DSG has a robust history with exporting.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
Do you have concerns about account terms and financing for your international customers, reducing risk, or accessing cash flow? EXIM sat down with one of their customers, Dynamic Seal & Gasket (DSG), to ask how Export Credit Insurance (ECI) has helped them flourish in the global market. Watch to learn more about DSG's success.
Intro to Dynamic Seal & Gasket
Who is DSG and how did DSG start exporting?
Jane: Can you talk a little bit more about that, how did you get started exporting?
Karen: One of the owners, Stefano D'Olimpio, came here from Italy and he has a company there, AMCO, and they basically manufactured gaskets. Then he partnered with David Nov, who came from FP Diesel as one of their engineers, when FP Diesel closed. So between the two of them, they opened DSG, and then that's where we got started. So Stefano brought quite a bit of his customer base with him. You know, he already had quite a relationship with several of our customers in the Middle East, and all over actually. And then David helped us start building what we needed for the parts for the engine side.
How much of DSG's sales are international?
DSG has found global success, watch to find out how successful they've been.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
Jane: Can you characterize how much of your business is exporting? Is it a significant part?
Karen: Yeah, like 95%. Most of our business is international. Yeah.
Jane: That's fantastic.
EXIM Policies
How do credit terms help exporters?
Credit terms open doors with businesses abroad.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
The biggest impact is that a lot of companies don't have the cash flow to pay in advance. I mean it'd be great if they did, but they don't. And so being able to offer them terms, and for us having those terms insured has made a big difference because they're able to get the product and start selling it, and then be able to make the payment on the invoice. And that doesn't happen every day.
How does Export Credit Insurance protect U.S. exporters?
EXIM staff member Paul Duncan explains how Export Credit Insurance (ECI) protects American exporters.
Listen to Paul's Response
Particularly in that default claim situation, a lot of our companies, when that 30 days becomes 60 days, that 60 may possibly become 90, it starts to look where that buyer isn't going to pay you, a lot of our clients will then inform that buyer saying "Oh, hey, by the way, I've got this insurance policy with EXIM Bank. You haven't paid me in 60, 90, 120 days. Please pay me, otherwise I'm going to have to turn this over to EXIM Bank and then they will go after you."
How has EXIM's Export Credit Insurance impacted DSG's customers?
Customers of DSG get to enjoy the benefits of credit terms, and DSG gets government-backed protection.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
It helps our relationship with the customer because we're able to grow their business. Being able to offer them credit where normally maybe they haven't been able to get it from another, you know, supplier, has made a huge difference. We're able to have bigger shipments. We're able to offer the customer more in terms of product to be able to grow their business. So it's just been fabulous for us.
filing a claim
What is the claims process like?
EXIM staff member Paul Duncan explains what the claims process is like for U.S. businesses.
Listen to Paul elaborate:
Under EXIM Bank’s credit insurance policies and guarantees, you may invoice in several hard currencies without our prior approval; these include Canadian dollars, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, French francs, German deutschemarks, Swiss francs, and of course, Euros. If you wish to invoice in a different currency, or a third country currency, you will need to get us to pre-approve it and endorse it to your policy.
How does a company file a claim and what happens after a claim is filed?
Learn how DSG recovered profit that would have otherwise been lost without Export Credit Insurance.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
And once we knew that a customer wasn't going to be able to pay, I filed the report or filed the claim through our broker. Actually, he helped initiate it. Provided the documents that they required. And they sent us a check basically right away, it didn't take very long. And that really made a big difference because when you're talking about a shipment that could be $30,000 or $40,000 it makes a difference to a company like us.
working with exim
How has DSG mitigated risk through EXIM?
DSG explains the benefits new businesses gain from utilizing EXIM services.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
Jane: How do you deal with that, the risk, if you will, of selling your product overseas?
Karen: Actually, selling the product overseas has been a lot easier because of the partnership that we have with EXIM Bank because it's done a couple of things. One, it's allowed us to offer credit to customers that we're trying to build in distributorships around the world, so we can offer them a base credit line, which has been really great because sometimes it takes 30 to 60 days for parts to get to another country if you're shipping by ocean. And so it's really made a hug difference for us.
Advice for small businesses looking to grow?
DSG shares their final remarks on EXIM.
Listen to Karen elaborate:
Jane: Karen, I have to give you one more opportunity, any final words of wisdom that you would share with other small businesses? That's what we're here for, is to help other companies succeed in the same way that DSG has. So any other words of wisdom from you?
Karen: I would just say that no matter what happens, it's worth the effort to have a relationship with EXIM Bank, because no matter what happens, you're gonna be able to grow the business, and that's what's important.
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