Austrade media release
Monday, 30 June 2008
Three of Australia’s winners in the Australian Export Awards program shared their stories and insights among a business audience in Canberra last week.
The 2007 Australian Export Awards winners on the business panel of experts included Dr Chris Roberts from Cochlear Limited (NSW); Mr Todd Coates from BridgeClimb (NSW); and Mr Johan Pienaar from Flight Training Adelaide (SA).
Dr Chris Roberts said winning the Australian Exporter of the Year Award had been particularly special given it was Cochlear’s 25th anniversary of giving the gift of hearing to more than 90,000 people worldwide.
In relaying Cochlear’s exports’ success, Dr Roberts highlighted the importance of value-adding.
“Even the name of the product was important in ensuring it fitted into a category that would easily meet reimbursement criteria. These little things do make an impact on the bottom line,” he said.
Dr Roberts also said Cochlear’s European business had trebled over the past five years by changing its distribution model through agents to direct distribution. “It made sense to have our people on the ground in many overseas markets rather than simply sell through a distributor,” Dr Roberts said.
He added: “Austrade has been a fundamental supporter.”
BridgeClimb’s Mr Todd Coates emphasised the importance of the customer and effective marketing strategies.
“We have absolute focus on the customer. Their positive experience translates to word of mouth and the rise of social networking and blogging on the net helps spread the word even further,” he said.
Mr Coates added the need to be sensitive to a person’s cultural background. “We found customers from the eastern hemisphere reacted very differently to the BridgeClimb experience than the majority of our climbers who are from western countries,” Mr Coates said. “We needed to accommodate all needs,” he said.
Mr Pienaar from Flight Training Adelaide says to look after your people. “It has always been difficult holding onto our people. There is an unprecedented boom in the airline industry and never before has the demand for pilots been so high. We are losing our flight instructors to commercial airlines and are now in the process of developing exit strategies to remedy this challenge,” he said.
“There is already a formal scholarship program in place with Cathay Pacific Airlines (CPA), to ensure Flight Training Adelaide retains the scholarship flying instructors for three and a half years before they get employed by CPA. Similar discussions have taken place with local airlines with no formal outcomes as yet.”
Mr Pienaar also warned about becoming complacent with long-term customers. “Don’t underestimate your customers - all of them want a hug and the ongoing assurance their requirements are being met,” he said.
Cochlear Limited and BridgeClimb will this year be formally recognised in the Australian Export Awards Hall of Fame - an honour awarded to three-time winners for their consistently strong, global export performances.
The 2008 Australian Export Awards winners will be announced at a National Awards Presentation on 5 December 2008 in Melbourne.
Companies can enter the national awards by first entering their state and territory award programs via www.exportawards.gov.au
ENDS
Media contact
Caroline James
Mob: +61 413 481 579
For further news and information from the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) visit www.austrade.gov.au/mediacentre. |