Internet Services for SMEs
Ministry of Economy, Paris
8-9th February 1999
Alan Reynolds
DTI, London, UK
WWW.TradeUK.Com : What is it?
 Searchable National Database of
Exporters
 Automatic alerting of exporters to leads
 Database of leads searchable by
exporters
 All delivered via the Internet and e-mail
WWW.TradeUK.Com : Why do it?
 Fundamental role for any TPO to put
buyer and seller in touch
 Market failure: To meet needs not met by
private firms
 Previous paper based system had cost
impact ratio of 1:60
 Demand from some exporters for a
continued service
WWW.TradeUK.Com : Why the
Internet?
Recommendation from business that UK
needed a technologically more modern
system
Wanted same system available everywhere
Cheap to operate. Easy to amend so all
users across the world access an upto date
system.
WWW.TradeUK.Com : Timetable
 JOCE ITT 19 July 1997
 21 requests to pre-qualify
 4 full bids
 Contract signed 13 February 1998
with The Dialog Corporation plc
 System live 1 July 1998
 System launched 1 September 1998
WWW.TradeUK.Com : Why join?
Their entry can be seen by anyone,
anywhere, anytime - via the Internet
 Many competitors are already participating
 It’s free - what is there to lose
TUK
National Exporters Database (NED)
 Usage
Encouraging start Sept 1998-Jan 1999:
 54,000 companies listed
 345,000 searches
BUT, we finding difficult to persuade firms
to join in huge numbers
Composition of NED
No. of
employees
100%
Cumulative Percent
90%
80%
70%
>249
85%
60%
<50
50%
40%
50%
30%
20%
10%
0%
<250
18%
<10
Export Sales Leads Service (ESLS)
Purpose:
To deal with valuable and complex inquiries,
by:
sending e-mail alerts to firms who have requested
them for these inquiries
 displaying these inquiries on the Internet

Export Sales Leads Service (ESLS)
E-Mail alerts
Embassies and buyers send leads via Internet to
Dialog
Firms on NED must register to get e-mail alerts
Dialog match leads to registered customers’
interests and send them e-mails
No charge for e-mails
Registered firms choose which leads to read
TUK
Export Sales Leads Service (ESLS)
Database search
Dialog send e-mail alerts and add leads to database on
Internet
Anyone can search the Internet site for leads by
country, product, type and dates
Registered firms alone can look at buyer’s details: No
charge for 5 per month
FCO Posts can see on-line which firms
were sent e-mail alerts
have seen buyer data (inc firms searching database TUK
Export Sales Leads Service (ESLS)
 Usage
6,125 leads to mid-January
2,400 firms registered 1 September - 6,900 now
357,000 e-mail alerts plus 120,000 database searches
 Targets
Increase firms registered to
10,000
Minimum of 25,000 leads annually
Marketing Strategy in the UK:
 Mailshots
 Articles in newsletters
 Leaflets/flyers in DTI mail
 Presenting TradeUK to audiences at
seminars etc.
 Displays at events in the UK
 Considering “compulsory” membership for
users of our other services
How can Business Links help?
Encourage new companies to join Trade, by:
Including with correspondence details of TradeUK
Supply sample leads or sample entries to ‘whet the
appetite’
Mention TradeUK at speaking engagements
Include TradeUK in articles in in-house magazines
or newsletters
Summary of benefits for
UK businesses
 Free services (free entry on NED and free
to become customer of ESLS)
 Global exposure through the NED
 Fast and efficient electronic delivery of
information through ESLS (largely free)
 Puts flexibility and choice into hands of the
customer
 Electronic commerce opportunities
Cost to DTI:
 Monthly payment to Dialog, offset by:
share of revenue from selling contact details
share of revenue from other information
which Dialog might offer to sell e.g. market
reports
Total cost including staff time: EUR 28
million over 5 years
Initial Findings:
 Minimal resistance from SMEs to using
Internet
 Difficult to reach SMEs to persuade them
to join
 Worldwide service uneven because kit
in our embassies varies and
telecommunications insufficient quality
in developing countries