“Strangers in a new culture see only what they know.”

February 1, 2013

Regular readers of this blog will know last year Van Walt expanded into different markets, opening a new office in Wanaka, New Zealand and buying into a company, Analab SA who do what we do – provide environmental and groundwater monitoring equipment – but in Spain. After a few weeks with some of our UK staff over in New Zealand helping establish the Van Walt name with environmental consultancies and researchers and almost a week spent with colleagues in Spain, looking at future business strategy, the saying: “Strangers in a new culture see only what they know”, seems all too appropriate.

Travel to members of the Van Walt team, is relatively common: we have trained and done business in countries around the world, including Kurdistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and India; so opening in New Zealand seemed a natural fit – they speak the same language after all!

And we have a clear strategic plan for the New Zealand market: to connect with potential customers, deliver excellent equipment and service and to grow with them to become their preferred, trusted supplier whether they choose to rent or buy their equipment from us.  We trained our staff to reflect our brand values of being innovative, relevant and adaptable to the local conditions – everything seems to be going according to plan.  However, when it comes to discussing extending battery packs for a peristaltic pump or updates to a planned visit schedule, even holiday dates – we have a problem!  When we’re at work, they’re in bed! 

So doing business in New Zealand is not just about the customers’ experience and exceeding expectations – it’s also about good planning, clear communication and empowering the team on the ground to reflect our values to build the business. The digital age has made the world a smaller place but never underestimate the logistics when you are 12,000 miles away and it takes 27 hours to get there!

In Spain we are lucky, we have a dedicated, experienced team, headed up by Montse Ampuy, daughter of James Ampuy, Analab’s founder.  The time difference in Spain is only one hour and luckily they put us to shame by all having a much better grasp of English than we do of Spanish! However, Spanish employment laws, their equivalent of VAT and PAYE – despite both our countries being members of the EU – we are Worlds apart! Understanding the differences and acting on the commonalities is not always as straightforward as it should be. What we need to remember is: we have a common goal – to make the business a success!