Going Global: The Channel’s Expanding Horizons

… how it alters existing rules: “If substantial regulatory changes are made, this can only serve to reinforce why customers need an agile platform like ours,” said the respondent.

Talk about looking on the bright side.

Still, fully 30 percent of respondents said they do not sell outside the U.S. market and have no plans to do so.

“That’s a tragedy,” said Eric Hanselman, chief analyst at 451 Research, noting the untapped opportunity for international business, including in Africa, where there’s huge potential and rising tech stars. Hanselman chalked up reticence to look abroad to a mix of two factors: a lack of motivation by partners comfortable with their domestic sales and leaders who may have had, or heard about, a bad experience.

“Most have a horror story about managing [a transaction], closing a sale or being paid,” he said. “I think that hovers over people’s understanding.”

That may be so, but when we asked respondents what’s holding them back, the No. 1 answer, cited by 62 percent, was no demand from current customers. That indicates a need for partners to act as business advisers. Stats support an intervention: The 2016 Global Connectedness Index from shipping provider DHL shows that the 20 free-trade agreements currently in place enable even the smallest U.S. companies to do business with the 95 percent of consumers who live outside of the United States.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Small Business Administration, trade accounts for …