To what extent, in addition to the necessary knowledge (know-how), will the experience gained on the ground! In the difficult post-pandemic phase affect the choices of Italian small and medium-sized entrepreneurs on the scenarios of a returning globalization, of a more complex competitiveness and an obligatory outlet on foreign markets, avoiding the mistakes of the past and escaping the insidious traps of the present?
A first and concrete answer, for PMI, is offered by a precious guide book, entitled “The seven rules for selling abroad, even at the time of Covid-19”, which, before being a small marketing handbook, represents a trip. A journey made up of many trips, many experiences, so much study, so much work. A journey of a thousand miles which, in the words of the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, was undertaken by the author, Luca Bargilli, starting with small steps.
Marshall McLuan, the Canadian mass media scientist author of highly successful volumes such as “The Gutenberg Galaxy” and “The tools of communication”, in the mid-1960s, with a truly prophetic air, spoke of a global village, meaning that the time would come when , thanks above all to the increasingly technological means of mass communication, the dimensions of the world and the distances would have shrunk so much to take the form of a small community, a village, in fact.
Today’s globalized world has necessarily brought about a rethinking of the essence of travel. If once upon a time, the meaning was to experience foreign realities to enrich one’s own culture of origin (the Grand Tour!), Today, thanks to past globalization, and the next future, this is no longer the case. The mass media offer the possibility to the people who use them to go abroad, without taking a step from home.
If digital technology has made the world a village, making it small in order to know everything about every reality, then why travel? But can the global village completely replace the ancient sense of travel? He can not!
The global village, therefore, risks debasing the beautiful and profound meaning of travel: discovering and being amazed, for a period of time, and then returning to see what was left with different eyes and enrich it with new images. Is it possible to recover all this? Of course!
We could go back to the example of the writer Emilio Salgari, who, despite never having visited the places where he set his stories, a geographical map and a lot of imagination – accompanied by some good reading – were enough to recreate in the reader the feeling of alienation. compared to a world he did not know.
Or, instead of going immediately to the big cities of the world, to get used to the stereotyped images that the media offer of them, you can reach those small foreign rural and urban communities, far from the inhabited centers that the eye of the “big brother” has not yet reached. Then yes, that the amazement, never dormant in the human soul, would return to feed the dreams and gazes of the population of the global village.
These and other more refined elements animate Bargilli’s work. A consolidated experience gained in the field, in years of travel (enlightening, in this sense, is a phrase of the author: “because traveling is the necessary condition for those who want to deal with internationalization”), an experience that becomes “didactic” and, therefore, teaching to be transferred, starting from the experienced reality that is made, then regulates, indeed, the rules for selling abroad, recalled by the title.
The Covid-19 pandemic has called everything into question. An entrepreneur, today, must know how to make correct choices, both in planning and in the use of the economic resources of his company but, above all, he must know how to make the right decisions, especially, in fact, in moments of serious crisis like the one we are experiencing.
In fact, Covid-19 has upset the models of business management and work organization. Social distancing, considerable difficulty in undertaking business trips, restrictions of various kinds, have given rise to the use of new contact systems and paradigms, which mainly use web platforms, causing changes in business management. What the consequences of all this will be at the moment is not easy to predict, but we must always face the new with a humanistic spirit. Above all, in fact, there is always and only man, with his behaviors and relational systems. It seems clear, therefore, how in the explanation of his normative system (from lived experience to rules!), The author prefers the purely human component, which animates and enriches his effort and which will involve those who have the privilege of retracing it, treasuring it for the business challenges to be faced.
And here are the rules (seven, in fact, the magic number!) To follow for the success of your business: – building a network of contacts based on trust, immersion in the culture of the country with which you do business and harmony with people, starting with business partners (Rule 1); – the creation of partnerships with those local operators with whom experiences in the same sector are shared (Rule 2); – careful planning, organization of the network of contacts and control procedures (Rule 3); – the scrupulous planning, the obsessive attention to detail and the precise analysis of the various situations (Rule 4); – the support of experienced men for the new human resources of the company, to better face and manage changes (Rule 5); – the protection of human capital, through the culture of safety (Rule 6); participation in training meetings, round tables and road shows, to increase knowledge of foreign scenarios and the tools available to use (Rule 7).
The solid know-how and the wealth of experience acquired in the field make the advice generously made available effective and usable, an authentic bridge (better, a golden gate!) Between ideas and practical achievements.
A book that, with good reason, can be considered a practical manual for foreign trade, whose learning can really benefit those who, today, decide to embark on this journey of humanity, culture and … business!
Raffaele Lauro General Secretary of Unimpresa
Preface to the book: The seven rules for selling abroad. Even in times of Covid-19
Author: Luca Bargilli – Lauro & Partners editions (independent publishers)
info: sysitaly@gmail.com
