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| RESSOURCES -
MED ACADEMY (E-MODULE) |
| 5. Project Life Cycle Management |
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• Does Economic Intelligence really makes a difference for prospecting?
• How do you actually generate leads and have investors’ ears?
• What is the point in setting up an international prospecting network and how to make sure it makes a difference?
• What is after-care?
• What are the do’s and don’ts to attract and durably retain a project? |
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Contents |
What is at stake?
- Managing the life cycle of an investment project
- Quality always makes a difference
- Promotion activities and lead generation: strong requirements for so-called “passive” approaches
- The active, commercial approaches of promotion: start with your networks
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What is at stake? |
Managing the life cycle of an investment project
The spectrum of missions carried out by the average investment promotion agency has been considerably widened over the years. Many agencies now offer solutions and services to investors long before the project is formalised and way after it is implemented. At each stage of the life cycle of the project, the agency may try to take the lead: prospecting a company based on weak signals (investment intelligence), be supportive through all the pre-investment phase of the decision-making process by providing customised information and offers (« inquiry & project handling »), smooth administrative procedures once a decision is made (facilitation), introduce the newcomers to the local business and research scene (« cluster development »), follow-up the operational launch, make maximise customer-satisfaction throughout the lifetime of the project (« after-care »), protect the investor and help him settle disputes (CDS), fulfil a policy-advocacy mission to further improve the local business environment and attractiveness by being the spokesperson of investors in the public arena. A common approach would be to present yourself as a facilitator rather than a salesman. The mfcpole (see below), in charge of industrial parks in Tunisia, would thus like to be seen t as a business development accelerator and not a salesman of square metres.
Quality always makes a difference
To be able to fully support a project, the promotion agent must first understand its strategic determinants. He should then have a detailed knowledge of Local Productive Systems (LPS) and access to the right networks within them. In the Knowledge Economy indeed, value creation is the result of complex interactions between individuals and companies sharing ideas, concepts, know-how, technology, and risk and business appetite. The IPA can play a catalyst role (deal maker) in this polymerization process by providing the infrastructure (e.g. incubators) but also paying attention to the local "nervous system" (university-business links, trainings, outsourcing opportunities, after-care clubs, skills, critical mass). The quality of the human resources used by the IPA (talents, well-filled address book) is critical, as well as the use of systematic approaches guaranteeing performance and quality (tools, CRM software but also management).
Promotion activities and lead generation: strong requirements for so-called “passive” approaches
A lead is «a qualified contact generated by a marketing operation. It is therefore a prospective customer which is yet to be turned into a client » (Publicitor 7th edition, p. 442). There are 2 types of lead generation strategies. The passive approaches, referred to as pull, are very widely used, mostly due to a lack of means, including for some territories whose visibility is insufficient. Having an attractive web site and waiting for spontaneous contacts caused by promotion actions will not do however. You need as a minimum to provide a competent person to answer the telephone and ensure that customer relations follow-up is faultless. The Global Investment Promotion Benchmark undertaken in 2009 by the ICAS of the World Bank tells “The Story of how “investors” fared. It shows that out of the nearly 200 IPAs tested around the world, availability and contactability was questionable. When their consultants sent an e-mail, only 5% replied within 24 hours. They managed to reach only 40% of all IPAs by phone immediately (56% after 3 days of repeated attempts). Only a third of those IPAs which were eventually contacted knew anything about the first request for information sent by email.
The active, commercial approaches of promotion: start with your networks
At times, investment promotion players have the means for determined approaches. Qualified as push, they aim to provoke leads, and not wait for them to come, via a presence close to prospects. The most effective players usually enjoy a great deal of autonomy. They are capable of overstepping their formal mandates and finding resources for doing more. The municipality of Haifa (see below) re-injects the dividends from its famous MATAM Technological Park into its new projects. Organisational innovation is permanent (see ERAI’s international incubator). The majority of local IPAs prefer domestic targets. National agencies often set up international prospecting networks, which they sometimes share with the former. Prospecting prescriber networks and local business communities is the right way to get things moving. According to Henry Loewendahl, OCO Global, “the most successful methods of investor targeting involve links to existing investors and business and personal networks with target companies and intermediary organisations, including industry associations and investment multipliers like real estate companies and location consultants. Sales representation has also proven to be effective, as long as it is performance driven.” Haifa has gambled everything on recruitment: an ex-senior consultant with a well-filled address book coordinates niche networks and puts on scientific events under the cover of which he can create leads. International cooperation (Dayton’s representative office in Haifa), sectoral or generalist events (World Expo, etc.) are also propitious vectors. Certain prefer a low-key direct presence (having a representative hosted by the embassy or a partner organisation) or a more sizeable one (ERAI offices financed by hosted French businesses).
