N.Z. firms told to sell more to U.S.

Press, 3 November 1986, Page 5

N.Z. firms told to sell more to U.S.

PA Wellington New Zealand firms tend to underrate themselves, and could easily sell a lot more to the United States, according to three Tradecom marketing officers visiting New Zealand for the first time.

Through its Tradecom offices around the world, the Trade and Industry Department employs a number of qualified locals as marketing officers. Some, like the visiting Americans, have never been to New Zeland, the country they represent in the marketplace.

The secret of success is anticipating and leading market trends, rather than sending goods to meet a demand which has boomed and vanished by the time they arrive. That is the message Christy Nordskog, from San Francisco, George Simon of Los Angeles, and Jerry

Kerin, of New York are telling the exporters they are visiting during the three-week familiarisation course.

The A.N.Z.U.S. issue was having no effect on demand for New Zealand goods, and Mr Kerin, whose New York Tradecorn office covers 21 states, said all the letters coming in to New Zealand consular officials were in support of the port ban on nuclear weapons-carrying ships. Ms Nordskog said it was consumer perceptions that mattered in marketing, and New Zealand’s nuclear-free, clean and healthy image was having a great effect, particularly on sales of food products. Ms Nordskog said being able to say she had been to the country she was endorsing would definitely help clinch deals in the future.