Mastering UK-US Market Entry from Either Side of the Pond | Marc McCarthy, Ep 13
Episode Summary
Marc McCarthy, founder of Pro Consult IQ, discusses the complexities of B2B software expansion between UK and US markets. He covers cultural sales differences, regulatory considerations across US states, the importance of hiring locally, and strategic decisions around partnerships versus direct market entry. McCarthy emphasizes that shared language creates false assumptions about ease of expansion, and successful cross-Atlantic growth requires understanding time zones, legal frameworks, pricing strategies, and customer expectations that differ significantly between markets.
Pull Quotes
On why UK companies must hire US-based sales teams
“Americans like to buy America from Americans. That's just the simple truth. As much as people enjoy my wonderful English accent, in the end of the day you have to build trust, and at some point it really does matter to have the right kind of team.”
“I have learned over the years to not be afraid to talk about job losses and ROI and FTE count reductions, whereas in the UK we would sugarcoat the message by saying well, you know, if you buy our software then you can realign your FTE to do something a little bit more value added.”
On founders who underprice by 60-70% thinking it creates competitive advantage
“If I'm sitting there in procurement for a very large company, I'm going to look at your pricing strategy. I'm going to see it's way off from your competitors and I'm going to think your quality is substandard. That's what I'm going to think, or you're desperate or something weird is going on.”
On why his colleague on Zoom missed critical buying signals during a 20-person meeting
“What he could not see was the gestures between the people, what he could not see was the eye rolls or the tapping on the shoulder or the pointing—you know, the 'hey, that's good' or 'hey, that's terrible' kind of gestures. All of that was missing.”
“The assumption is I am a company based in the US, therefore you will have support hours that mirror my time zone. I think when I look at other expansion strategies into other markets, that's less so. For example in the Middle East, I've seen many companies who have just accepted UK working hours for support for certain products, but I think in America that's definitely a no-go area.”
Transcript
Hi welcome to Tales From The Sky Lounge. It's a podcast about business consulting and venture investing. We get out there in the world and we talk to people who are making it happen and we get their stories. So today's guest in the Sky Lounge is Mark McCarthy. Hey Mark, welcome to the Sky Lounge.
Hey Todd, great to be here and thank you very much for inviting me.
So Mark, why don't you give us a little bit of background? Who are you?
Well, so my name is Mark McCarthy and as you can hear from my accent, I'm British. I'm based out of the UK and I've spent the past five years crossing the Atlantic doing business on both sides, both in the US, Europe and the UK. And basically that's kind of become my specialty. I've realized over the years that this is really what companies need. They need help in many different ways, whether it's from a sales approach like how do you sell into the US market, right through to well, how do I even expand? How do I set up? What does it mean from a tax or corporate perspective? So to help companies along, and particularly B2B software vendors, I've set up my own company called Pro Consult IQ and that's what we do. We specialize in helping companies on both sides of the Atlantic gain foothold into new markets. And it's a very exciting time, especially now that COVID is over. The markets have opened up. We're a few years beyond and there is a little bit more resilience in the market now. A little bit more money coming through for investors to really help companies expand their footprint and enter new markets.
A lot to unpack there. This is very exciting. So you know, I'm in the US obviously, and by my accent, we often, you know, I'm often in the room when people are talking about how do we get to Europe and expand. It's interesting to get your perspective on the other way around. So you've successfully gone from Europe and then opened up an American market a couple times. So why don't you talk about that process? You know, and then what do you think about when you're going to go into the American market? How do you do that? Is that a phone call? Do you fly over here? What's that process look like for a typical company that's in the EU? And then what are some of those considerations?
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