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Invest in Med toolbox: the fundamentals |
Title: « Introduction to Project Life Cycle Management; from intelligence & lead generation to project handling and after-care »
Language: English
Date: January 2009
Author: Benedict de Saint-Laurent with updates by Pierre Henry, Anima Investment Network
Source: Slideshow prepared for the Med Academy seminar Introduction to FDI Issues” held in Marseille (France), in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Investment projects can be better accompanied by an IPA through the Project Cycle Management approach. This approach consist in offering specific services in phase with the maturation process of the project, from the pre-investment phase to the after-sale customer-care services often called “after-care services”. Before getting into more details in the presentations found below, this document provides an overview of each type of service to be provided: intelligence& lead generation support in the decision-making process, facilitation, satisfaction, dispute settlement, networking, policy-advocacy, etc...
Download (pdf/1168 Ko)
Title: « Best Practice in Investor Targeting »
Language: English
Date: November 2005
Author: Henry Loewendahl, Oco Global
Source : Presentation prepared for an APEC-OECD seminar organised Busan (Korea) and commented during a regional seminar organised in the framework of the ANIMA programme (2002-2007)
Summary : In this very dense paper, Henry Loewendahl shares his experience of targeting and prospecting foreign investors, highlighting some basic principles such as : the benefits of project review when defining the level of involvement of the IPA, giving priority to your present customers to seek re-investments (investors already located in your territory), the great value of business and personal networks, etc.
Download (pdf/295 Ko)
Title: « Investor targeting & After care »
Language: English
Date: October 2003
Author: Wim Douw, IBM – Plant Location International
Source: Presentation prepared for a regional seminar organised in Amman (Jordan) in the framework of the ANIMA programme (2002-2007)
Summary: Generating leads abroad is a tricky job. IBM-PLI gives examples of pro-active and re-active strategies. The presentation also introduces basic or advanced marketing tools such the Contact & Investor Tracking Tool (CITT), the Resource Allocation Tool (optimize spending of annual marketing budget), the Proposition-based profitability / project evaluation software, the Competitive position & Sales manual, and finally Cluster Management Tools (mapping of cluster-related strategic resources of your territory).
Download (pdf/911 Ko)
Title: « Managing the Investment Generation Pipeline »
Language: English
Date: March 2003
Author: Richard Banks, Anima – Invest in France
Source: Presentation prepared for a regional seminar organised in Nicosia (Cyprus) in the framework of the ANIMA programme (2002-2007)
Summary: Richard Banks shows here how to deal with the Investment Generation Pipeline, from the first contact to the Corporate Development Support. It show how important it is to be a sales professional, setting up quantitative targets while also paying due attention to human elements.
Download (pdf/335 Ko)
Title: « Handling Investor Inquiries / developing a systemic approach »
Language: English
Date: February 2010
Author: Celia Ortega, Investment Climate Advisory Services (ex-FIAS), World Bank Group
Source: Slideshow prepared for a joint World Bank- Invest in Med seminar held in Cairo, Egypt, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Are You Missing Investment Opportunities Knocking on Your Doors? The Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking (GIPB) of the World Bank Group has found that 70% of the investment promotion organisations may be missing foreign investment projects because they don't respond to investors in an appropriate way. Affordable but convenient technological or management tools may boost your performances, as shown by these presentations. The first presentation addresses the most common weaknesses while the second part shows the benefits of implementing a systematic approach to handling investor inquiries.
Download “Handling Investor Inquiries: The Importance of offering a professional service to investors and how to respond
Download “Developing a systemic approach to handling project inquiries”
+ Bonus! To know more on how the Chaouia-Ouardigha (Settat) Regional Investment Centre implemented an e-platform for the administrative facilitation of investment, click here
Title: « What Makes a Good Facilitator? »
Language: English
Date: February 2010
Author: Celia Ortega, Investment Climate Advisory Services (ex-FIAS), World Bank Group
Source: Slideshow prepared for a joint World Bank- Invest in Med seminar held in Cairo, Egypt, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Celia Ortega synthesizes the findings of the 2009 GIPB survey. She shows what the top 25 Facilitators have in common: a management aimed at maximising customer care satisfaction through a dedicated strategy, communication and tracking tools, trained and motivated, quality control and evaluation procedures.
