Exporting pays off - export success story

Business America, Feb 25, 1991

EXPORTING Pays Off

Medical International Inc. of Spring Lake, N.J., an export management and trading company, believes its services are equally beneficial to U.S. manufacturers and to foreign buyers.

Carol Myers, the firm's export manager, said, "Small- and medium-sized U.S. companies think it's great to have our expertise selling their products. Many of them wouldn't export at all on their own. Some get an unsolicited foreign order, and it sits on their desks for a long time and ends up in the trash can. The smaller companies don't know about such matters as letters of credit. They just don't feel comfortable with international marketing."

Medical International, which supplies hospital and physicians' supplies and equipment, orthopedic appliances, rehabilitation equipment, home health care products, X-ray equipment, dental supplies, and other products, will either (1) buy outright the products of the manufacturers it represents or, (2) act as their export management agent on a commission basis. Ninety percent of the firm's business is in the first category, the remainder in the second.

The firm's export services include market research and consulting, establishment of overseas sales outlets, product promotion and advertising, international trade show representation, handling of all correspondence and inquiries, financing arrangements and payment risks, export documentation and letters of credit, and shipping and consolidation services.

What are the advantages for foreign customers in dealing with a U.S. trading company? Medical International claims that its chief selling point is the simplicity in ordering from just one U.S. purchasing point. The firm contends that this procedure saves foreign customers time and money by minimizing documentation and providing regular and routine shipments and efficient consolidation services. The firm publishes catalogs showing pictures of the various products of its 70 client manufacturers.

Medical International, which was formed four years ago, had a record-breaking year in 1990, when its gross sales exceeded $800,000 in Asia, the Middle East, South and Latin America, Europe, and Africa. It added 10 new countries to its list of export destinations and increased its U.S. client base by 35 percent.

The company says that advertising pays off. It advertised recently in the Commerce Department's catalog-magazine, Commercial News USA, and in The Schiff Report, a private publication that focuses on international health matters. The advertisements have brought Medical International an average of 10 to 15 inquiries per week.

Company officials recently traveled to several countries in Asia, where they increased sales activities with old clients and found new business with firms that had been on a prospect lead list.

In May, the firm will participate in the Commerce Department's Matchmaker Trade Delegation to Milan and Paris which will concentrate on medical and biotech equipment.

PHOTO : Last fall, Medical International Inc. took part in the Rep-Find '90 program in the Dominican Republic, sponsored by the New Jersey Division of International Trade and the U.S. Department of Commerce. It led to $50,000 in orders.