The market is not only customers
A company entering Spain usually prepares its commercial proposition well. It knows which customers it wants to reach and with what arguments.
But the market is not only customers. Depending on the sector, there are public bodies, industry associations, local partners, media and communities that form a view of a new company very early. Often before the company knows they exist.
None of them waits for the company to be ready. If nobody owns that context from the start, the entry is understood the way others tell it. Owning it is the core of corporate diplomacy in Spain.
Stakeholder mapping before the message
The usual reaction is to start with the message: a press release, a presentation, a campaign. It is understandable, because the message is what you control.
But a message without a map is addressed to nobody in particular. First you need to know who matters for your activity, what each expects, what concerns them and what view they already hold, if any.
Importing another market's narrative unchanged is a common mistake. What worked in the home country can sound different in Spain, for reasons that do not appear in any study.
Order, not volume: with whom, when and through which channel
With the map done, the temptation is to talk to everyone at once. More meetings look like more progress. They are not.
What matters is the sequence: who to speak to first, when and through which channel. Some conversations prepare others, and some, badly placed, close them. Order matters more than volume. And not everyone needs to hear the same thing at the same time.
Channels matter too. Every contact goes through the appropriate channels, transparently and with registration in any applicable transparency registers, without prejudice to what the rules require in each case.
And visibility is not trust. Appearing often is not the same as being understood. Trust is built with judgement, context and consistency between what the company says and what it does.
Who owns the relationships when the team changes
In the early years, relationships in Spain usually sit with one person: the first country lead, the person in charge of the entry or an adviser. When that person changes, relationships do not hand themselves over.
If nobody owns them, the context is lost: what was said, to whom, what was agreed and what was left pending. And the company starts again just when it should be consolidating.
Stakeholder relationships belong to the company, not to a person. They need to be documented and given an owner.
What to do
- Map the stakeholders relevant to your activity in Spain before defining the message.
- Write down what you want understood about your entry and check how it fits the local context.
- Order the conversations: with whom, when and through which channel, transparently and in line with any applicable transparency registers.
- Review the narrative you bring from another market before using it in Spain.
- Name an owner for the relationships and document them, so they survive changes in the team.
Written by Xavier Cima, Founder & CEO