Download
+ Bonus! Invest in Turkey ranked 5th in the GIPB 2009. Its vice-president gave a key-note presentation at the Cairo seminar to show how his agency’s services are organised around investors needs. To read more about the management of performance at Invest in Turkey, click here
Title: « Pre-investment data: useful information for an investor »
Language: English
Date: February 2009
Author: Pierre Henry, Anima
Source: Slideshow prepared for the seminar « On-line Investor Servicing » held in Marseille (France), in the framework of the Med Academy of the Invest in Med project (2008-2011)
Summary: Making an investment decision usually requires a great deal of information. Most IPAs consider as their duty to provide as much information to decision makers. Providing such a service is very costly, while it is often difficult to decide how far to go when investors’ expectations are limitless. This presentation gives an overview of the type of information usually useful to an investor. It shows how to achieve the right balance between ready-to-use and customised communication tools and recommends forging partnerships for a reliable supply of key quantitative data.
Download (pdf/788 Ko)
Title: « Preparing efficient offers; an operational chain »
Language: English
Date: June 2007
Author: Benedict de Saint Laurent, Anima
Source: Slideshow prepared for a regional seminar on “Lead generation and bid winning through investment intelligence & resource management” held in Marseille (France), in the framework of the Anima programme (2002-2007)
Summary: Benedict de Saint Lauren, a seasoned FDI expert, shares his recommendations on how to deliver customised offers through a standardisation process and the use of templates.
+ Bonus! ICAS prepared an exercise for the Cairo Invest in Med – World Bank seminar which will help you compare an investor’s requirements with a fictive response of the Board of Investment Dreamland (BOI Dreamland). To download this exercise, click here
Title: « After-care methods & tools »
Language: English
Date: March 2009
Author: Emmanuel Noutary, ANIMA
Source: Presentation prepared for the « After-care » seminar organised in Marseille (France) in the framework of the Invest in Med project (2008-2011)
Summary: Attracting foreign investment is a difficult mission. Making sure it flourishes locally and doesn’t relocate to the next low cost hotspot also requires time and efforts. After-care services are all services an IPA can provide to maximize an investor’s satisfaction, encourage re-investment and attract new projects thanks to a consolidated attractiveness. Keeping in touch with established investors will help you improve your business environment if you can use their feedback to loosen the bottlenecks.
Download (pdf/806 Ko)
Title: « Improving the Local Value Chain with Existing FDI »
Language: English
Date: November 2002
Author: Paola Morris, Ceipiemonte
Source: Presentation prepared for a regional seminar organised in Valletta (Malta) in the framework of the ANIMA programme (2002-2007)
Summary: FDI trends show a stronger focus on locating near well developed clusters, due to the increasing importance of skills and capabilities as a critical location factor. This presentation underlines the interest of using clusters and local capabilities as an after-care tool to convince already established companies to expand in your region, and vice versa, the interest of using existing investment to build your local clusters.
Download (pdf/99 Ko)
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Euromed Case studies |
Title: « Economic Intelligence and its contribution to effectively attract FDI. The experience of IiG »
Territory concerned: Greece
Date: May 2009
Source: Slideshows and documents prepared by Invest in Greece for a Med Academy seminar dedicated to Economic Intelligence organised in Athens the framework of the Invest in Med project (2008-2011)
Summary: Before launching any prospecting activities, an IPA should work on the targeting of investors. Economic intelligence can help generate leads provided that it is used for operational purposes and does not feed useless databases. It can also be used for your after-care services. Invest in Greece has or example developed an Investment Barometer to survey the satisfaction and intentions of existing investors and customize the IPA’s services.µ
Download (pdf/2161 Ko)
+ Bonus! To check the questionnaire used by IiG for its Investment Barometer, click here
Title: « Pro-Active FDI Prospecting and lead generating, the experience of Invest in France »
Territory concerned: France
Date: January 2009
Source: Presentation prepared for the Med Academy seminar “Intro to FDI Issues» held in Marseille, France, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Invest in France has developed a strong international network of 27 prospecting offices and a national network of sub-national partners with whom to share leads. Its approach is strongly related to a fine targeting based on economic intelligence and the detection of “weak signals”. Invest in France is known for its aggressive stance, and its strong after-care services. An illustration is provided based on the deal between the Euromed business neighbourhood in Marseille and Invest in France services.
