Applications Open: Join Export Consultants Mastery 2025–2026 – Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Armenia

The Visionest Institute is pleased to announce the launch of applications for the upcoming cycle of its flagship international program, Export Consultants Mastery (ECM), which will run from August 2025 to June 2026. This intensive, hands-on training program is designed for qualified professionals from Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, and Armenia who are committed to developing world-class expertise in export consultancy.

ECM is delivered by the Visionest Institute in partnership with the Estonian Centre for International Development Cooperation (ESTDEV). The program is also supported by regional partners, including the EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC) and the University of Georgia, ensuring strong academic grounding and cross-sectoral collaboration.

 

The program provides participants with practical skills, strategic methodologies, and a recognized EU-level certification in export consulting.

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Information Sessions in Georgia

We invite interested professionals from Georgia to attend the upcoming in-person info sessions:

Batumi: June 2nd, 2025 | 13:00 – 15:00
Tbilisi: June 3rd, 2025 | 15:00 – 17:30

Registration forms:

Batumi Info Session Registration – https://forms.gle/2Qg5VzB6xfyDjzJJ6

Tbilisi Info Session Registration – https://forms.gle/33SKnoJqzZ9LzCX48

 

The Visionest Institute is pleased to announce the launch of applications for the upcoming cycle of its flagship international program, Export Consultants Mastery (ECM), which will run from August 2025 to June 2026. This intensive, hands-on training program is designed for qualified professionals from Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, and Armenia who are committed to developing world-class expertise in export consultancy.
ECM is delivered by the Visionest Institute in partnership with the Estonian Centre for International Development Cooperation (ESTDEV). The program is also supported by regional partners, including the EU-Georgia Business Council (EUGBC) and the University of Georgia, ensuring strong academic grounding and cross-sectoral collaboration.
The program provides participants with practical skills, strategic methodologies, and a recognized EU-level certification in export consulting.

Modules cover key topics such as export market research, international pricing and adaptation, digital sales, marketing strategy, supply chain logistics, customer relationship management, and consulting service development.

Program Highlights

– 9-month structured curriculum with 360 academic hours
– International mentors and team-based learning
– Real business cases and project-based assignments
– Opening & graduation in Tallinn, Estonia (August 2025 and May 2026)
– Participants work in teams and receive personalized mentoring
– Peer-to-peer learning, flipped classroom, and modern e-learning tools

Learning outcomes

• Able to conduct market and customer research in international markets
• Can prepare and analyze export market entry strategies
• Can analyze marketing in the export market, create an export marketing strategy
• Can recommend product and price adjustments in the export market based on competitor analysis
• Able to use digital export tools including AI solutions
• Able to find and select partners in the export market and create long-term customer relationships
• Can plan logistics for the export market
• Master the principles of export project management
• Possesses the basic skills and methods necessary for the work of a consultant
• Able to create a profitable service portfolio
• Can use Business Storytelling to create references
• Can prepare a marketing communication plan for an export consulting company
• Can prepare a business plan for an export consulting company
• Has acquired systemic communication skills

Target Groups

• For starting export consultants
• For export managers of companies who want to become export consultants
• For business consultants who want to specialize in the export sector and create their own company

Curriculum objective

The goal of the training is to prepare professional export consultants who can successfully combine basic consultant skills and specific export knowledge to support companies in entering and expanding international markets.

The curriculum allows participants to acquire both practical skills for analyzing export markets and creating entry strategies, as well as develop professional consulting skills necessary to effectively advise clients in the context of international business and to establish their own export consulting company.

Training methods

The training is team-based, where formed teams acquire knowledge and work together to solve practical tasks. Learning is supported by various methods: educational videos to support independent work, workshops focusing on developing export and consulting skills, interim reviews with teams to discuss the progress of independent work, mentoring to address challenges, and feedback during the presentation of practical work.

Each learning module covers both export and consulting skills. In addition, participants will also focus on how to create social media content that supports a successful start-up in an export consulting business.

Students complete 7 learning modules where learning takes place at a specific pace. In the first week, educational videos are available in the learning environment and an opening seminar is held with entrepreneurs involved in the internship. This is followed by practical workshops where the content of independent work and an interim overview and mentoring sessions are introduced.

The module ends with the presentation of independent work to the company selected for the module and sharing experiences with fellow students.

Thesis: Creating and defending a three-year business plan for an export consulting company. The goal of the thesis is to create a comprehensive business concept for an export consulting company that could be successfully implemented.

