Wamore Diversifies and Grows Sales by Strategically Developing Its Export Market
Wamore, Inc. is an aerospace engineering company specializing in precision air-drop equipment solutions for military, commercial and humanitarian operations worldwide. In 2014, as part of the company’s strategic growth plan, the leadership team identified the need to grow sales and diversify its customer base. At that time, while the company had international sales, the U.S. Department of Defense represented most of its revenue. The team determined that strategically growing export sales would help achieve its growth and diversification goals.
ExporTech Development Process
In 2015, the company hired a director of business development, Vince Hearn, who was tasked with developing the company’s export business. As the first step in building a go-to-market export plan, Wamore enrolled in the Arizona Commerce Authority’s State Trade Expansion Program (AZSTEP), which supports small businesses looking to grow exports. Along with its participation in AZSTEP, Wamore also enrolled in the ExporTech™ program.
ExporTech is offered by the Arizona Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and provides manufacturers with a structured, accelerated approach to developing export markets. During the nine-week program, Wamore identified target export markets, defined business development and marketing initiatives, and established export revenue goals.
“This program gave us the playbook and confidence to achieve our global goals,” said Vince Hearn. “When we enrolled in ExporTech, we had no idea how little we knew about global export. The expertise and level of instruction received during ExporTech was on par with any executive-level course we have experienced.”
Results
Three months after graduating from ExporTech, Wamore implemented its go-to-market plan. “After graduating from ExporTech and working with Arizona MEP to implement our plan, our future has never looked brighter,” said Hearn.
Four years after completing the program, the company is doing business in 12 countries, with diversified export markets across Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Exports now represent a significant portion of the business. Wamore continues to leverage the connections made through ExporTech and recently returned from a Middle East trade summit led by Kevin O’Shea, Vice President of International Trade at the Arizona Commerce Authority.