BPE Global Hot Topic – August 2017
BPE Global Celebrates You
Getting accolades in the field of global trade compliance is a rare event. The reality is that no one knows much about what most trade compliance teams do. In our world, the actual costs of doing business globally are rarely tabulated and are most often treated as charges to a cost center. And, if we do our jobs correctly, we avoid fines and penalties and our management never even hears about the potential losses that we expertly avoided.
BPE Global was recently recognized in WorldECR’s 2017 Awards in the Export Controls Consultant of the Year category. This is a huge honor to every one of us at BPE Global. WorldECR is the leading journal covering developments in this increasingly important field of international business regulation. As a U.S.-based consulting firm, BPE Global feels the honor is even bigger because WorldECR is a U.K.-based publisher. Being a successful trade compliance practitioner means global reach and efficacy.
We want to give a special thank you to WorldECR and their judging panel for including us in Awards 2017. It means the world to us.
This award got us thinking about all the tremendous individuals and departments working daily in the trenches on trade compliance that are rarely recognized. We were discussing how much global trade professionals do and how few accolades they get. So, we thought we’d take this time to remind you all that your work is extremely valuable. But people can’t recognize your great efforts unless they are made aware of them. We’re not suggesting that you walk around carrying a banner that reads “World’s Best Compliance Professional” but we do highly recommend creating quarterly metrics describing what you are doing. Do you and your team ensure the effortless movement of billions of dollars in product every year? Do you obtain licenses for a significant percentage of your global sales? Do you train your sales force on how to accurately convey the global export controls on your products so your clients can have the confidence in both the quality of your goods and the conformance of your products? Have you trained your engineering teams on how design decisions impact your access to specific markets, regions and industries?
The truth is that your company needs to know what you are doing so they can communicate the strategic position you are putting them in for sales, marketing and development. It’s also very helpful to communicate what landmines you have avoided while doing your job. Did you mitigate a penalty? Did you avoid paying duties on your products into certain markets? Have you helped lobby to reduce controls on your company’s products?
Circling back to the purpose of this month’s Hot Topic - thank you for everything that you do. Now, go and tell everyone else what you are up to.
P.S. – we’re getting another award in October. BPE Global is being recognized by the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center as Established Entrepreneur of the Year. For over 30 years, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center has helped thousands of individuals achieve personal, financial, and social transformation through the power of small business. Join us on October 12th at the San Francisco Design Center Galleria at Renaissance’s Annual Event, Small Business – Big Impact. The whole team will be there to celebrate.
BPE Global is a global trade consulting and training firm. Beth Pride is the President of BPE Global. You can reach Beth by email at beth@bpeglobal.com or by phone at 1-415-845-8967.