Study content

Module 1:

• Export consulting basics,
  • Collection and analysis of information on foreign markets
  • Choosing a foreign market
  • Analysis of the company’s export readiness.
• Principles of team formation and communication within a team
  • Analysis of team members’ strengths and weaknesses
  • Agreeing on team fundamentals and monitoring team development
  • Agile project management basics, time planning

Module 2:

• Choosing a suitable foreign market entry model for your company
  • Analysis of entry patterns
  • Revenue and profit projection
  • Risk analysis
  • Market entry schedule
  • Assessing the company’s capabilities
• International business networking and presentation skills
  • Network strategy and mapping
  • Communication skills in business networking
  • Professional self-presentation
  • Follow-up and relationship maintenance

Module 3

• Marketing and branding in international markets
  • Brand strategy, identity and value proposition, positioning in the target market.
  • Storytelling and branding.
  • Competitor marketing mapping and marketing planning in the export market

• Sales and marketing of consulting services
  • B2B market segmentation and positioning
  • Setting performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Long-term customer relationship management
  • Business Storytelling and the Use of Success Stories

 Module 4

• Adapting products to the export market
  • Analysis of the need for adaptation, regulations and requirements, consumer habits and behavior
  • Pricing strategy and services in the export market, profitability management
  • Cultural specificities in export markets.
• Consulting firm work processes and tools
  • Creating and piloting new services and products
  • Standardization of processes
  • Agile service development

Module 5

• Digital analysis and marketing of the client’s company
  • Website diagnostics, competitor analysis,
  • Digital tools for diagnostics
  • Sales channels, sales funnel tracking, testing, conversion tracking

• Export consulting service portfolio and customer journeys
  • Service portfolio design. Service mapping, service package creation, pricing, service scalability
  • Customer journey analysis, persona creation, customer needs analysis, touchpoint creation.

Module 6

• Building customer relationships and managing key accounts
  • Sales process analysis and optimization, sales process efficiency, Zmot concept, customer acquisition strategies, purchasing process synchronization
  • Market and customer segmentation methodology, STP strategic approach, evaluation and valuation models, prioritization, analytical tools
  • Creating an ideal customer profile (ICP), developing ICP criteria, ICP in the context of export
  • Creating an export contact database,
• Sales of consulting services
  • Referral marketing strategy, client portfolio creation, success story creation, contractual relationships
  • Negotiation Skills, Harvard – Negotiation Concept, Influence Tools

Module 7

• International Trade and Supply Chain Management
  • International logistics, Supply chain planning, Selection of transport modes Warehousing solutions. Cost optimization
  • International agreements, INCOTERMS 2020 terms, Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Tariffs and customs duties, International regulations,
  • Supply chain risk management, mitigation measures
• Marketing and sales of e-consultation services
  • Digital sales strategy, value proposition design, sales channel selection and optimization, digital.
  • Finding sales contacts
  • Digitalization of consulting services, service packaging, process creation and automation.
  • Minimal service development, customer needs mapping, prototyping, testing, feedback collection and analysis
  • Management of technical and business processes of the service, customer-visible and background processes, systems integration. Quality assurance.

REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPLETION: the learner has submitted and defended all practical assignments, attended at least 75% of meetings and successfully defended the export consulting business plan

Completion of training

DOCUMENT TO BE ISSUED: certificate/certificate

Trainers

• Roger Stent (UK)
• Jean Sutton (UK)
• Andy Paterson (UK)
• Steve Rawling (UK)
• Jaan Jarv (EST)
• Anu-Mall Mink (EST)
• Uwe Sponholtz (GER)
• Artem Danialiants (FIN)
• Tõnis Hintsov (EST)

Who Should Apply?

We invite applications from:

– Export and business consultants
– SME support organizations
– Regional development agencies
– Chambers of commerce
– Public institutions working on trade and business development

 

Applications can be submitted individually or as teams of 3–6 professionals. Each team must include at least one C-level manager.

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Eligibility Criteria

Applicants from all four countries must:

– Hold at least a Bachelor’s degree
– Have minimum 2 years of international business experience
– Possess a sufficient level of English-
– Be able to travel to Estonia in August 2025 and May 2026 for the in-person program openings

Additionally:

– Citizens of Georgia: Must be living in Georgia
– Citizens of Ukraine: Must be living in Ukraine
– Citizens of Estonia: Must be living in Estonia
– Citizens of Armenia: Must be living in Armenia

Tuition and Scholarships

For Georgian and Ukrainian participants:

– Full scholarships are provided covering 100% of tuition fees
– Note: Participants must cover their own travel costs to Tallinn, Estonia for the opening and graduation ceremonies

For Estonian participants:

– Tuition fee is €3,300
– No travel support is provided; domestic travel to Tallinn is expected

For Armenian participants:

– Tuition fee is €3,300
– Participants must also cover travel costs from Armenia to Tallinn for both the opening and graduation sessions

 

Important Dates

– Application Opens: May 7, 2025
– Application Deadline: June 12, 2025
– Online Interviews: June 16 – 18, 2025
– Final Results Announced: July 1, 2025
– Opening in Tallinn, Estonia: August 18 – 19, 2025 (TBC)
– Graduation in Tallinn: 22 May 2026

Apply Now

We welcome motivated professionals ready to make a regional and global impact through high-quality export consulting. Take this opportunity to grow your network, expand your business acumen, and gain an international credential that sets you apart.

Application forms:

Georgia: https://forms.gle/s5urR7du2yY4a39e7

Ukraine: https://forms.gle/poxjWJ5fxF2Pa2QTA

Estonia: https://forms.gle/hvTraRioQTg7scKQ9

Armenia: https://forms.gle/1of3J6BbZEMQZjrc8