやすいという理由から、大きな展示会が開催されています。
「仕入れグループ」との繋がりが展示会での成功の鍵?
Spencer:
こういった展示会には、Buyer’s groupと呼ばれる仕入れグループが存在して、彼らが購入者に興味のありそうな商品を紹介してくれます。
例えばあなたが、革製品を売っているメーカーだとすると、それらの製品群を取り扱う仕入れグループが、あなたの製品を多くの人に紹介してくれます。
展示会の規模は非常に大きいので、このような業界でのネットワークがある、適切な仕入れグループを見つけることが展示会出展の成功の鍵となります。
逆に1人で展示会に参加して、サンプルを渡して営業しながら回ったとしても、なかなかビジネスに繋げるのは難しいでしょう。
Akihiro:
では、どうすればいいでしょうか?
Spencer:
業界知識のある営業担当者を雇うことをオススメします。
現地の仕入れグループとのネットワークがある営業担当者を雇う事ができれば、その後どこにアプローチをすればいいのか明確になるからです。
Akihiro:
どのように適切な担当者を探せば良いのでしょうか?
Spencer:
一般的な求人サイトを使用します。
Akihiro:
IndeedやLinkedInなどですか?
Spencer:
その通りです。より多くの人にアプローチできるのはIndeedです。
当然、現地の代理店などを利用するのも1つの手段だと思います。
Akihiro:
ただし、日本人にとっては最適な人材を見つけることは、かなり難しいことだと思っています。
それこそ前回のPodcastエピソードのように、「私はなんでもできる!」というように誇張するアメリカ人が多いので、判断が難しいかと思います。
Spencer:
そうですね。
例えば私が日本の学校で働き始めた際に、新しい先生の採用を任されたのですが、同じような経験をしました。
「日本語を完璧に話す事ができます!」と言っていたのに、実際は「こんにちわ」すら言えない人もいました笑
採用側の判断は非常に難しいです。
パートナー選びで大切になるのは、現地の細かいニュアンスまで理解できるかということです。
例えば、私は日本語の読み書きが出来ますが、日本でビジネスパートナーを見つけることは困難です。
アメリカの展示会であれば、現地の方が言っている細かいニュアスンまで理解した上で、適切な仕入れグループを紹介してくれるパートナーがいるかが非常に重要です。
英語に自信がなくても喋ることが大切
Akihiro:
英語の問題についてはどうでしょうか?英語に自信がない人はどうすればいいでしょうか?
私の経験上では、アメリカのビジネスの場では、多くのノンネイティブスピーカーがいる為、ある程度ネイティブではない英語にも寛容だとは思っているのですが。
Spencer:
その通りだと思います。
アメリカには英語が母国語でない人が多いので、ある程度慣れているかと思います。
その為、英語のスキル自体はそこまで大きな問題にはなりません。
ただ多くの日本人に見受けれられるのは、「自信の無さ」の問題です。
例えば以前私が英語を教えていた生徒にとても英語のスキルが高い生徒がいました。彼は、農業機械のメーカーで働いて、アジア市場を任されており、中国やインドネシアによく出張に行っていました。
ただ、そんな彼でも、アメリカで英語を話すということについては不安に感じていたようです。英語を話す自信がなかったようです。
もし本当に英語を話す事が心配であれば、現地の方が言っていることがわかる人に助けてもらった方がいいかと思います。
ただ、逆にある程度話せるのであれば、自信を持って現地の方と直接話した方がいいです。
それこそが現地のバイヤーが求めているものだと思います。
English ver: Home Goods/ Soft goods in America
Spencer:
I’d like to talk a little bit about home goods and soft goods in America and what the market looks like and one way in which you can access the market from point zero, meaning if you’re coming into the US with no real knowledge of the market, how do you get started, what do you do?
So the first question is maybe ‘What is a soft good?’, ‘What is a home good?’.
In this case, what we mean by soft goods is that anything that is soft and that is found in your home: pillows, blanket, sofa covers, rugs, tapestries, you name it. These are all examples of soft goods.
If you are a soft goods or home goods maker in Japan trying to get started in the US, starting from zero, it might sound reasonable to go to where the top retailers are. After all, fashion and design centers, design decisions are made at stores in New York City in LA or other major cities and shopping areas.
So it might make sense to bring samples directly to those stores. Those samples could impress a client directly especially if they’re a single-store or a small chain, you can quickly make an impact on generating sales.
However, almost all retailers, even single-store shops, are for consumers only. Even if you meet the store manager or owner, they’re unlikely to want to take your sample or enter into a sales agreement.
Some more established retailers and interior design companies have larger showrooms especially in larger cities and they are usually grouped together, for example, in Boston’s case, there is a warehouse near the old seaport district called the Boston Design Center. It has four stories and you can get lost in it and it has a giant showroom full of tons and tons of products.
However, the Boston Design Center is still only for consumers, at least in my experience except, in this case, consumers are larger such as real estate developers buying hundreds of units or other corporate clients.
Larger offices like these will also not be interested in your samples if you show up with business cards.
Where retailers go to buy their product?
Spencer:
So it leaves questions: ‘How do retail soft goods companies, interior design companies and home goods companies make decisions about what goods to stock?’, ‘Where do they go to buy their products?’
So in the US, there are several major conventions. We’ll get to that in a minute.
