You are an IT or Content provider, typically located in US or Europe. Part of your strategy includes Latin America, a brave new world plenty of oddities. You have a message to be delivered to this region. It is a simple message for you -probably not for your LATAM prospects-. How to overcome the cultural differences in the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecom) ecosystem? How to start in a flexible scheme with a partner?

1. Snark
Consulting:
doing
TMT
(*)
business
in
LATAM
September
2014
(*):
TMT
=
technology,
media,
telecom

2. Introduction
§ Snark
Consulting
has
10
years
of
consulting
and
bizdev
experience
in
LATAM,
with
a
focus
on
startups
and
new
players.
§ TMT
(technology,
media,
telecom)
is
a
constantly
evolving
area
that
demands
specific
skills,
both
in
consulting
and
sales.
§ You
do
not
need
a
large
structure
to
start
doing
business
in
LATAM
if
your
message
makes
sense
and
your
roadmap
is
well
planned.

3. Snark
Consulting
methodology
3
Context
Goal
Roadmap
Operation
Fine
tuning
Follow-­‐up
Closure/
Delivery
1
2
3
4
5
6
7

4. Focus
on
3
groups
and
8
cities
§ Latin
America
region
is
easy
to
describe
in
terms
of
TMT
ú One
third
Telefonica
ú One
third
Claro
ú One
third
“the
remaining
players”.
§ Region
is
vast;
roadmaps
are
challenging
but
not
impossible.
§ Meetings
should
be
focused
in
8
cities
4
Context
1
ú Sao
Paulo
(Brazil)
ú Rio
de
Janeiro
(Brazil)
ú Mexico
DF
(Mexico)
ú Buenos
Aires
(ARG)
ú Santiago
(Chile)
ú Bogotá
(Colombia)
ú Lima
(Perú)
ú Montevideo
(Uruguay).

5. Context:
being
there
§ Doing
business
in
LATAM
is
an
experience
with
some
particularities.
§ What
you
should
expect:
ú Cultural
differences
and
tricky
final
negotiations
ú Frequent
reschedule
of
calls
and
meetings.
ú Forget
about
making
business
in
January
or
during
football
matches.
§ Communication
in
English
is
frowned
upon
ú Your
people
need
to
be
fluent
in
Spanish
and
Portuguese
ú The
answer
is“ahorita”
in
Mexico
and
“ya,
po”
in
Chile.
ú You
must
adapt
to
local
nuances.
ú Literal
meaning
is
often
misleading.
5
Context
1

6. 2
–
Building
a
common
goal
6
§ Build
a
single
contacts
database
§ Come
up
with
a
clear
roadmap
of
activites
§ Expect
a
communication
rush
during
the
first
month.
ú A
weekly
Skype
call.
ú A
go
/
not
go
decission
for
some
accounts
ú Prioritize
accounts
and
activities
§ In
about
two
weeks
we
are
ready
to
go!
ú You
decide
if
our
team
goes
as
“Snark”
or
with
your
branding.
Goal
2

7. 3
–
The
“sales
kit”
trick
7
§ What
is
the
message
that
needs
communicating?
ú A
new
VOD
platform
ú A
premium
wi-­‐fi
extender
modem
ú The
best
way
to
publish
new
content?
§ Do
you
fully
understand
the
driver
for
each
operator?
ú Is
it
Capex
reduction,
a
better
branding,
or
customer
satisfaction?
§ How
does
your
product
or
service
differ
from
your
competitors'?
ú Is
it
necessary
to
adjust
your
web
site
by
including
Spanish
or
Portuguese
material?
§ Documentation
to
be
shared
with
Snark:
ú White
papers,
Press
Releases
or
Customer
Satisfaction
analysis.
ú A
standard
xls
describing
the
business
model.
ú A
couple
of
slides
decks,
either
with
a
BP
for
“handshakers”
or
technical
info
for
CTOs
Roadmap
3

8. 4
–
Approaching
the
prospect
8
§ This
is
the
“business
as
usual”
part
of
the
operation.
§ A
key
message
is
sent
to
a
predefined
set
of
prospects
§ Difficulties
to
be
overcome:
ú Understanding:
Not
all
prospects
require
the
same
message
ú Time:
we
need
to
work
previously
on
Skype
calls
and
mails
before
going
“face
to
face”
with
clients
ú Travels,
events
and
meetings
should
be
optimized
in
order
to
keep
expenses
down.
§ Adjusting
the
output:
ú After
initial
meetings
a
proposal
is
usually
sent.
ú Negotiation
is
managed
following
vendor
approval.
Operation
4

9. 5
–
Follow-­‐up
9
§ Reporting
is
built
in
to
our
process.
ú A
weekly
follow-­‐up
document
is
good
practice
so
that
key
players
are
on
the
same
page.
ú Evaluating
a
prospects
is
more
challenging
and
requires
consensus
ú Can
we
agree
on
a
single
spreadsheet
to
evaluate
a
deal?
ú Do
we
have
a
common
set
of
criteria
on
how
to
close
deals?
§ When
delivering
the
proposal
ú Do
we
have
a
10-­‐page
document
including
all
aspects
of
the
deal?
ú Can
these
aspects
be
summarized
in
one
page?
§ Is
it
possible
to
share
LATAM
best
practices
with
other
regions
currently
in
operation?
ú Example:
Latam
and
APAC
are
similar
regions
in
terms
of
piracy
in
the
video
industry.
Follow-­‐up
5

10. 6
–
Closing
a
deal
and
delivery
10
§ A
deal
is
achieved
under
a
given
criteria
ú ARPU
driven
(revenue
flows
on
a
given
period)
ú Leverage
on
some
accounts
(i.e.
Global
Client
perspective)
ú Strategy
(to
be
first
on
a
given
market
or
a
given
technology)
§ Recommendation
fees,
channels
interference,
and
other
incidents.
ú Unforeseen
incidents
will
often
appear.
ú Sound
the
alarm
and
we
can
dismantle
these
explosive
situations
together.
§ Anticipate
steps
required
after
closing.
ú Delivery
plans.
ú Extra
resources
needed
to
manage
the
new
account.
ú Press
releases.
Closure
/
Delivery
6

11. 7
–
Fine
Tuning
§ Overall
strategies
are
adjusted
on
a
six
month
period.
§ This
is
a
win-­‐win:
ú Snark
brings
to
the
table
150
contacts
in
Marketing,
Finance
and
IT
from
Telcos,
Cable
operators,
Content
providers
and
Integrators.
ú Snark
provides
local
skills
and
people
doing
business
with
our
own
contacts
ú You
provide
the
services,
goals,
and
the
overall
strategy..
§ So
let´s
share
ideas
and
stay
tuned!
11
Fine
tuning
7

12. 12
Bonus
track

13. Contact
Daniel
Collico
Savio
Director
of
Snark
Consulting
dcollico@snark.com.ar
13