Monthly Series – International Sales Best Practices
Some of the younger generations around me appear to have different desires in how they want to identify themselves with the company they work for. When I think about this, I have also noticed cultural differences in how people like to identify themselves with the company they work for.
Last month I wrote about how you need to show confidence in your company when you present yourself to international clients. Now, I know there will be some employees who will not share this opinion… especially if they are not in international business. But let’s have a closer look at this…
I have already written about how there is a natural mistrust when doing business with a “foreigner” for the first time. When you encounter someone from a different culture you notice everything about him. They notice everything about you too… they will even notice things about you that you could not imagine.
And they will notice the whole picture you represent. As a cross-cultural sales person you can be so focused on establishing the personal connection amidst a variety of cultural differences, that you forget to take in the whole picture of what your international client sees. He will notice how confident you are in your company, he will pick up how you feel about your company. And he will also take in more information within the whole picture you represent to him.
Building Trust In International Sales – Tip 9
Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt. -Eric Sevareid
International Sales Best Practice
- Monitor The Whole Picture
Today’s international sales best practice brings us to the environment of multitasking to monitor a very large number of diverse factors that can influence the success of your international sale.. This multitasking is primarily a way to monitor all aspects of the cross-cultural environment within your business objectives. There are several levels you need to monitor in international business.
Immediate Cross-Cultural Communication
There are different facets to your communication:
- Verbal
- Non-verbal or body language
- What is not said
- What is said individually
- What is said by the group, or the whole conversation
- How things are said with regards to vocabulary, timing and context
This is covered in detail in the previous Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges, so have a look there for more details.
You will keep these different types of communication in mind and then look at the answers you get with these 3 things in mind.
1 – How You Are Perceived
This is an important one. You must monitor how others perceive you, your team, your company and your product.
2 – How What You Represent Is Perceived
Beware… this is not an easy one to uncover. It’s not only about how you are perceived. Your international client might have other things in their picture of you. And you will need to find out what they are.
Your international client’s perception of you can go beyond you and your company and include:
- Your country
- Your industry
- Your local environment
- Your sponsors
- Your clients
You cannot really know for sure what is in this picture. Only your international client knows how he perceives you and what else matters to him. This can even be abstract things. It could even be an event… imagine how the event of September 11th effected international business.
Your international client may not know himself what is in that picture… and you will not be able to tell until he starts reacting to it.
3 – Reactions And Responses
This can be easy and it can also take up a lot of energy. It really depends on your cultural skills, experience and the culture mix. There is one thing to remember in all circumstances though…
Closely monitor all feedback you get from your international clients. If you do take a laid back approach and get lazy with your communication you do open yourself to cultural hiccups.
Monitoring Means Multitasking
As you can see, there is a variety of information to pay attention to in international business. And there are different levels of information. There are so many details to monitor in fact, that as an international sales professional you learn to pick up a specific set of multitasking skills to monitor communication with your clients.
You need to become skilled at this form of multitasking because you need to put your business objectives in there too. And this enables you to do the final step of adjusting your communication to find the path towards the outcome you want.
Now it is over to you…
- How do you monitor your cross-cultural communication with international clients?
- What do you find difficult to monitor in your cross-cultural communication?
- What tactics do you use to monitor your cross-cultural communication?
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 - Show confidence in your company and those you work with |
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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All International Sales Best Practices
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