Around the United States where representatives from everywhere and from all tiers of retail, meaning representatives from large department store managers, purchasers for major corporations all the way down to a mom and pop shop where just one guy who buys few hundreds of units, all these people including your interior designers, will coalesce at these major conventions where they go to make purchase decisions.
It’s a great place to meet old colleagues, meet new business partners as well as exchange ideas about new designs.
The largest convention is called High Point Market. This is the largest home furnishings and home goods convention in the US. It is held in North Carolina in October and April.
Reference: High Point Market
There are major centers in Atlanta and Las Vegas, that’s very different from what you might think if you just look at the map of the US.
The reason that it’s held in North Carolina and Atlanta too is actually not so far from North Carolina – again when I say not so far it’s like 6 hours. There is a lot of factories there.
The Northeast, like Boston and New York, are very densely populated and very expensive. But in the south, there is more room to build. In North Carolina, there is a lot of the headquarters for major US buyers in the area.
Las Vegas too, I think it serves as a nexus for the West Coast. if you think about Las Vegas, it is equidistant from most places on the West Coast.
Working with the right buyer’s group is the key
Spencer:
Within these conventions, there are groups called buyer’s groups that recommend a certain style or suite of goods to buyers who are interested.
If you are only interested in leather goods, maybe you are trying to sell seat cover or something, there is probably a buyer’s group at this trade show that is only interested in leather goods. They will be a good conduit to help represent you.
The convention can be quite large and it can be very confusing. Working with the right buyer’s group is the key to success at a convention, as they have access to a trusted network of people who are already interested in the type of product.
If you try to go alone to the convention, it can be fun to walk around and get a sense of things, but again if you go with your sample in your backpack and try to cold pitch vendors, follow up will be very difficult and very time-consuming.
Akihiro:
Okay, so what should you do then instead?
Spencer:
In this case, what I can recommend is hiring or partnering with a Sales Executive in the United States who has a lot of knowledge, has a lot of experience in the industry. Mainly what that means is that they will know these buyer’s group and they’ll know who to contact at which one to help represent your product.
I think in this case it’s absolutely necessary to work with a local partner and that can be an individual or it can be a company.
Akihiro:
How could you find the right person like that?
Spencer:
What I’ve done was to go to job sites and go to the traditional ways you hire people.
Akihiro:
Indeed or LinkedIn?
Spencer:
That’s exactly right.
Those are the main ones, but if there is a local agency or partnership you can take advantage of, it probably is a good way to go too. I feel Indeed is a little better than LinkedIn. There is much wider reach and everyone uses it.
Akihiro:
It is really hard for Japanese to tell which guy is good and I’ve found that a lot of people in the US say ‘I can do everything’. It’s like a hyperbole thing that you talked about in the previous episode.
Spencer:
Right. So even in one of my first roles in Japan, I helped hire teachers for the school where I was working in.
I assisted in hiring several teachers throughout my career and a lot of them came up with those things that exactly that you said: ‘Hey, my Japanese is perfect’ and then they can barely say Kon-nichi-wa – it can be a pretty rough, reality versus what they say.
What I think is crucial in that case is an ally.
You need someone who is a native speaker, who can judge nuance in a way that only a native speaker can.
Likewise, when I see a Japanese candidate or I’m looking to work with a partner in Japan, it’s very confusing for me. Even though I can speak and read, there’s so much more culture that I still need to learn and when you’re in an interview situation, all of that comes to bear and it’s a lot of pressure in that interaction.
I think having someone who instantly knows what the other person is communicating is very important.
If you don’t have that type of person by your side, then you won’t be able to access the talent that will be able to get you to the right buyers in a convention because it’s a two-way street with interviewing and working with a partner. They want to work with someone they like too.
As we discussed in previous episodes, there is a lot of ways in which Japanese clients can appear to be very cold even though they’re not. Whereas they may think they’re being respectful by listening, they’re actually appearing offensive by not asking questions.
Language skills matter in the convention?
Akihiro:
I think I keep telling this, but one of the biggest concerns that Japanese people have is speaking English.
They would be worried about ‘Okay, my English is good enough to communicate with these guys?’.
Would you think language skills matter a lot in a convention or it really doesn’t matter as much as they think it would and they should keep trying and communicating with potential buyers?
I mean as far as I know, in the US a lot of business people are not native English speakers. They are used to the situation where they speak and communicate with non-native speakers.
Spencer:
I agree with that.
There is a lot of non-native speakers from almost every language coming to the United States. Not all people from different cultures speak the same English.
A lot of Americans especially Americans in international business roles have gotten used to figuring out what the person across the room from you is saying. So, that part is not very hard.
But there is a very large confidence issue in Japan.
Back in my first days, I had a student who spoke almost perfect English. He was very good and he could read all the books, but he was afraid of going to a conference in the US.
He worked in the auto industry like machine parts for agricultural equipment. It’s a very interesting business and he was expanding all of Asia. He was going to China, Indonesia.
But he was afraid of speaking English in the US. So it’s a big challenge if you’re really worried about it, having someone who’s there with you to help you understand what American might be saying is important.
But if you can, you should speak as much as possible to speak for yourself. That is the most powerful thing and that is what people want to hear. A bit off-topic but it’s important and it ties in almost every business interaction between the US and Japan.