SETOWORKS Inc. (CEO Cho Chung-youn), a global go-to-market (GTM) solutions company and Specialized Trading Company, announced on the 15th that it has officially launched afterbooth, a dedicated solution for discovering Japanese buyers and managing follow-up sales.
"Korean startups and small and medium-sized venture companies exchange large numbers of business cards at trade shows and expos in Japan, but without a proper means of follow-up sales, those contacts fail to turn into viable deals," a SETOWORKS official said. "A dedicated solution has now emerged to address that problem."
Many Korean companies have spent substantial money and time participating in local trade shows and business meeting events to enter the Japanese market. After such events, however, they frequently fail to manage the buyer business cards they collected in any systematic way, or run up against Japan's distinctively conservative business culture and the language barrier, leaving the contact as a one-off meeting. According to the company, afterbooth targets exactly this pain point.
The solution analyzes detailed corporate information on buyers and local databases, based on the Japanese buyer business card data that companies register, and builds a customized sales strategy for each target. Its core strength lies in moving away from mass email distribution and instead conducting customized pitching that fully reflects Japanese business etiquette and market characteristics, drawing out genuine responses from buyers. Companies now only need to register a buyer's business card using a smartphone camera, after which SETOWORKS carries out the follow-up work toward meetings and contracts with Japanese buyers.
Over the past 10 years, SETOWORKS has supported some 800 projects in the Japanese market alone, spanning crowdfunding, e-commerce, trade shows, pop-up stores, buyer consultations, and offline distribution. The company applied to this service the hands-on experience it accumulated through operating local trade shows including the Tokyo Gift Show, subsequent buyer discovery and matching, a range of pop-up stores, and various market entry projects with Japanese home shopping networks and major distribution and consulting firms.
"In the Japanese market, success or failure is determined by continuous and trustworthy follow-up communication after business cards are exchanged," said Cho Chung-youn, CEO of SETOWORKS. "We will provide the best possible sales solution so that Japanese buyer business cards left sitting in a drawer can be converted into actual export contracts and revenue."
According to SETOWORKS, companies whose communication with buyers has lapsed after participating in a Japanese trade show, or that wish to reopen export channels to Japan using business cards obtained previously, can request a consultation and apply for the service immediately through the official afterbooth website or through SETOWORKS.
SETOWORKS began as a specialized agency with the largest number of successful global crowdfunding projects in Korea, and is now a data-driven global GTM solutions company that provides global go-to-market strategies. It offers integrated support ranging from crowdfunding to e-commerce on TikTok, Amazon, and Rakuten, as well as trade shows and pop-up stores, PoC, market research, and B2B buyer discovery solutions. As a Specialized Trading Company designated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and an official implementing agency for global consulting under major public programs including the Export Voucher and Innovation Voucher schemes, the company supports Korean small and medium-sized venture companies in entering overseas markets and developing sales channels from multiple angles.
Reporter Hwang Ji-hye (jhhwang@segye.com)
Source: Segye Biz & Sports World (segyebiz.com)
SETOWORKS Inc. (CEO Cho Chung-youn), a global go-to-market (GTM) solutions company and Specialized Trading Company, announced on the 15th that it has officially launched afterbooth, a dedicated solution for discovering Japanese buyers and managing follow-up sales.
"Korean startups and small and medium-sized venture companies exchange large numbers of business cards at trade shows and expos in Japan, but without a proper means of follow-up sales, those contacts fail to turn into viable deals," a SETOWORKS official said. "A dedicated solution has now emerged to address that problem."
Many Korean companies have spent substantial money and time participating in local trade shows and business meeting events to enter the Japanese market. After such events, however, they frequently fail to manage the buyer business cards they collected in any systematic way, or run up against Japan's distinctively conservative business culture and the language barrier, leaving the contact as a one-off meeting. According to the company, afterbooth targets exactly this pain point.
The solution analyzes detailed corporate information on buyers and local databases, based on the Japanese buyer business card data that companies register, and builds a customized sales strategy for each target. Its core strength lies in moving away from mass email distribution and instead conducting customized pitching that fully reflects Japanese business etiquette and market characteristics, drawing out genuine responses from buyers. Companies now only need to register a buyer's business card using a smartphone camera, after which SETOWORKS carries out the follow-up work toward meetings and contracts with Japanese buyers.
Over the past 10 years, SETOWORKS has supported some 800 projects in the Japanese market alone, spanning crowdfunding, e-commerce, trade shows, pop-up stores, buyer consultations, and offline distribution. The company applied to this service the hands-on experience it accumulated through operating local trade shows including the Tokyo Gift Show, subsequent buyer discovery and matching, a range of pop-up stores, and various market entry projects with Japanese home shopping networks and major distribution and consulting firms.
"In the Japanese market, success or failure is determined by continuous and trustworthy follow-up communication after business cards are exchanged," said Cho Chung-youn, CEO of SETOWORKS. "We will provide the best possible sales solution so that Japanese buyer business cards left sitting in a drawer can be converted into actual export contracts and revenue."
According to SETOWORKS, companies whose communication with buyers has lapsed after participating in a Japanese trade show, or that wish to reopen export channels to Japan using business cards obtained previously, can request a consultation and apply for the service immediately through the official afterbooth website or through SETOWORKS.
SETOWORKS began as a specialized agency with the largest number of successful global crowdfunding projects in Korea, and is now a data-driven global GTM solutions company that provides global go-to-market strategies. It offers integrated support ranging from crowdfunding to e-commerce on TikTok, Amazon, and Rakuten, as well as trade shows and pop-up stores, PoC, market research, and B2B buyer discovery solutions. As a Specialized Trading Company designated by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and an official implementing agency for global consulting under major public programs including the Export Voucher and Innovation Voucher schemes, the company supports Korean small and medium-sized venture companies in entering overseas markets and developing sales channels from multiple angles.
Reporter Hwang Ji-hye (jhhwang@segye.com)
Source: Segye Biz & Sports World (segyebiz.com)