Export coaching for Jordan Chamber of Industry

CBI supports the development, offer, and use of quality services from Jordan to create a solid export position for the country. The Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) partners with CBI for this programme.

To gain practical experience, CBI decided to link The Netherlands-Jordan Business Support Programme (BSP) as part of capacity building for JCI. The Netherlands-Jordan BSP has selected eight Jordanian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for an extensive business support programme.

The, mostly female-led, SMEs are active in the oriental sweets and Dead Sea cosmetics sectors. The BSP provides professional coaching and support with the first steps of exporting to the Netherlands.

CBI commissioned Globally Cool to train and coach JCI and a pool of business coaches. The training and coaching consisted of a series of webinars focusing on:

• How to manage export coaching as a sustainable service
• How to manage and motivate local consultants
• How to perform an export audit
• How to coach local companies on digital marketing

Activities

• We held several Zoom meetings between CBI and JCI to share knowledge, provide good practices and coaching on the job.
• We also trained the local consultants on export auditing, marketing, promotional materials, and research via Zoom.
• In between the Zoom sessions, we had mail conversations, provided feedback, and communicated via WhatsApp to speed up the whole process.

Results

We elevated the competencies of the JCI staff by:

• Enhancing the collaboration between JCI and strategic partner EBRD.
• Coaching on how to manage the local consultants by using TORs and how to ask questions.
• Optimising the trade mission by networking and knowledge about the existing relevant RVO support projects.
• Coaching on how to work with a company that is going to drop out of the programme including the role of JCI, the local consultant, and communication to CBI.
• Training on how to write a progress report based on the TOR, the deliverables, and the results.
• Optimising the ‘How to Manage an Export Coaching Programme Manual’ with all the lessons learned and links to practical materials.

We elevated the competencies of the local consultants by:

• Training trainers on how to perform an export audit, including composing a report.
• Training trainers on how to conduct a digital marketing assessment, including composing a report and discussing the aimed results with management and staff.
• Training trainers on how consultants can create more impact and commitment for change in the company via co-creation, good practices, a quality report, and the expert role.
• Including the EBRD in the network of the local consultants.