What is the key to long-term exporting? For 1984 Export Award winner NZ Pharmaceuticals, its success came from understanding its competitive position and building good relationships with customers.

NZ Pharmaceuticals (NZP) manufactures and exports pharmaceutical intermediates and diagnostics products for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. It also produces a range of dietary supplements. Its sales – 99 percent of them exports – have risen from about $10 million in 1994 to about $45 million in 2006.

The company’s success as an exporter comes from understanding its competitive position and building good relationships with customers, says NZP managing director Richard Garland.

“We work hard to maintain our competitive position, and to spot new opportunities and trends so we can stay ahead of the game.”

A company’s competitive position can alter substantially due to changes in market conditions or customer demands, and exporters need to be able to respond quickly, he says. This is particularly true in the biotech industry where changes in regulations can wipe out a business at short notice.

NZP operates in a niche market with relatively few customers, and maintaining good relationships with these customers is vital for success, he says.

“The relationship we have with our main customer in Japan has been key for us, and has meant we’ve gotten to share much of the growth they’ve experienced in their market.”

Integrity, transparency and responsiveness are what customers are looking for, he says. “Our customers need to know they can trust us. When there is an issue we respond immediately – and customers value that.”

Personal contact is essential for maintaining the relationship, so as well as visiting customers itself NZP uses agents based in key markets such as Japan where one customer
needs weekly, and sometimes daily, contact. The company tries to ensure its physical distance from key markets doesn’t become a customer’s problem.

It plans production schedules to take account of shipping time, and occasionally uses air freight to ensure a customer’s deadline is met.

“We try to turn the distance issue to our advantage. For example, if we get an inquiry from the other side of the world one day, we can respond to it during our working day – meaning from the customer’s point of view we’ve responded overnight.”

Source: “Sustainable Exporting” by Frances Martin, Issue 19, bright, November/December 2006

Back to top