When StormGeo won the Export Prize for 2016, the jury emphasised that 80 per cent of the company’s sales come from exports, and that it has demonstrated profitability, value creation and success over time. “Having knowledge and technology that you want to export doesn’t help if you don’t understand the customers in the export markets you’re trying to sell into,” says Svein Kåre Giskegjerde. Giskegjerde serves as commercial director of the company, which was founded in Bergen in 1997. Since then StormGeo has grown from five employees in Norway to 340 employees at 22 offices in 15 countries. “As we have expanded internationally we have not sent our people around the world, but we have focused on being present with local people in many countries,” said Giskegjerde. “As a result we have managed to build up robust foreign offices, in both sales and operations.” The drive to expand abroad has been profitable for StormGeo, which is now one of the world’s largest suppliers of advanced analysis and decision support for weather-centric operations. StormGeo provides services and products to companies in the shipping, offshore oil and gas and renewable energy sectors. It has offices in cities such as London, Baku, Singapore and Houston, and its sales reached nearly NOK 500 million in 2016. StormGeo is still headquartered in Bergen, but its largest single office is in Silicon Valley, where there are almost 100 employees. “We build strong local or regional offices that pursue sales across borders,” says Giskegjerde. “Our office in Dubai, for example, handles customers and contracts all across the Middle East.” Over the years there have been many new customers. According to Giskegjerde, part of the explanation is the company’s firm commitment to creating new solutions sought by customers. “It may be a bit of a cliché, but it’s true when I say our basic attitude is that the customer always comes first. So if a customer has a need that we don’t cover, we invest heavily in innovation and development to meet that need within our range and framework. This attitude has led to a great deal of innovation.” What experiences have you had that other exporters might as well avoid? “One obvious lesson is that the further away a market is the harder it is to get established there, and the more important it is to commit sufficient resources. I think we are good at viewing the company’s strengths and limitations. When we invest far away, we go all out, instead of being cautious,” says Giskegjerde. Here are StormGeo’s five recommendations to Norwegian exporters looking for success:

1. Learn about the export market you want to target and obtain high-quality analysis in advance.
2. Build up strong local offices with local experts who know the markets.
3. Direct sales operations from strong regional offices.
4. Customer needs should drive innovation and development.
5. Know your company’s strengths and limitations, and let that knowledge affect how you invest.