READERS REPORT (38)

10 ways to spot a Kiwi business person travelling overseas

GERARD O'NEIL

Last updated 14:30 22/03/201

123RF.COM

To be successful in Brazil you have to forget all your preconceived ideas about the country, says Gerard.

When I emigrated to Brazil in 1992 I gravitated towards the ex-pat community. The foreign nationals based in my city met for drinks at sundown, went out to dinner together and spent the weekends participating in cultural activities such as cricket etc.

As few of us expected to be in the country for more than a couple of years, not many bothered to learn Portuguese, nor find out much about the country. "Our ignorance was bliss!"

When I met and fell in love with a local girl everything changed. I soon lost contact with my former compatriots as the quality of the local beer did not seem to be that important anymore.

My life now revolved around such things as getting married, obtaining a permanent visa, learning Portuguese, trying to get my university degree recognised, finding a job and discovering how the Brazilian system really worked.

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With poor Portuguese language skills, I found my employment options limited to basically teaching English. To my surprise I discovered I loved this new profession and today specialise in teaching English to top level business executives. This high level networking then opens doors to my other professional activities of translation and market research work.

It was through these latter activities that I began to have contact with foreigners again.

Unfortunately, despite new modes of communication, many still do not seem to be able to grasp the complexity of the Brazilian business environment, where relationships and family connections mean everything.

Concepts which to outsiders seem irrational, to us are quite understandable and logical. For example, Brazil's three US dollar conversion rates - business, tourism, and parallel (black market). Which one is used depends on which part of the transaction is being discussed.

However, if the negotiation is related to agro-business, then values are generally quoted in sacks of corn or soya beans, based on the price on the New York Stock Exchange on a predetermined date.

NEGOTIATIONS

To be successful in Brazil you have to forget all your preconceived ideas about the country. Just as New Zealand can no longer be stereotyped as being the land of "rugby, racing and beer", Brazil cannot be stereotyped as being the land of "football and carnival".

To do business here you have to be a good negotiator. You have to know when to be humble, when to bang your fists on the table and threaten, when to back off, when to appear to agree to something you really don’t, but most off all, you need to have an expert knowledge of the complex Brazilian legal system.

I have grown to admire the ability of Brazilians to do business. Despite a public service that almost doesn’t function, a country with one of the world’s highest tax rates, endemic corruption, and a constantly changing political and economic environment, Brazilians have still managed to build the world’s sixth largest economy.

Over the years, I have met various New Zealand business people trying to break into the Brazilian market without much success, even though Brazil is often described as being a potential El Dorado for New Zealand exporters - a description I have been hearing since 1992.

MORE ARTICLES BY GERARD:
* Witnessing the end of a farming era
* Living in the land of corruption
* Expat baby boomer thinks of home

According to 2014 New Zealand Trade and Enterprise figures, Brazil was New Zealand's 23rd largest export market, exporting just NZ$312m worth of goods here.

I suspect this historical lack of exporting success may be related to similar behaviours outlined in Siobhan Downes’ recent article on 10 ways to spot a Kiwi travelling overseas.

Perhaps another list can be made - 10 ways to spot a Kiwi business person travelling overseas.

Below are some possibilities I could contribute from my experiences of dealing with New Zealand's business people here in Brazil:

1. Simply don't turn up for an interview with a journalist from a prestigious Brazilian marketing magazine and thus miss the opportunity to have your company's name exposed to thousands of potential clients, for free.

2. Embarrass your Brazilian hosts by getting drunk at dinner in their home, and then spend the evening telling them why you thought New Zealand was so much better than Brazil. What a pity you did not know your host was the retired accountant for the company you were sent here to try to buy.

3. Not understanding that market research takes time. Though your product may have been acceptable in Brazil, as it was going to be incorporated into a Brazilian export, it was going to take time (it took one year) to be approved by European authorities.

4. Check your geography. São Paulo is some distance from the sea. You are unlikely to sell a lot of deep sea fishing equipment there!

5. A request for a sample does not mean you can send, unsolicited, a fully laden container!

6. Understand that one culture is not better than another, it is just different.

7. Learn to drive! The power house of the Brazilian economy is agro-business. Many of these companies are based in cities in the interior which are not serviced by air companies.

8. No-one has heard of rugby, Sir Edmund Hillary or Lorde, and they think New Zealand is a state of the United States or located somewhere near Russia.

9. A kiwi is a fruit, full stop!

10. You are an ambassador for New Zealand until your plane touches down in Auckland. Don't change into clothes more suitable for a tramp into the Tararua Ranges before your flight home and then stand around the business class lounge bar getting progressively drunk and mouthing off about how stupid you think the locals are.

You would be surprised how many of them speak English as a second language.

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