Consultant Offers Advice for Making Soft Landing in Korea
By Tony MacGregor
Korea Times
Jan. 10, 2006

Tom Coyner, president of Soft Landing Korea,
believes South Korea is the best spot for foreign firms
wanting to break into Northeast Asia.
Korea Times Photo by Lee Seong-oh

Foreigners can often get away with doing things in South Korea in a way that Koreans could never do.

That was one piece of advice offered by Tom Coyner, president of Soft Landing Korea, a year-old company that helps foreign companies get established here.

Coyner, who has lived for over 20 years in Japan and South Korea, said it’s best for foreigners to do things the Korean way _- never making a cold call - for instance. "But it isn’t always possible," the 54-year-old American said.

"If you’re forced into being direct and grabbing the bull by the horns, it doesn’t mean you’re going to fail. Koreans don’t expect the same kind of behavior from foreigners that they expect from each other," he said.

Coyner said it’s better if you can arrange a formal introduction to meet an important business contact, but if it can’t be done, don’t give up. Try the direct approach.

He said Koreans can be very sympathetic to "dumb foreigners" - provided they have done their homework and are well prepared.

Coyner said as individuals, Koreans are often capable of taking big risks, but when they’re middle managers in large corporations they won’t risk their jobs on a venture unless there’s a whole lot of evidence the project is going to work or a product is going to sell.

"They may believe you have a good product and they may believe it will sell, but unless you can show them proof - evidence that the product has sold in other markets - they won’t take undue career risks," he said. "Has it sold in Japan? Has it sold in the U.S.? They want impressive numbers."

Another piece of advice he gave to companies thinking of doing business here is to have the means to monitor the relationship.

"If a company comes in here and makes some kind of partnership at a trade show, for instance, but only touches bases with the new partner once every six months, problems will emerge."

He said often Koreans are reluctant to talk about anything negative in new relationships so small problems get brushed under the carpet. Unfortunately, those little issues have a habit of festering and growing into big problems that disrupts the relationships.

"If you have somebody on the ground taking care of those little issues, you’re much better off," he said.

Coyner, who is married to a Korean and has two children aged 23 and 27, came to South Korea in 1975 as a Peace Corps volunteer. He has always pushed the envelope. While a volunteer in a rural area, he persuaded local educators to use new methods of teaching English and created and managed an English program for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Korean Ministry of Agriculture.

As part of his foreign advisory business, he is rewriting a book with friend, Jang Sang-Hyon entitled, "The Key to Successful Business in Korea."

"We’re totally revamping and doubling the content of the book, updating it and interviewing both Korean and foreign business people. It will be a real treasure after it’s completed," he said. Coyner expects it to be published towards the end of this year under a different title.

He said South Korea has a bright economic outlook and is becoming internationalized with an increasing number of returning Koreans and foreigners being hired by Korean companies and with more local staff with a better command of English than in Japan or China.

"I tell prospective clients that Korea is the best spot to break into Northeast Asia," he said. "It’s cheaper to start up here than in Japan or China and if you make a mistake here, you can probably recover, something you probably couldn’t do in Japan or China."

He said there’s lots of opportunity here for small- and medium-sized foreign businesses, especially if they’re leading edge technologies with unique products.

Other areas are also opening up such as in agriculture, particularly dairy, he said. "Koreans are adopting a wider diet and fewer Koreans want to work in agriculture. The market for cheese products is growing here, just as it did in Japan earlier," he said.

He said South Korea is at a crossroads. "It’s looking over its shoulder to the past, but also looking to the future. From my perspective, I see external and internal factors pushing the country inexorably into the future."