Entering foreign markets for the first time can be daunting for American firms wanting to sell their products or services in the burgeoning global marketplace. Whether large or small, one of the first and most important steps a company must take when opening up new markets overseas is market research.

"It may be a small world, but there are oceans of differences between people when it comes to the buying and selling of goods and services," says Steve Mamarchev, senior vice president of Research Dimensions International, Cambridge, Mass. "All sorts of barriers exist that must be overcome. A company should test a whole host of information to assure that its advertising messages, packaging, logos, slogans and all other external marketing programs are acceptable in the local culture. Good market research can help vault a company over the competition by providing information on how people buy what they buy through tangible and intangible processes."

Mamarchev offers the following advice for identifying a market research firm in the country where you want to do business:

1. To start, contact local research firms who are affiliated with or part of a worldwide research network. Consult a directory of research firms as a first source. Your local research firms may have affiliations with those in other countries. Ask them!

2. Ideally, obtain at least two proposals for each project. State up front that the selection process entails bids. Articulate how the research supplier is to be chosen. Price should not be the sole deciding factor.

3. Be willing to consider alternative methods to those you are accustomed to back home. Listen carefully to any suggestions they may have, recognizing that they know how best to tap into their local markets. For example, face-to-face methods may work better in some cultures than in others.

4. Send your professional credentials to the supplier at the beginning of the process. They want to know about you, their client, as well! Explain how you first became aware of their firm.

5. Allow at least twice as much time to do the project as you would have allocated in the U.S. Then, add another week to initiate the necessary communications link. Check the holiday schedule in the countries you are interested in. You can be sure that nearly every Monday is a holiday somewhere.

6. Negotiate a final, written, delivered price. Whenever possible, provide costs of similar work you may have conducted in other countries. Beware of significant extras (such as VAT) that may or may not be applicable. Make sure you know what the price entails. For example, does it include a final report? Incentives? Transcripts? Translations? Be aware of local customs, holidays and traditions. In some cultures, gift giving or incentives are required. In others they are an insult.

7. Feel comfortable with conducting all written and oral communications in English. When it comes to required translations, let the local researcher handle that task, even if it adds to your costs. Remember, in some countries that speak the same language (such as Mexico and Argentina), colloquialisms and idioms can be quite different. Some companies are set up for simultaneous translation.

8. If at all possible, visit the research firm at the start of the project. You may wish to send a local marketing or management representative of your company instead. If neither option is realistic, communicate via telephone and/or fax at least twice a week. This will serve as an ongoing progress report.

9. If your work involves senior-level executive interviews, get involved personally. Do some of the research yourself! You will get an immediate feel for the real issues in the marketplace, and you will demonstrate the importance of the project to the local research supplier. Be assured that most senior executives at large organizations throughout the world are capable of conducting an interview in English. As a precaution and gesture of goodwill, you may wish to bring a local senior researcher to act as a facilitator/translator (and as a person to share observations).

10. Build a research network for yourself. At the completion of the project, be sure to thank the local researcher. If you're satisfied with the outcome, be certain to work with them in the future.

By all means, have fun. Marketing research in foreign lands is a great way to expand your horizons, and often leads to opportunities for travel and work in places you may have never dreamed of.