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American Business Club: a new face, a new mission

Priya Ganapati in Bombay

If it doesn't sell, it's probably not packaged well enough. The United State Commercial Services arm in Bombay has learnt it the hard away.

Despite its lineage as a wing of the department of commercial services, the official trade agency of the US government, the USCS has been languishing in India.

To overcome its image as a fuddy-duddy government organisation, it has decided to embark on refurbish the image to induce better and more Indo-American partnerships and business ventures.

As a part of its makeover, the USCS has launched the American Business Club, a networking and matchmaking exercise that will help Indian companies look out and reach American partners that want to import goods and services.

A 'by invitation only' exercise, the club will solicit Indian companies that wish to represent or partner American companies or would like to import or export American products.

The American Business Club is a branding strategy conceived by Richard M Rothman, the US Commercial Consul and Trade Commissioner in India, and promises to offer Indian companies exclusive access to small and medium-sized American companies that are looking for a partner or representative in India.

Headquartered in Washington, the USCS is the largest American organisation dedicated to the promotion of American exports and is part of the global business solutions unit of the Department of Commerce.

The organisation provides export assistance services to small and medium-sized American firms in areas such as industry sector analysis, prospects and market insight reports.

In India, USCS has eight offices and a staff of nearly 65, including seven US officials. It provides a broad spectrum of products and services.

But USCS offices in India are relatively quiet. Rothman attributes this to the lack of interest in the Indian market back at home.

"Trade statistics show that exports to the US have been rising. But imports from the US to India have been steady at $3 billion for the last seven years. This is not due to lack of demand, but due to lack of interest," he says.

And all this Rothman believes can change with his proposed makeover, which if successful, will benefit Indian firms in terms of increased partnership opportunities and open up the Indian market to thousands of small and mid-sized American companies.

"The club provides new packaging for the services that we already provide for free in India. The branding will only result in greater awareness of the resources and services that we offer," he says.

The club kicks off on June 1 at a swanky hotel in downtown Bombay which is expected to see the who's who of the corporate world gracing the occasion along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and American Consul General David Good.

"We are planning to hold events in eleven other cities in India. And then, hopefully, we will hold seminars, conferences and other events on a regular basis. Maybe, even make this a monthly exercise," Rothman elaborates.

Though apart from the sponsors, the club does not have members right now, Rothman hopes that there will nearly 5,000 Indian members on its rolls over the next 12 months.

Club members would be offered either silver cardholder or gold cardholder status. Silver cardholders would get a personalised certificate of affiliation, invitations to the club's events, assistance with US partner search and priority invitations for trade shows, delegations and catalogue shows.

In case silver cardholders report significant purchases of US products or services or even report new partnership and representative agreements with American companies, they would be upgraded to gold cardholder status.

Rothman is clear about what is a strict no-no for companies who seek entrance to the club.

"The club is not for companies that are only interested in exporting to the US market. The club does not provide any information, assistance or platform in seeking visas. Companies that have these ideas on their agenda should not be a part of the club," he warns.

The club, if successful, might finally turn out to be one of those memberships undertaken and flaunted for its prestige value than for the actual benefits that might accrue from it.

For instance, apart from the matchmaking services and the goodies like invitations to film screenings, official receptions and consulate events, there seems to be little in terms of tangible benefits to the club members.

"The club will be valuable to Indian companies as a gateway to the US. We have a database of over 60,000 companies that work with us on our export assistance program. The club will help Indian entities effectively tap into the thousands of American companies that are looking to move into other markets," says Rothman.

Though the USCS has been around in India for quite some time, it has not really clicked with the Indian business fraternity. One of the reasons could be that companies prefer to directly deal with American clients or business partners, rather than go through governmental organisations.

"Larger companies like GE don't need the help of the US government to seek Indian representatives. But smaller and medium-sized US companies are the ones we are targeting. This works to about 100,000 companies in the US that could look at India as a market," claims Rothman.

So, what will make the American Business Club, apart from its elitist connotations, different from the USCS?

"Through this club we intend to identify areas of demand that have not been seen yet. We hope to open up opportunities for Indo-American partnerships in the services sector, particularly in franchising. Generally the market is supply driven till now, but if American companies put up their demand, then the market can be expanded," emphasises Rothman.

The club will also work with Indian trade organisations like CII, FICCI and IMC.

"As part of the USCS' activities we have been working with AIAI and the local chambers in many region. The club will definitely benefit from these associations," Rothman says.

And what will be mission accomplished for the Rothman? "If we can report back to the US stories of Indian companies that have successfully partnered with American companies or imported American products and services, then interest in the Indian market is bound to increase greatly. And that I think will really help to build new market opportunities for Indian and American companies," he says.

e-mail ID for USCS India: Mumbai.Office.Box@mail.doc.gov

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