Wavteq is one the leading providers of FDI lead generation services and many North American EDOs and European IPAs have relied upon Wavteq to help them attract billions of dollars in FDI from Asia and Europe where we have 10 offices.
However, with the coronavirus crisis, it’s no longer possible to do in-market visits and face to face (F2F) meetings with investors. While Wavteq has ramped-up its e-engagement with companies and has shifted to a conference call model, it's very hard to close deals with companies when they cannot travel and cannot meet EDOs and IPAs F2F and this will be a factor in the projected sharp decline of FDI in 2020 (Click here or detailed projections on the impact of the crisis to FDI).
I also see this as a crucial time for capacity building in economic development so we all equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills we'll need once the health crisis subsides and the focus moves firmly to the economic recovery.
Over the last 2 months, Wavteq has therefore been re-orientating our operations to focus on three areas to support our clients:
1. eLearning
We have rapidly scaled up investment in our eLearning and FDI Certification platform. The platform provides not only the most comprehensive FDI training available across 11 courses on FDI but now includes industry blueprints on the hottest sub-sectors for FDI, which are expected to continue to grow, and other learning resources. Many EDOs and IPAs have been dependent on F2F training workshops to train their teams, which while very important do not provide comprehensive professional development and continuous learning and are not tested so there is no way to know if staff have increased their knowledge and understanding. It's also very expensive. With the current crisis, F2F training is not possible and this is the perfect opportunity for EDOs and IPAs to switch to eLearning and ensure all their teams - including top management(!)- are fully up to date on FDI and how to attract it. We are providing our eLearning and FDI Certification platform at just over $30 per user per course when taking an Enterprise License, so it’s affordable to all EDOs and IPAs.
2. Corporate intelligence
We are continuing to hire analysts for our Corporate Intelligence Unit (CIU) and we are increasing investment in our genuine AI platform, Alchemy, to filter and select potential investors for our clients. As EDOs and IPAs cannot do trade shows, road shows, and events (and arguably were over-invested in these activities pre-crisis relative to the ROI they got), direct targeting of potential investors is the way forward. This requires strategic investor research not blanket marketing to companies, which is against data protection rules in over 30 countries and furthermore is not effective; EDOs and IPAs need to approach the right decision makers in the right companies with a customised value proposition and we have further scaled-up our capabilities to support this. In the short-term, we are working to review and enhance our corporate intelligence for key sectors which we have identified as likely to continue to grow through the crisis including ecommerce, digital technology, cybersecurity and renewable energy.
3. Amplify CRM
According to Harvard Business Review, up to 90% of CRM implementations fail to increase business growth. Most CRM systems are either a one-size- fits all SaaS product or are very expensive bespoke built systems. In both cases, many EDOs an IPAs are left either with a CRM which is not fit-for-purpose and requires expensive customisation or a CRM which becomes too complicated to use and which ties the EDO or IPA into a very expensive vendor. Wavteq has therefore spent 3 years R&D building a CRM platform that is completely aligned to the needs of EDOs and IPAs. As we develop our own technology and because we are experts in economic development, we provide full customisation and setup of the platform included in the license fee. This ensures EDOs and IPAs get the system they need without having to pay more than off the shelf CRM products. Our experts share best practices in how to setup the Amplify system to enhance EDO and IPA performance. Amplify CRM is built around targeting companies, not contacts as with generic CRM products, recognising that investment deals can take several years to convert and contacts may change during this period. Most of all, we have designed the CRM to be easy to use and we have fully tested it across our global LG teams for over 1 year to ensure its fit-for-purpose. We can also “weaponise” the CRM providing it fully loaded with companies and contacts in those companies; ready for you to engage with to fast track attracting FDI.
Wavteq is committed to continuous innovation to ensure EDOs and IPAs can continue to build their capabilities to attract FDI during these times of crisis.
For more information please contact us.
