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Our own Bonni Shevin-Sandy wins Counselor's International Person of the Year! |
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| By Michele Bell | | | When Bonni Shevin-Sandy started Dard Design, the custom and international sales side of Counselor Top 40 supplier Dard (asi/48500) in 2001, it was in response to a distributor's request for a unique, specific product. That the distributor's client was Schick and the order turned out to be for nearly $800,000 – since reordered twice – was Shevin-Sandy's first indication of how profitable the custom market could be. When the client asked that Dard Design's patented item – a tricked-out waterproof shower radio – be recreated for the European and Canadian markets, Shevin-Sandy knew she'd tapped into a gold mine.
| And though the learning curve for mastering the intricacies of doing business abroad can be steep, it's also lucrative: Dard Design now supports 40% of the company's overall sales volume and did over $4 million internationally in 2008; this year, the division is on target to double that number.
Shevin-Sandy began expanding her global reach slowly and then in 2004, after doing several international orders, started exhibiting at the Hong Kong Gift & Premium Show – the expansive, twice-yearly event that attracts many global suppliers. "There were only two other U.S. companies exhibiting at that time who where much larger than Dard/Dard Design, but I figured I could show all 40 world-wide patented items and sell them to suppliers in other countries without stepping on the toes of my distributor partners," she says.
At this year's Hong Kong show, held in May, Dard Design was upgraded from the cramped and remote location where newer exhibitors are exiled and moved to a place of prominence because its line of patented staplers was given a prestigious design award.
Exhibiting at the show was a masterstroke – Dard Design's business has grown quickly and exponentially, and Shevin-Sandy had to hire people in Hong Kong and the U.S. to facilitate the new business, which now sells and ships to 48 countries around the world. |  | Shevin-Sandy points out that given the company's experience in doing business abroad, they were ahead of the game in the arena of product testing and factory and social auditing. "I have a very brilliant partner, my father, Cary Shevin," she says. "He taught me to start slowly when working with new factories overseas, to build the trust and partnerships a little bit at a time, and watch cautiously. I used to start off running, then after I crashed into a wall by not taking into account things like orders being held up in customs, I had to learn to walk again. Running is out of the question now, but I still do some sprinting on occasion."
It's an approach that her distributor partners certainly appreciate. "Bonni is a top rate person," says Jay Deutsch, CEO of BDA (asi/137616). "She cares about doing things the right way."
Shevin-Sandy maintains that there are plenty of opportunities for industry distributors and suppliers in the overseas markets. "If there are suppliers or distributors who have world-wide patented items, get them out there," she says. "International customers will be interested. Network your items through the Internet. I have an international Web site, and it brought us global exposure and new customers."
If there's one piece of advice that Shevin-Sandy wants to impart to those who'd like to explore the international sales terrain, it's that Americans need to learn to "tone it down." "Talk clearly, but calmly, and even if there's an issue, raising your voice or threatening in any way can end up costing all parties involved," she says. "No matter how bad the factory wants the order, or the customer wants the item, if the factory reps in Asia are embarrassed and disrespected, they'll walk away from any order."
Shevin-Sandy also points out that while communicating in places like the far provinces of China was more of a challenge years ago, e-mail has largely solved the problem. "It's the best form of communication, and putting everything in writing is crucial," she says. "The communication gap has narrowed, making it so much easier to develop new international business." – MB |
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Date: 22-Jul-2009 |
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