Case study: a Swiss barrier for major European events

The Wetter Group, an established Swiss family business with 160 employees, has been active in steel and hall construction for almost 80 years. The company developed FairGuard, a mobile security barrier for major events. As demand in Switzerland for this product is low, the company decided to venture abroad.

Challenges of internationalization

Entering the international market went hand-in-hand with challenges:

• Launching the product business: FairGuard is the Wetter Group’s first product. Until now, the company has worked on a commission basis. This means that the Wetter Group is also breaking new ground with respect to sales.
• Insufficient export experience: with the exception of one German sales partner, the company did not have a presence abroad.
• Management of sales partners: a pre-existing contract with the company’s German partner had not yet led to the expected sales.

The Wetter Group sought support from Switzerland Global Enterprise (S-GE) to overcome these challenges.

Solution: step-by-step market entry with S-GE

S-GE consultants Felicitas Gartmann and Daniel Bont supported the Wetter Group through a structured process of internationalization, focusing on two objectives:

• Evaluating and selecting suitable export markets
• Optimizing collaboration with existing sales partners

A clear export strategy was developed jointly during a series of practice-oriented workshops:

1. Analysis of the initial situation

2. Selection of potential target markets

3. Development of a sales strategy

4. Implementation and next steps

Through its collaboration with S-GE, the Wetter Group was able to identify suitable export markets, approach new sales partners and build up valuable expertise for its long-term internationalization. Read our case study to find out how the company planned and implemented its internationalization step by step.

Do you have any further questions about managing international sales partners? Arrange a no-obligation initial consultation with our expert and discuss your challenges, possible approaches and solutions.