International Sales Best Practices
This is the last cross-cultural communication tip on listening to get extreme with clarity and improve your cross-cultural communication skills. Tomorrow we will start looking at how assumptions can keep you away from clear communication. Here is today’s cross-cultural communication tip:
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CCCC Tip #5 – Listen to identify what the other person needs to hear to make the communication easier |
This month’s series takes last month’s tips to get extreme clarity in cross-cultural communication and brings them into an international sales perspective. Remember to download the free calender for an easy reference to all of the 30 Cross-Cultural Communication Challenge Tips on clarity. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.
This is the fundamental reason why you should listen to improve clarity in your communication. How does this tie in with international sales best practices?
Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices
Let’s have a look at a quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.
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“Telling is selling. Asking is buying.” – Jeffrey Gitomer |
OK. Where is this taking us? Well, I have two things I would like to say here. First, most international sales I have carried out work best with a soft sales approach. Even in industries where a hard sales approach is the standard, when you two people from different cultures come together in business for the first time, they need some time to get acquainted, build trust and drop those cultural barriers. You need to slow down and listen to the other person. Listening is vital. Second, you need to adapt your communication to make it easy for the other person. Skilled international professionals forget about themselves and focus on what the other person needs. This is part of empathy. Of course the business objectives stay in focus, but the personal level is also very present in international business, no matter what culture you are dealing with. Listening and adapting your communication is good for your international sales.
What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?
- Have you ever realized that your rushed an international sale because you did not take the time to listen and adapt your communication?
- Have you tried your standard hard sales practices to get international clients? Did it work?
- Do you find it difficult to adapt your communication to different cultures?
If so, please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!
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