Download (pdf/893 Ko)
Title: « GIPB best practise, Strategic transverse management at CzechInvest »
Territory concerned: Czech Republic
Date: February 2010
Source: Slideshow prepared for a joint World Bank- Invest in Med seminar held in Cairo, Egypt, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Czech Invest in the national IPA for the Czech Republic. It was recognised as best practise by the World Bank’s GIPB 2009 report. The agency explains in this presentation why good facilitation matters. It underlines the benefits of categorizing investment leads according to the IPA’s priorities and dedicating more resources to the top projects.
Download (pdf/1473 Ko)
Title: « Promoting FDI through the sale of programmes »
Territory concerned: none specific
Date: November 2010
Source: Slideshow prepared by Steve Lanier, Managing Director at AWS, for the seminar “Setting & managing an international promotion network” held in Meknes, Morocco, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: AWS is a Washington-based consultancy specialised in investment & trade promotion missions. In this presentation, Steve Lanier describes “emerging FDI strategies” in which the IPA or the consultant’s main jobs are “deal-making” and program development and marketing. A campaign designed for biotech investors in Hannover is used as a case study.
Download (pdf/678 Ko)
Title: « Soft tools for Customer tracking and efforts coordination in Spain »
Territory concerned: Spain
Date: November 2010
Source: Slideshow prepared by Oscar Alvarez, Business Environment Director at Invest in Spain, for the seminar “Setting & managing an international promotion network” held in Meknes, Morocco, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Generating leads is only the first step in a long process leading to the operational launch of a project. Too many leads are simply lost due to a lack of follow-up tools, or the absence of coordination between the different investment promotion players involved. The following presentation shows how Invest in Spain deals with these issues with customer-tracking and lead management tools opened to the different Spanish regions.
Download (pdf/2723 Ko)
Title: « How to provide Business Costs Information to investors »
Territory concerned: Israel
Date: May 2009
Source: Slideshow prepared by Gillam Keinan, Invest in Israel, for the Med Academy seminar “Economic intelligence at the service of FDI promotion” held in Athens, Greece, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Providing pre-investment data to prospective investors is a core activity of most IPAs. It can be costly and tricky as investors’ expectations are sometimes out of reach. Invest in Israel tells us how it selected the information to be provided and how it managed to forge partnerships with Employment Placement Agencies to gain access to updated engineers’ salaries in the very high tech sectors it promotes.
Download (pdf/398 Ko)
Title: « Entreprise Rhône Alpes International and the development of an international promotion network »
Territory concerned: Rhône-Alpes Region, France
Date: November 2010
Source: Slideshow prepared for the seminar “Setting & managing an international promotion network” held in Meknes, Morocco, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: ERAI (Entreprise Rhône-Alpes Internationale) is the economic development agency for the 2nd economic region of France (to know more about ERAI, read the mini case study published in the study Local Investment Promotion in the Mediterranean: a practical compendium). Download. ERAI is responsible for 4 missions offering a significant synergy potential: internationalisation of local SMEs (ERAI Export), support to the constitution and internationalisation of local clusters (ERAI Clusters), international cooperation (ERAI Cooperation) and finally inward investment promotion (ERAI Invest). (To know more about this synergy potential, click here). Xavier Lalande, head of international operations, shares in details his experience in managing his agency’s international network.
Download (pdf/2126 Ko)
+ Bonus! ERAI has developed an innovation solution for foreign investors willing to test the local market without setting up a proper branch. ERAI offers indeed to foreign companies to host a commercial agent at its International Incubator in Lyon, a concept similar to that of ERAI offices abroad. To know more about ERAI’s International Incubator, click here.
The Sub national Corner: « Souss Massa Drâa Regional Investment Centre, a Positive Vision of Investment Facilitation »
Territory concerned: Souss Massa Drâa Region (Morocco)
Date: July 2011
Source: Case study published in the study Local Investment Promotion in the Mediterranean: a practical compendium, released in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011) Summary: The Regional Investment Centre informs, advises and accompanies entrepreneurs and investors. Its core business is administrative facilitation (one-stop-shop). Its positive vision of facilitation is noteworthy in so far as it does not act as a censor but rather as a truly helpful guide.
Download (pdf/498 Ko)
Title: « Facing time constraints and still making good offers »
Territory concerned: Greater Lyon urban area (France)Date: February 2009
Source: Slideshow prepared for the Med Academy seminar “On-line investor servicing” held in Marseille, France, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Aderly is the Development Agency for the Greater Lyon urban area. It has developed an in-house CRM system with integrated Electronic Document Management functions which contains generic presentations of Lyon’s assets & advantages, sector-specific data and arguments and in-house databases on real estate solutions. This tool enables Aderly’s commercial agents to answer inquiries quickly and efficiently.
