Discover the strategic intelligence case study of EXPANSIO

EXPANSIO specializes in supporting businesses in their international expansion activities, offering services such as international acceleration, financing solutions, country targeting, supply chain management, and operational support for exporting companies. The goal is to assist businesses at every stage of their international development. EXPANSIO also unites and collaborates with a network of experts across more than 60 countries. The team, composed of four employees, works with several industries, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and retail.

In January 2023, Sophie Guichard, co-founder of the firm, decided to launch the APALIS intelligence service. This service aims to provide clients with a market intelligence platform delivering reports tailored to their projects, within an economic intelligence framework. Sophie explains in this testimonial how this intelligence service is made available to clients.

What is APALIS, and why was this service created ?

APALIS is a market intelligence service designed to monitor market trends, international business opportunities, innovations, regulatory changes, and any event that could impact an exporting company.

In 2023, EXPANSIO issued a call for tenders to optimize its internal intelligence processes and, in the short term, offer intelligence services to its clients.

Sophie explains that from the very beginning of the company, a need quickly emerged: clients require timely information about their market, competitors, potential customers, innovations, and technological advancements in their sector.

Several individuals at EXPANSIO initially underwent training in economic intelligence. After a thorough analysis of various intelligence tools, EXPANSIO selected Sindup as the platform to support its clients for multiple reasons, including its relational approach as well as the technical aspects of the platform.

Clients subscribe to the service, offered as a white-label subscription. This service serves as a key differentiator for the firm, allowing it to highlight its expertise in supporting international development.

Making market intelligence accessible to all

According to Sophie, strategic intelligence should be a logical practice for all companies, across all industries. However, she is aware that conducting strategic intelligence requires time, and knows that some businesses lack a dedicated intelligence team.

That’s why EXPANSIO positions itself as an intermediary between the intelligence tool and the company, reducing the time spent on information gathering and analysis. EXPANSIO acts as a sort of project manager, streamlining the entire process for the company. The aim of this service is to democratize market intelligence for clients, making it as accessible and efficient as possible, especially in the face of current geopolitical upheavals and new geo-economic and climate-related challenges. Nevertheless, it is essential for Sophie that decision-makers recognize the importance of intelligence in strategic decision-making.

Facilitating internal experience sharing

To facilitate internal knowledge sharing, EXPANSIO offers a collaborative sharing space that interacts with clients. This approach has led to positive feedback from clients, as well as areas for improvement to make the service even more indispensable. The team remains attentive to client feedback and plans to implement a satisfaction survey soon. Sophie also believes it would be valuable to gather feedback from clients who have implemented market intelligence practices.

EXPANSIO plans to place even more emphasis on APALIS in the near future and position the market intelligence service at the core of its strategic offering.