Latin America is different.

Latin America is not the same as marketing, selling and supporting the software as a service market in the United States. You probably know this already. However, the first question is - Do you understand what it means to sell and market software in Latin America? As a SaaS vendor, you need to consider the many implications enter the Latam market. Now, the second question is - Are you ready to enter the Latam market?

Here is a list of 15 items that you need to consider to be ready for the Latam market:

1. Do you have a Partner Program?

2. Do you have a partner portal?

3. Do you have a Direct Sales Team that can sell in the region?

4. Do you have a Customer Support program that can scale in the region?

5. Do you have your software localize to the local markets?

6. Do you have a customer based in Latin America via your existing customers?

7. Do you have the cultural alignment within the organization?

8. Do you have buy-in from top executives?

9. Have you explored the pricing options to sell your software in the region?

10. Do you understand the tax implication for each country?

11. Who is your competition (global and local) in the region?

12. Do you need to open offices in the region?

13. Do you have Spanish-speaking employees that understand the region?

14. What countries do you want to go after?

15. Do you have a marketing team or marketing agency that can go after customers in the region?

 This is just a quick list of things to consider. My immediate recommendation is that you assemble a team within your company to do a small assessment project using this list (and many other considerations based on your company goals and objectives). And you can always go to the list of Top Latin America Blogs and News sites to do your own research. Plus, follow the #Latam and #LatinAmerica hashtags on LinkedIn and Twitter, you will find tons of content to start understanding the nuances of the region.

 If you are not ready for the Latam market or want to explore the next steps and need advisory services, contact me at CX2Advisory.