Download (pdf/2531 Ko)
+ Bonus! To see how a template offer for a biotech investor looks like at Aderly, click here.
The Sub national Corner: « ACC1Ó, Prospecting innovative projects »
Territory concerned: Catalonia (Spain)
Date: February 2009
Source: Slideshow prepared for the seminar “Setting & managing an international promotion network” held in Meknes, Morocco, in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: ACC1Ó was born after the merger of Catalonia’s agencies for innovation and internationalisation. Invest in Catalonia, the local IPA, is part of ACC1Ó. After the massive industrial investment following Spain’s EU membership, Catalonia is now forced to go up the value chain and try and attract new innovative projects suiting its regional cluster development strategy (to know more about Catalonia, ACC1Ó and the regional development strategy, read the case study published in the study Local Investment Promotion in the Mediterranean: a practical compendium). Download. Claudia Danesi, Investment Promotion Director, analyses how ACC1Ó detects business opportunities in high value-added industries and supports international promotion activities in new innovative markets through its international network.
Download (pdf/3546 Ko)
The Sub national Corner: « Haifa, Prospecting through business communities »
Territory concerned: Haifa (Israel)
Date: July 2011
Source: Case study published in the study Local Investment Promotion in the Mediterranean: a practical compendium, released in the framework of the Invest in Med programme (2008-2011)
Summary: Haifa has chosen to bet on human factors rather than sophisticated targeting tools to generate investment. It recruited an ex-senior consultant with a well-filled address book to coordinate personal networks and put on scientific and business events under the cover of which he can generate leads.
Download (pdf/461 Ko)
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Further reading |
Bibliography on prospecting & facilitation
- Study n°10: BtoB Guidebook - Guide to good practices used to support companies on international markets. This practical guide released in 2010 by the Marseille Chamber of Commerce in the framework of the Invest in Med project presents in a user-friendly way the different the steps required to maximize the success of internationalisation missions, BtoB meetings or trade fairs.
- Study n°28: Local Investment Promotion in the Mediterranean: a practical compendium. This guidebook published in 2011 by ANIMA in the framework of the Invest in Med project comprises 10 case studies, which provide an institutional profile (allocated missions/means put into perspective, national and local economic or institutional peculiarities) and an examination of prospecting and communication plans (elaboration process, output & impact)
- Study n°21: The Mediterranean between growth and revolution - Foreign direct investment and partnerships in the MED countries in 2010. The annual report of the MIPO-ANIMA observatory can give you a good overview of regional FDI trends. MIPO also offers free online FDI tracking tools on a project-by-project basis. To know more, check our website www.anima.coop.
- Study n°20: Diasporas: Pathways to investment, entrepreneurship and innovation in the Mediterranean. Released in 2010, this study shows how qualified MED Diasporas could be part of your prospecting operations. To move beyond declarations of intentions, ANIMA and Invest in Med propose a realistic plan of actions to accelerate the engagement of Mediterranean Diasporas’ talents in favour of their countries of origin.
- The Regional Development Agency in the Knowledge Economy: Boundary Crossing for Innovation Systems (2003) Phil Cooke, Director, Centre for Advanced Studies, Cardiff University, UK. Paper prepared for the European Regional Science Association Annual Conference - "Peripheries, Centres, and Spatial Development in the New Europe", Jyväskylä, Finland, August 27 to August 30, 2003. Reconfiguring local development agencies to address the new challenges of the Knowledge Economy is not easy. The paper shows however through a case study that success can be achieved.
- Evaluating Investment Promotion Agencies, Investment Advisory Series, Series A, number 3 2008, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
More e-learning
- Med Academy seminars organised in the framework of the Invest in Med project (to access all experts presentations, Euromed case study and materials prepared for each seminar, click on their title)
- Investment Climate Advisory Services – ICAS, World Bank group (ex-FIAS):
This joint MIGA – World Bank initiative offers in various languages (including Arabic) an online toolkit for the self-training of investment promotion agents. The modules 6, 7, 8 and 9 of the toolkit, entitled« Targeting », « Servicing », « Monitoring & Evaluation » and «Technology » cover the whole investment project life cycle as well as the management and technology solutions needed.
- Some e-resources on competitive intelligence
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