International Sales Best Practices
Once you begin the process of listening attentively during a cross-cultural sales, you often fall in deeper. It can even be difficult to stay on the surface. The problem is that cultural differences often effect more than one aspect of the international sale.
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CCCC Tip #14 -
Pay attention to the flow of the conversation and clarify anything that seems the slightest bit out of place. |
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.
By remaining attentive to the conversation, it is easy to question things that seem out of place. This can lead to discovering further cultural differences and more questions.
And then something else begins to happen: you begin questioning yourself.
There is a large part of personal involvement in cross-cultural communication and this includes questioning yourself, getting to know yourself better and finding the ways you can improve your cross-cultural communication.
Cross-Cultural Communication Skills & Sales Best Practices
Here is another quote from Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Red Book Of Sales Answers.
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“How do I get around the price objection? If the customer won’t buy, it’s not their fault.” – Jeffrey Gitomer |
Although cultural awareness and understanding are important in international sales, they are not everything.
Do they even bring you half way? Not always.
To develop good cross-cultural skills you need to do this personal work.
This is why it is difficult for most people to acquire good cross-cultural skills without living in foreign cultures. When you live in a foreign country, it is easier to make the personal commitment needed to get to know yourself better.
If you are living in your “home country” you will not really feel the need to question yourself. You feel comfortable. There is no reason to question what you do, because it is normal.
When you travel you can see some things. But when you live in a foreign country the cultural differences hit you on a deeper level… and you are the odd one out.
In international sales, you need a similar ability to question and adapt yourself.
In addition to cultural skills, there is a lot of work involved in getting things right to make the international sale. Just like in Jeremy’s quote today, your international success depends on the personal work that you do.
What Is Your Experience Of This In International Sales?
- What personal involvement effects the success of your international sale?
- How do you estimate your personal involvement in international sales?
- What personal challenges do you come across in cross-cultural selling?
Please share your comments below. I’d love to hear your stories!
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All International Sales Best Practices
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She is who I turn to when I have questions and you should too"
-- Chris Garrett, co-author of the "Problogger" book
