International Sales Best Practice #28

How do you build strong international skills? By listening to your cross-cultural communication and maintaining a global vision of what is happening within this environment.

This takes a concentrated effort to remain focused and is the first step in developing strong international skills. You will need a bit more.  You also need to improve your understanding of different cultures.

Notice similarities where glitches happen in your communication.

Yes, coincidences do happen. But when you hear similar questions or objections from your international clients, it is a good idea to stop and listen. There are often deeper reasons behind these repeated questions. In fact, it is always good to notice any similarities in what is said. A quick look at these similarities from different perspectives can help you identify:

• Issues to improve
• Misunderstandings to avoid
• Business opportunities & risks

You can learn many more different things by noticing similarities and digging up the reasons behind them.

Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices

Let us look at today’s quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.

“Their perception is your reality. Great service can be provided, but loyalty has to be earned.” – Jeffrey Gitomer

Understanding your international clients is a good thing.  But there is another good reason to dig deeper and understand the reasons behind any similarities.  When you do this over time you will progressively learn how to improve your international sales strategies.

And as you improve your international skills and continue to dig deeper to really understand your clients, something else happens.  These skills also come into play in creating loyalty.  Of course, there are other elements to creating loyalty.

When looking at the bigger picture, creating loyal international clients is a discovery process.

It often takes more than a simple greeting to establish an international client relationship… especially with cultures where business contacts are deep friendships and alliances.

When you make the effort to learn more about your international markets, you will see your international markets in 3-dimensions.  They become real.  So does your international business.  And you begin the process of earning loyalty.

What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?

• Where do you start to earn loyalty from your international clients?
• What do you do to create long lasting international client relationships?
• How do you learn to create strong relationships with your international clients?

Check out the other International Sales Best Practices in this series.

Please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!

Photos from Shutterstock.

  Filed under: International Sales

Cindy King

Comments

• International Sales Best Practice – Build A Good Strategy · 15 August, 2009 · 

  [...] we looked at why you need to look for similarities in questions and objections from your international clients. It can take time to notice these similarities. This is because [...]

• bizsugar.com · 19 August, 2009 · 

  How To Create Loyalty In International Clients With Strong Listening Skills…

  Listening to your cross-cultural communication and maintaining a global vision of what is happening within an international business environment is the first step in developing strong international skills. What you do with what you learn through listen…

• Cross-Culture Tweets – Week 35 of 2009 · 30 August, 2009 · 

  [...] How do you learn to create strong relationships with your international clients? This is what I do [...]