Our 9-month Export Consultants Mastery program has successfully cultivated a new generation of export consultants. The results have exceeded all expectations, empowering participants with the confidence and skills to tackle new business challenges.
Key Findings
- Empowered Graduates: Participants have gained a deep understanding of export processes and consulting. Now, a third of the graduates plan to set up their own export consulting companies, and 17 plan to cooperate with colleagues.
- Real-World Impact: During the program, 70 Ukrainian SMEs received free consultations from participants. Over 95% of these companies were satisfied with the services provided, and 100% found the reports generated by participants as useful: 55% said they would act on the report now, and 45% plan to use it later.
- Skill Enhancement: Participants experienced a significant boost in their export and consulting skills, with ratings improving from 5-6 to 8-9 out of 10.
Participant Testimonials
Marianna Kravchenko, a participant from the Odessa team, shared her enthusiasm: “It’s like magic! I’ve fallen in love with export consulting, even though I hadn’t considered it seriously before. Now, I’m passionate about it and want to contribute to the growth of Ukrainian exports. This program has completely changed my life.”
Quantitative Results
Skill Development: Participants showed significant improvements in various areas, including market research, market entry analysis, branding, pricing, digital sales, partner search, and consulting skills:
- Export Market, Company, and Customer Research Skills: Increased from 6.1 to 8.9.
- Market Entry Models Analysis: Improved from 5.6 to 8.9.
- Branding and Marketing: Enhanced from 6.3 to 8.9.
- Product and Price Adaptation Skills: Improved from approximately 5.7 to 8.5-8.9.
- Digital Sales on Export Markets: Increased from 5.3 to 8.3.
- Partner Search and Relationship Building: Improved from 6.3 and 6.8 to 8.9 and 9.1 respectively.
- Logistics Skills: Enhanced from 5.7 to 8.3.
- Sales and Marketing of Consultancy Services: Increased from 6.1 to 8.8.
- Researching Consultancy Market and Pricing Services: Improved from around 5.6 to 8.9.
- Business Storytelling and Piloting New Services: Improved from approximately 5.6 to 8.7.
- Customer Journey Analysis and Consultancy Selling Skills: Increased from around 5.9 to 8.8.
- Online Marketing Sales of Consulting Services: Improved from 5.7 to 8.5.
- Efficiency in Export Consultancy: Enhanced from 5.4 to 8.6.
Soft Skills: Soft skills such as presentation, project management, communication, leadership, and networking also experienced substantial growth:
- Presentation Skills: Improved from 7 to 9.1.
- Project and Time Management: Increased from 7.3 and 7 to 9.1 and 9 respectively.
- Communication and Teamwork: Enhanced from approximately 7.5 to 9.2 and 9.3.
- Leadership, Networking, and Negotiation Skills: Improved from around 7.1 to 8.9.
- Presentation Visualization and Social Media Marketing Skills: Increased from approximately 6.8 and 6 to 8.8 and 8.4.
International Recognition
The program was closely monitored by the European Training Foundation (ETF), and their findings corroborate our own: 87% of participants reported a significant increase in their professional competencies.
Conclusion
The Export Consultants Mastery program, a joint initiative of Visionest Institute in Ukraine and the Entrepreneurship and Export Development Office, has proven to be a resounding success. By providing participants with the tools and knowledge they need to excel in the export market, this program is making a significant contribution to the growth of Ukrainian businesses.
The Export Consultants’ Mastery programme has been developed by Visionest Institute (Estonia) in cooperation with the Entrepreneurship and Export Promotion Office (Ukraine) as part of the national project Diia.Business. The project is implemented with the financial support of the Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance Programmes in Europe and Eurasia of the U.S. Department of State under the 10th round of the Development Cooperation Partnership Programme and Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV).