You’re negotiating with the other side of the table without knowing their scorecard.
Most executives meet an investment promotion agency the way they’d meet a landlord: politely, cautiously,
assuming the agency’s job is to sell and theirs is to resist. It’s the wrong mental model -and it costs them.
Investment agencies aren’t salespeople. They’re buyers. They’re evaluating you against a scorecard -jobs first and always, sector fit with the region’s priority clusters, and the signalling value of your arrival -and the companies that understand that scorecard walk out with dramatically more support than the ones that don’t.
Look closer at each factor. Jobs matter not just as a headline number, but as the credibility of the curve -a company that can say “eight hires in year one, twenty by year three, here’s why” reads as a serious operator. Sector fit matters almost as much: agencies have mandates, and a project that strengthens a priority cluster gets attention a larger but off-strategy project won’t. Then there’s signalling value -will your arrival encourage others to follow? A recognisable mid-market firm choosing an emerging location can matter more to that agency than a giant choosing an established hub, because your decision tells a story they can build on.
Notice what’s not high on the scorecard: your revenue. Agencies care about what you’ll do in their territory, not how big you are elsewhere. This is why mid-market companies routinely underestimate their own leverage.
And what do you get when you score well? Practical, material things: help finding the right real estate, structured support where projects qualify, and introductions to the local ecosystem -legal, tax, immigration, the people who make a landing smooth. What you won’t get is business development; that comes later, from being part of the community.
We sit on both sides of this table -our heritage is advising governments on investment promotion. Our Locations Assessment & Facilitation practice uses that fluency for corporates: we prepare your case in the language agencies act on, and facilitate the conversations that matter.
Reach out at zoe@nueconomy.co.
Related: You’re a Bigger Fish Than You Think
