The storm is approaching……
After an epic trip, a very interesting first day, it was almost time to meet my colleagues that would / could either make or break the trip. It is so critical to be part of a dynamic, enthusiastic group when being part of a trade mission. The days are very long and a good strong group can drag you along when quite frankly, all you want to do is sleep. I’ll put you all out of your misery straight away, the group turned out to be……
Fantastic.
Initially only one turned up. Once the pleasantries had been done it was onto far more serious matters of a trip to China Town for even more great and cheap food followed by a few hours of haggling to buy things we wanted, not necessarily needed. Amazing experience and one I would heartily recommend. It is a vibrant area of KL, great for people watching and buying umpteen handbags. A good way to end the first day and certainly meant an air of positivity was already surrounding me.
Day 3
The reason I decided to come early to KL was not to blag a few days holiday, it was to attend the Education Fair which was taking place over the weekend prior to the mission. As we are an education recruitment company, it was perfect timing and gave me an opportunity to meet potential clients under one roof. The exhibition was pretty well attended with international universities, schools and technical vocational training centres present. It still amazes me how organisations who want to work overseas try to generate business over email and phone, If you are genuinely committed to a market, go and meet your potential clients face to face. Having said that, I am glad that we are in a minority and long may that continue! I received a very good reception and companies were certainly keen to discuss their requirements with me.
Malaysia is driving towards a common goal, Vision 2020. By this date, the country aims to be classed as a developed nation and to achieve this, one of the main areas is education, As a company we have great experience of upskilling and providing quality educators to allow a country to achieve its dream. Hopefully we can help Malaysia too.
This was my first ever foray into the education sector in Malaysia and I left filled with optimism and very enthused about the trade mission.
Day 4
I had planned (honest!) to spend 2 full days at the Education Fair but I managed to see all the exhibitors in one day. So, ‘annoyingly’ I had the day off. My justification was that I had already generated some great leads from the previous day, all emailed and some invited to the forthcoming trade reception. So, with absolutely no sense of guilt I turned into a tourist for the day. I heartily recommend going on the tour to the top of the Petronas Towers, the views are stunning. Again, now I have been I can confidently discuss roles in KL which will automatically elevate us over our ‘competitors’ who have never been.
That evening was the first opportunity to meet the rest of the delegation. Now I have been on numerous missions over the years and meeting a new group is always a nervous affair, what if we don’t get on? We are all stuck with each other. Thankfully, nothing is further from the truth and yes, I do observe the bribery act. Great bunch, really focussed, some more sleepy than others, but everyone sharing the common goal of winning business. Brilliant. As usual no names mentioned!
This was shaping up to be a very good trip……….