The team set up by SACE SIMEST (CDP Group) dedicated to small and medium-sized enterprises is ready

Closer support: this is the approach of the export and internationalization hub, centered on listening and coaching, to help smaller businesses that want to start expanding abroad. A strategy that draws on a variety of assets: more than 50 sales accounts based at 14 offices throughout Italy, a range of new online products, an innovative Education to Export program and – the most recent addition - a team of 12 export coaches ready to get started.

Provide closer support for SMEs that want to start expanding abroad. This is the purpose of the new team set up by SACE SIMEST, the export and internationalization hub of the CDP Group, specifically dedicated to this strategic segment of Italian industry.

With more than 50 sales accounts based at 14 offices throughout Italy, a range of new online products, the team that includes the entire network of the companies in the hub has grown and been strengthened thanks to the arrival of a new team of export coaches and a range of digital products all dedicated to the SME segment. The mandate is very clear: to intercept the smallest businesses by adopting a new approach centered on listening and providing support, to help them export more and better, drawing on the solutions made available by the export and internationalization hub of the CDP Group.

This initiative reaffirms SACE SIMEST’s commitment to support small and medium-sized enterprises. Overall in the last three years, the hub has deployed € 20 billion in support of this segment, with mobilized resources growing at an annual rate of 10 percent.

“Thanks to a structured and consequential effort in recent years, we are now able to count on important assets to serve small and medium-sized enterprises in the best possible way”, said Alessandro Decio, CEO of SACE. “A widespread, community-focused sales network, a simplified and digital product offering and an innovative Education to Export program: our support for businesses rests on solid foundations. That is why we are now ready to take another step forward, with a new focus on SMEs which, with our support, will be able to approach foreign markets more strategically and effectively”.

“By working alongside companies, we have learned that merely offering effective products, and making these simple and accessible, is not enough: we must also help businesses use them”, explained Stefano Bellucci, SME division manager at SACE. “That is what our export coaches are there for: to help them overcome the initial challenges of internationalization, risk management and digitalization, all of which are highly specific skills and anything but straightforward”.

An average age of thirty, excellent digital and commercial skills, nationwide mobility, but with a particular focus on southern Italy, where most of them are based: these are the distinctive features of our export coaches. With the aim of serving more than 3,500 new SMEs by 2021, they will meet entrepreneurs, directly at their offices, to listen to their needs and guide them in their choice of the insurance and financial products and services best suited to their needs in order to penetrate new markets and expand their business abroad with a view to winning new contracts.

With the implementation of a digital agenda, the online offering of the SACE SIMEST hub now encompasses the products most frequently requested by small and medium-sized enterprises: assessment of the reliability of foreign counterparties, Export up insurance cover against the risk of non-payment, special loans for international trade fairs, commercial scouting and other activities, guarantees to access funding more easily, digital factoring and credit recovery. Furthermore, response times have already halved over the last year.

These online products are available alongside the hub’s traditional offering of products for SMEs, including SACE BT’s credit insurance, surety and construction risk products, which are mainly distributed through the network of specialist agents. SACE SIMEST’s 12 export coaches (their number could double by the end of the year) will meet entrepreneurs to guide them through the solutions offered by SACE SIMEST, whether they are looking to develop existing partnerships or explore new opportunities.

The coaches will help them navigate the digital environment and assist them in choosing the solutions best suited to their needs. For information or assistance, companies may visit the website to find the name of their nearest export coach, or contact the customer care service (800 269 264).