Adjusting to new realities in Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan companies standing tall and holding hands to help battle COVID-19
An opportunity to diversify
Sameera Nilupul, co-founder of LiveRoom, is pleased with the strategic direction of his company that developed an export marketing plan recently.
"Developing an export marketing plan has helped us to identify our unique selling points that are instrumental in bringing in clients from target markets. 20% of our projects come from the EU market," he said.
LiveRoom, an award winning Sri Lankan software solutions provider remained proactive in holding its position during this challenging period. The export marketing plan that the company recently developed with support from the International Trade Centre has come in handy during COVID-19 when business is slow and clients are sceptic.
Support from the International Trade Centre has enabled LiveRoom to participate in major international business events. As a result, negotiating from a position of strength, the company has managed to expand its export portfolio and diversify its markets.
The company has also managed to hedge the slowdown of European markets and continue to do business with partners where demand remains high and dynamic.
At the cutting edge
Shifting to virtual meetings is not a big deal for Calcey Technologies. Providing cutting-edge solutions across the world, the company has been recognized as a delivery capable offshore software development provider from the Asia Pacific.
It continues to make crucial contributions to the efforts of some of its clients battling the pandemic.
A dedicated team at Calcey is currently working around the clock to provide solutions to London-based bespoke nutrition start up, Fresh Fitness Food which provides meals to frontline healthcare workers of the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK.
"Our planning helped us keep the trust of our customers intact during these times of uncertainty", said Mudith Uswatta, Director Sales and Product Marketing, describing the benefits of strategic planning during the COVID-19 crisis.
Calcey is a growing Sri Lankan software product-engineering firm whose staff count has doubled since receiving support from the International Trade Centre. It offers software product engineering services to several brands and major institutions across the world.
"The support from ITC enabled us to think deeply about strategic planning. This has brought greater clarity to the activities and markets we want to pursue, and we are now reaping the benefits," said Mudith.
Calcey and LiveRoom were part of 20 companies that received support from the EU-Sri Lanka Trade-Related Assistance project funded by the European Union and implemented by the International Trade Centre in partnership with SLASSCOM and Sri Lanka Export Development Board. This includes training and coaching on export marketing planning, training on sales and negotiation, individual advisory and coaching on how to enhance their marketing materials to facilitate better alignment with the sector brand, further training on sales and promotion strategy and productizing services to promote the new brand positioning toward customers.
The EU-Sri Lanka Trade-Related Assistance project contributes to Sri Lanka's inclusive trade-led growth and regional integration. It supports SME export competitiveness and value addition in sectors with high potential for economic growth and development.