Monthly Series – International Sales Best Practices
Trust is not easy to nurture, establish and maintain amidst cultural differences. In international business standard business reasons usually bring buyers and sellers together. There is a need to be filled. A market demand. But a good business deal does not mean the international sale is always easy.
Let’s continue along the path to build trust for international sales…
Building Trust In International Sales – Tip 2
Self-trust is the first secret of success. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
International Sales Best Practice
- Make Friends
Now, friendship might seem out of place in a business environment… and it is some industries. But the truth is, there is a always a human factor involved in business. Remember:
- Given the choice people prefer to do business with friends
- Cross-cultural differences often create barriers and hurdles of mistrust between people
What Kind Of Friendship?
First, let me clearly state that “friendship”, here in this international business environment, is not everyone’s definition of friendship. It is certainly not the deep friendship you would have with your closest friends… although in some cultures this can appear to be the case.
So,is it really friendship? Yes, there are some aspects of friendship, you need to:
- Show that you care… and mean it
- Try to understand the other person’s point of view
- Share enough of yourself to make it easy for others to understand you and see you as a person
Friendship in an international business setting is about establishing a deeper connection on a personal level.
Why Is Friendship Important?
To make cultural barriers more approachable. It is important to set up this deeper connection between people because this makes it easier to meet the cross-cultural differences in personal relationships and in business. Instead of becoming huge communication barriers, these cultural differences become hurdles, they become more manageable when you are among “friends”.
To deepen cross-cultural understanding. Communicating across cultures is not straight forward. International business practices are different. This is why anything that can deepen your cultural understanding will facilitate your international business endeavors as a whole. You just do not know when you will need the deeper cultural skills.
To get the international business. There are many cultures where you will not get the business unless there is some degree of “friendship”. Once again, we all have different definitions for friendship, but in many cultures there is a need for at least a deeper connection and sometimes genuine personal commitment.
How Do You Find The Balance?
Timing is also critical. How you show friendship in business is different in different cultures.
- In some cultures, people prefer to see the human being before sitting down to business and in others this happens over a business lunch or at another time deemed more appropriate.
- In some cultures, friendship is show exuberantly and in others it is very subtle.
Practice to find the right balance. So, how do you find the balance you need in creating the right “friendship”? How do you make sure you come across with the right degree of “friendship”? How do you not take newfound friendships too personally when you are used to less “friendly” demonstrations in business? How do you find the right boundaries between personal and professional lives?
With so many questions, you might expect the answer to be complicated… and it depends. You need to find the right balance for you and for each situation.
The answer is: with practice. There are generalizations and broad guidelines you can find and read up, which I will not go into here. Although these guidelines can help you somewhat, there are often nuances and the adjustments you need to make may not be covered in your research. So don’t forget to hone your skills when learning how to adapt “friendship” to different cultures. The key is to be aware of the friendship you are portraying and to seek the appropriate business connection while creating an easier cross-cultural communication environment.
Friendship Opens International Sales
The right dose of friendship soothes the cross-cultural barriers in international client relationships and makes international sales easier to close. It is with practice and through international experience that you build up the cultural skills in adapting your “friendship” to different cultures and different circumstances.
Now it is over to you…
- What role do you think friendship plays in international sales?
- Why should you seek to deepen friendship with international clients?
- How difficult do you find it to create friendships with international clients?
Please share your stories in the comment section below.
More Cultural Skills For Today’s Tip
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Last month’s Cross-Cultural Communication Tip - Be aware of the cultural differences others see in you |
This month’s series takes reviews last month’s tips to build trust in cross-cultural communication and adds 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 trust. Get the complete International Sales Best Practices series here.
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