What a Good Local Partner Actually Does: The First 90 Days
“We will represent you locally” is an easy sentence to say and a vague one to buy. So here is the concrete version: what actually happens in the first 90 days of a representation engagement, and what you should expect from any partner you consider — including us.
Days 1–30: Foundation
The first month is unglamorous by design. The partner works through your technical documentation until they can answer first-line questions without calling you. Certification and import requirements are checked against the target market, and gaps are listed with costs and timelines. Your pricing is stress-tested against local competition and buying power. And the first target list is built: named institutions, named departments, named people — not “the pharmaceutical sector.”
What you should receive: a written market assessment, a compliance gap list, and a target list you can challenge.
Days 31–60: First contact
Outreach begins — emails and calls in the local language, referencing the recipient’s actual work, offering something specific: a demonstration, a sample measurement, a technical conversation. In parallel, the partner registers on relevant tender portals and starts the monitoring routine. Early conversations produce the first real market feedback: which claims resonate, which competitor is entrenched where, what price reaction looks like.
What you should receive: an outreach log with response rates, and unfiltered feedback — including the uncomfortable parts.
Days 61–90: First meetings and an honest verdict
The pipeline gets its first real entries: meetings held, demos scheduled, a tender identified, perhaps a first quote requested. Just as important, the partner now knows enough to tell you the truth about the market — realistic deal sizes, sales-cycle length, and whether the entry model you chose still fits what they learned.
What you should receive: a pipeline review and a written recommendation for the next two quarters — even if that recommendation is “adjust course.”
What 90 days does not deliver
Signed purchase orders, usually. Instruments with five- and six-figure prices have quarters-long sales cycles, and any partner promising closed deals in ninety days is telling you what you want to hear. What 90 days must deliver is verifiable motion: named contacts, held meetings, logged feedback, and a pipeline you can audit.
Judge a local partner the way you judge an employee in their first quarter: not on miracles, but on visible, documented progress you can check.
If a partner cannot describe their first 90 days at this level of detail before you sign — that, too, is information.
