Brezk-íslenzk viðskipti - 01.05.1947, Side 10

BRETLAND OG ISLAND, Maí, 1947
IS ICELAND
IN THE SAME BOAT ?
By THE EDITOR
A
/\RE present export figures in
Britain misleading some people? Is
our present effort enough ?
IS ICELAND IN THE SAME
BOAT ?
I am atraid to-day many people are
living in a fool’s paradise, particularly
as regards to the export trade—they
are satisfied that all is well—the
figures make pretty reading—and
there is no necessity for them to
do anything about it.
Under to-day’s conditions, when
one can sell practically anything at
practically any price, we are sur-
rounded by a fog of unreality. In
such a fog our own mistakes will pass
unnoticed; they will come to light
when the fog lifts, and the full
sunlight of competitive conditions
will reveal the full results of our
present actions.
Just look at the facts. Our most
venomous competitors, Germany and
Japan, are almost completely out of
the market, whilst our formidable
friends in the U.S.A. are, for the
moment, absorbed in their home
problems. We have, therefore, got
the overseas markets, for the time
being, very much to ourselves; and
what have we achieved ?
For one month—and only one
month—have we reached the pre-
war volume. Is there any cause for
self satisfaction in that ? Bear in mind
that our minimum target is pre-war
volume plus 100%. That’s our all-
time target, not just the target for
these “ incredible ” days of a seller’s
market. Such days as these are an
opportunity, flrst of all, to entrench
ourselves firmly both in old and new
markets, and secondly, to be pre-
paring every economic weapon at
our disposal against the day when we
once again have to compete.
What concerns British exporters
is the doubt whether they are using
these “ incredible ” days to prepare
themselves for the competitive days
which are bound to come.
British people have one remarkable
failing—they simply will not prepare
for battle, military or economic, until
it is on their doorstep. They seem
to delight in waiting till they “ have
their backs to the wall ”—then, and
only then, do they take things
seriously.
Our future exports, at any rate of
consumer goods, are bound to con-
sist mainly of high quality goods of
pleasing appearance sold at reason-
able, not necessarily the cheapest,
prices. But these efforts of manage-
ment will be in vain unless they are
backed by adequate labour supply—
and labour that is prepared to give a
fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.
It is only by work, hard honest-to-
goodness work, that we can win the
dreams of to-day, social security,
better wages, greater leisure. With-
out hard work they can remain but
dreams.
The efficiency of our distribution
methods—market research, salesman-
ship, advertising, packaging and, above
all, after sales service.
If, as I believe, our exports are
mainly to consist of high quality goods
we must first, by market research,
find out what our overseas customers
require in design, in packaging and in
advertising. We must follow this up
by personal visits of well trained sales
representatives to sell the goods, to
choose the right agents or to supple-
ment the efforts of agents already
selected. Lastly, having sold our
goods we must ensure that an equally
well trained staff in our home office
backs up these efforts by seeing that
the goods are properly delivered in
the time promised, by ensuring that
any troubles that arise thereafter are
generously disposed of, and by keep-
ing close contact with overseas agents
and customers, so that they are
punctually advised of all things effect-
ing the business, change of prices,
new design and só forth.
How long does it take to design and
produce a new article ? How long to
explore a market by scientific re-
search ? How long to train a first
class export man ? Can we afford to
leave these things until the battle is
on ? The time we have still available
may be short, perhaps only a year or
even less, before the stern days of
competition fall upon us.
“ Incredible ” was the term ap-
plied by our good friend Mr. H.
A. Marquand, the Secretary for
Overseas Trade. Mr. Marquand,
readers will remember, sent a per-
sonal message to lcelandic business
men in the first issue of “ Bretland
og ísland,” and I am taking the
liberty of repeating his message in
lcelandic as I learned during my recent
visit to Reykjavik that many readers
had not seen the first issue owing to
its arrival in lceland just before
Christmas.
H. M. MARQUAND
MÉR er ánægja að þvi að fá
tækifæri til að senda kveðju
til vina okkar á fslandi.
Samband það, sem af nauðsyn
skapaðist milli okkar meðan á striðinu
stóð heldur áfram á friðartímum.
Þið eruð, eins og við, að vinna að
endurbyggingu, og eins og við, þurfið
þið á aílskonar innfluttum vörum að
halda.
^ Við viijum gjarna hafa samvinnu
við ykkur í framfaraáætlunum ykkar
með því að láta ykkur fá svo fljótt sem
við getum, verksmiðjur þær og vélar
sem þið þarfnist, og við viljum einnig
gjarna láta ykkur fá allar aðrar vörur
sem þið þarfnist, það magn, gæði og
gerðir sem þið sjálfir óskið.
^ Við leggjum nú áherzlu á að
framleiða allar vörur eins fljótt og
auðið er, en breskir framleiðendur
horfast í augu við þá erfiðleika að
þurfa að fullnægja eftirspurn frá
mörgum löndum auk Bretlands sjálfs.
# En meðan á stríðinu stóð fengum
við þá reynslu að ekkert framleiðslu-
vandamál er óleysanlegt. Þessa
reynslu notfærum við okkur nú, við
framleiðslu á friðartímum. Magn það
sem við flytjum út, er nú þegar orðið
jafnmikið og það var fyrir stríð.
# Við reynum að svara eftirspurn
hinna ýmsu landa, og þið megið vera
þess fullviss, að Island mun alltaf fá
sinn hlut. Magn útflutningsvöru
okkar virðist ef til vill lítið borið
saman við hinar miklu þarfir heimsins,
en framleiðsla okkar er betri nú en
hún hefur nokkurntíma verið áður.
Hún er þess virði að bíða eftir henni.
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