Going Global

Over the last few months, I have met and worked with many organizations who are taking their US-centric businesses to the global marketplace. One of the initial mistakes in their thought process is building business with two segments: US and Global.

However, as a global leader, you need to think differently. US is part of the world, i.e., global.

A few Things to do in moving global:

- organize globally

You might not be able to do that right away, but you need to be moving in that direction if you really want to be a global unit.

- focus on customer segmentation

Just because you sit in the US, does not mean that you only want the US product/service. Some will have US domestic responsibility, while others will have global responsibility. These are two distinct segments which have different needs and requirements. A customer with global responsibility who sits in the US will have similar issues/needs as another customer with similar responsibilities sitting in the UK. So, its global versus local.

- have a global mindset but remember local differences

Going global does not mean take what you have in one country and sell it globally. You need to have a global platform (mindset) but local flexibility. Coca Cola is an excellent example, same brand, platform, but the taste of coke varies in different geographies based upon local preferences.


From my experiences, working globally is very rewarding. However, you do need to think differently than you have in the past.